The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1889-12-13
WOULD NOT SUPPLY THE GEESE.
An Incident of Pharaoh's Time Revealed
by the WrappinRs Of a Mummy.


The momentousfact now bursts upon
the world that in the fourteenth wear
of the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus
one of the royal gooseherds wrote a
letter stating that he could not supply
twelve geese wanted for the kings fes-
tival. OF this simple fact the world
has been in ignorance for over foul
thousand years; yet we are now assured
of il on as i~rrefragable historical evil
dence rs that which tells us that the
Pharaoh of Joseph's time imprisoned
his chief butler and chief baker for
probably as small an otlcnse. 1t comes
about in this way. The state paper
concerning the royal geese was duly
pigeonhold, and, after the lapse Of
years, perhaps, was disposed of as
waste papyrus. 1t fell into the hands
of the undcrtakers, who used it along
with a lot of similar material in max
ing the cartonnage hcadcase for q
mummy.
This mummy was cntombcd in the
metropolis of a little town (the site is
called Tell Gurob at this day. which
began to fall into decay about the time
of Mcncpthah, the supposed Pharash
of the exodus. 1t has been disinterred
by Mr.. Petrie in the course of his last
seasons excavations in the Fayoum.
The headcase. with a thin covering Of
plaster over all, was soaked in water,
and the papyri of which it was COM
posed became separated without injury
! to the original writing. Thus we come
to know about the gooseherd and about
8 great many other far more interest
ing facts in connection with everyday
life and affairs of the Egyptians of that
epoch. For their are lots of munmies
and quite a crop of Ptolemaic docu.
ments, and many of them will soon be
in the actual custody of the British
museum authorities. Considering the
progress that has been made in Egyptol-
ogy during the present century, and the
abundance Of fresh material that has
been brought to light of recent years,
the next generation maybe able to learn
as much about Egyptian antiquities as
the present one can about Grccian or
Roman.
From records previously recovered
it appears to be established that Egean
Greeks visited Egypt quite A 1900 years
ago. During his last seasons explora-
tons Mr.. Petrie exianmed at Illabun
some pottery of that period stamped
with Alphabetical characters which Sre
neither hieroglyphic nor hieratic.
There is nothing to show that thesetws
facts are III any way connected. But
he exhumed at Tell Gurob a quantity
of pottery of undoubted Cypriote and
Mycen9an types, and which belongs to
a period somewhat anterior to the exo-
dus. These, ~curiously enough. are in
ciscd with characters of u similar dc.
scription. The obvious inference is
that these alphabetic characters are
early Greek orPhnnician. Should this
conjecture prove to be well founded it
would lead TO some startling conclu.
sions. 1t has generally been accepted
that the Homeric cpics were preserved
by oral tradition and edited, if not add.
ed to. at a later period. But these dis.
coveriqs of Mr.. Pctrie suggest the as.
founding possibility that the 1liad may
have been reduced to writing at blind
Homer's own dictation. -Leuam Her.
aid.