The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-03-07
ANCIENT TOYS.

.
ANCIENT TOYS.
Piavthtura with which Chiadren- 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 his
cricket or tennis hatp And what girl IL
there who does not own a doll. a per-
ambulatQr, skipping-rope, or some.
thing OF the sort2 But have you ever
thought how the little children who
lived more than thousand years ago
Jared in this respecta 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 a time when England was
inhabited by rude barbarians, compar-
atively unacquainted with the arts and
manufactures Of civilized lie.
vast cemetery. owzburtedl~ 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-
terry, the existence OF which was pre-.
viously unknown, Is pronounced 70
have been the metropolis, or burying-
place, OF u 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 mem
toned by the old Greek historians,
Herodotus and Strabo, called the La
byrinth. This burial-place is not far
from the Hawara Pyramid. :
Here Mr.. Petrie has discovered
mummies differing greatly from any
found before, some Of them most beau
tifully made and decorated, with life.
size colored portraits In wax, looking
much like oil-paintings. II IL possible
that these mummiesl were In their HE
time well-to-do Greeks or Rom ans,
who were about that time masters in
Egypt. The Roman coins found, and
the Greek manuscripts and inscrip.
tions, as we'll as the portraits. which
are distinctly OF the Gr@co-Roman
epoch, all go to prove this. Yet 1t d
singular that the Greeks and Romans
were never known to have boon made
into mummies. but, although. a. q
rule, strongly opposed to the practice,
they must In this case have adopted
the customs Of the people with whom
they lived. 4s-Z-.--z.
One Of the Egyptian customs was to
bury with the mummies slave images,
evidently to wait upon their masters
and mistresses In future state. And
90 following the same notion 1t comes
about that with some Of the mummies
Of children were buried their toys,
with the idea, no doubt, that they
would At future time be Of service "a
them, and thus we are now. able to see
the very toys which the children Of
that town in Egypt played with more
than fifteen hundred years ago. Quite
. collection Of toys was found with the
mummy Of one child. and as q list Of
them win be interesting. give them
all. There was, to begin with, a broken
terra-cotta doll, dolls stool aud bed
stead OF wood, together with several
bottles made of Opaque and colored
glass. alabaster. and wood, apparently
for toilet purposes; q turned wooden
box. two boxes with sliding lids, some
thing like boys paint boxes OF to-day;
. little basket with cover, "a comb, part
:. u net for the hair, bead necklace,
. small terra-cotta jug. and little
Sphinx Of the same material, and .
coIored image. called q Cy nocepalus,
which belonged to n much earlier
period (the Ptolemaic), and which
was evidently old and Clipped when
buried.
The collection affords wonderful
insight into the child-lifo OF those far
away times. and shows how much one
age resembles another in these mat
ters.
In another child's tomb there were
found q wooden doll's chair, some little
baskets, q small metal mirror with its
fnce timed bright, and some small
glass bottles. both colored- aud plain.
In other places were found tops.
almost exactly like the whip-top used
by boys Of the present day; rag doll.
. terratcotta chafs like sedan chair.
with lady inside; necklaces, brace
lets, hair-pins. needles for leather