The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-11-29
VERY ANCIENT HISTORY
An Event of Which the World Has
manned Ignorant 1000 Years.

An Event of Which the World Has n
NAMED Ignorant 1000 Years.
The mOmentOus fact now bursts unon
the world that in the fourteenth veor
of the reign of ftolemy Philadelphus
one of the royal goose herds wrote
letter stating that he could not supplv
twelve geese wanted for the KINGS fas
tlval. Of this simple fact the world
has been in ignorance for over ronr
Thousand years; yet we are now az.
sured OF it on as irrefragiblo historical
evidence as that which tells us that tbo
Pharaoh of Joseph's time ilnprisonod
his chief butler and chief baker for
probably as small an offense. 1t comes
about in this way: The state nanor
concerning the royal geese was dnlv
pigeon-holed. and after the lapse Of
years, perhaps. was disposed of "a
waste papyrus. 1t fell into the hands
OF the undertakers. who used if alone
with lot of similar material in mol
ing the cartonnage head-case for o
mummy:
This mummy was entombed in the
metropolis of little town (the cite ia
called Tell Gurob at this dav) which
began to fall into decay about the time
OF Menepthah, the supposed Pharaoh
OF the Exodus. 1t has been disin.
tered by Mr.. Petrie in the course Of
his last seasons excavations in the
|
Fayoum. The head-case, with a thin
covering of plaster over all, was soaked
in water, and the papyri of which if
was composed became separated with
out injury to the original writing.
linus we come to know about the
gooseherd and about as MANY other
far more interesting facts in connec-
ton with everyday life and affairs Of
the Egyptians of that epoch. For
there are lots of mummies and quite
q crop of PtOlemaic documents. and
many of them will soon be in the
actual custody of the British Museum
authorities. Considering the progress
that has been made in Egyptology dur
ing the present century, and the
abundance of fresh material that has
been brought to light of recent years.
the next generation may be able to
learn as much about Egyptian an
tiquities as the present one can about
Grecian or Roman.
From records previously discovered
1t appears to be established that
Aegean Greeks visited Egypt quite A.
300 years ago. During his last sea-
sons explorations Mr.. Petrie exhumed
at lllabun some pottery of that period
stamped with alphabetical characters
which are neither hieroglyphic nor
hieratic. There is nothing to show
that these two facts are in any way
connected. But he exhumbed at Tell
Gurob a quantity of pottery of I'M
doubted Cypriote and Mycenaan
types, and which belongs to a period
somewhat anterior to the Exodus.
These, curiously enough, are incised
with characters of very similar de-
scription. The obvious inference is
that these alphabetic characters are
very early Greek or Ph9nician.
Should this conjecture prove to be
we'll founded it would lead to some
very startling conclusions. 1t has
generally been accepted that the Ho-
meric epics were preserved by oral
tradition and edited. if not added to,
at a later period. But these discover
les of Mr.. Petrie suggest the astound-
ing possibility that the Illiad may have
been reduced to writing at blind Ho-
mer's own dictation. -Levant Herald