The American citizen. [volume] (Topeka, Kan.) 1888-1909, 1889-02-22
ANCIENT TOYS.

p1avtbipes with Which Children Amused
themselves More Than Fifteen Hundred
Years Ago.
Which Of YOU is not Interested IN |
TOYS? What boy is there who does not
possess his tops, his marbles, or MS
cricket or tennis bat? And what girl IS
there who does not own doll, a per-
ambulator, a skipping-rOpe, or some
thing of the sort? But have you ever
thought how the little children VINO
lived more than thousand years ago
Jared in this respect? Perhaps not
Then let me tell you OF something
which has just been brought to light
with regard to the toys OF egyptian
children at time when England was
inhabited by rude barbarians, compar-
atiyelv unacquainted with the arts and
manufactures of civilized life.
In vast cemetery, now buried be-
meath the sand, discovered by Mr.
Flinders Petrie, many curious things
have been found, amongst them the
TOYS which am going to speak about
First, let me tell you that this ceme-
terv. the existence Of which was pre-
viouslv unknown, is pronounced to
have been the metropolis, or burylng-
place, of a town built at the time OF
the Roman occupation Of Egypt, near
what is now for the first time proved
to be the celebrated structure men
toned by the old Greek historians,
Herodotus and Strabo, called the La
byrinth. This burial-place is not lar
from the Havana Pyramid.
Here Mr.. Petrie has discovered
mummies differing greatly from any
, found before, some of them most beau
tifullv made and decorated, with lie
) size colored portraits in wax, looking
much like oil-paintings 1t Is possible
/ that these mummies were in their lie
r time well-tO-do Greeks or Romans
t who were about that time masters II
Y Ervpt. The Roman coins found, an(
] the Greek manuscripts and 1nscrlp
tons, as we'll as the portraits, whlcl
4 are distinctly Of the Graco-Komal
Q epoch, all 90 to prove this. Yet 1t
Z, SINGULAR that the Greeks and Roman
) were never known to have been mad
v into mummies, but, although. as
t, rule, strongly opposed to the practice
l. they must in this case have adOpte
d the customs of the people with whol
50 they lived.
e, One of the Egyptian customs was
at bury with the mummies slave image
e. evidently to wait upon their master
It. and mistresses in a future state. An
On so following the same notion it COM
about that with some Of the mummy
ne of children were buried their toy
be with the idea, no doubt, that th'
,e- would at future time be OF service
v, them, and thus we are now able to 5
,e- the very toys which the children
of that town in Egypt played with mo
Ter than fifteen hundred years ago. Qul
ct a collection of toys was found with t
no mummy of one child, and as list
en- them will be interesting, | give the
rls ALL There was, to begin with, brok
nd, terra-cotta doll, dolls stool and bt
lis stead Of wood, together with seve1
ion bottles made OF opaque and color
ing glass. alabaster, and wood. apparent
a. for toilet purposes; a turned wood
box, two boxes with sliding lids, son
thing like boys paint boxes of tod;
little basket with cover, a comb, p
lou of net for the hair, bead neckla
the n small terra-cotta jug. and III
my Sphinx Of the same material, anC
ON colored image, called a CynocepaI
hat which belonged to a much ear
period (the Ptolemaic), and VII
1ver was evidently old and Clipped v
any buried.
rob- The collection affords a wonde
insight into the chiid-life OF those
nce) away times. and shows how much
not! age resembles another in these i
this tiers.
but, In another child's tomb there Y
ness found wooden dolls chair. some i
500 baskets. small metal mirror viii
cago face timed bright and some =
glass bottles. both colored and pl
In other places were found
- almost exactly like the whip-top
,attle y Wy - 'N' -.
He terra-cote' 'lA.'t' A4'A0
W with lady inside; necklaces, bl
An, lets. hair-pins, needles for les
,oclsa work. pieces OF colored embroic
cada- the remains OF forll wreaths, "
J still preserved their form, althouI
course the color had gone. All