Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-13

1
| the lot of all. When the burial finally oc-
Cured the mummy was sent to officers for
| that purpose who had charge of the num-
mics, tombs and masses for the dead. Some
| have been found merely dried IN the sand
others salted or boiled in bitumen.
with or without the lncision in the side,
having the brains removed through the eyes
or base of the Uranium, with the viscera re-
turned to the body, or deposited in jars in
shapes of the genii of the dead; the skin par
TALLY gilded; the flank incision covered
with metal plate; the fingers encased in
silver, and the eyes removed and replaced.
Mummies are generally wrapped in linen
bandages and placed in costly cofins.
USES OF THE MUMMIEs.
Mummies were used within 200 years for
drugs and ground up into nostrums aga nst
all diseases. Centuries ago peculiar brown
color was used for the background of pic
lures, and the finest colors used in the illu-
limitations of old books, and the inks of
black and blue with which they were writ
ten were made out of human carbon and
never lost their beautiful shades. It is sup
posed that in the Metropolis at Thebes there
are or were. at least, 10000, 900 of human
mummies, BESIDES those OF the animals of
which there are vast pits, of dogs, cats and
other sacred animals.
In the belief of the ancient Egyptians all
things came from a common center and
source of life, and it is probable that
Pythagoras obtained his idea that divinity
entered into the beast as we'll as the human,
and that the soul passed in measure
through all of the animals from this
old belief. Many believed that ter death
the souls of the human beings passed into
the bodies of clean and unclean animals
according 10 its deserts, and that after many
thousands of years dnring which all souls
would dwell in we'll at Jerusalem, the
angel Israel would blow his trumpet and
the world would unroll as a great plain; the
bodies of the dead would commence to grow
like sprouts from seeds, up out of the
ground as they were in life and each soul
would reinhsbit its body, and that Osiris
and Isis would hold the last judgment ut
Damietta on the Nile.
The Osirian religion was popular because
it treated of the mysterious subject of the
state of the soul after death. Some believed
that Osiris was the Pluto of mythology. In
papyri, found with mummies, Osiris ap-
pears on throne, attended by two goddesses
and four genii. The latter appeared in the
form OF small vases, in which were deposited
virsera, supposed to be embalmed. Each
genii had different head. One with hu-
testines, and the other two held other inte-
rior organs of the human form. This repre-
sented essentially the scene of the Judg.
ment The Egyptians believed that
the intestines were closely connected with
the moral character, and upon them
the blame of sin was laid. The intestines
were washed and bathed in wine and spices
in the process of embalming, and were
then placed in their regular vases and were
presented to Osiris together with the whole
body. The body was chaperoned by the
Goddess OF Truth. In the center was a scale
on one end of which was vase shaped like
heart in which the moral qualities of the
dead were weighed by Truth while Thoth
took note of the weighign. Osiris was sup
posed to pass Judgment according to the re-
port given.
The Egyptians had in their political gov
ernment seven castes-shepherds, priests,
warriors, innkeepers, interpreters, husband
men and artisans, whose employments de-
.scended from father to son. They consid-
cred all labor equally honorable. Every
hour was precious and had its own duties.
They got up at certain hour, performed
their ablutlons, and then at certain hour
attended the divine ceremonies at the tenn
pie, the King as we'll as the laborer. Their
meals were at certain hours, and the whole
day was divided up into certain duties
which were faithfully performed.
THE DEAD PLACED ON TRIAL.
1t was the custom at some temples to take
the dead there, where, in the presence of all
the people, a panegyric was pronounced.
after which public prosecutor (if he had
eause) attacked the character of the dead.
If his charges were found true by the assem-
blage, the body was refused burial in the
common Metropolis.
The Egyptians had a superstitious vein
in them which led them into astrology and
mysticism. They paid nearly as much
honor to the bull (apis), the crocodile, cat,
hawk, wolf, ibis (stork), dog, and even to
onions as to their goddess Isis; and they
would starve to death rather than eat one of
these sacred animals. Cambyses killed the
god Apis and plundered the sacred temples.
When he took Peluslum, knowing their
reverence for certain animals, he placed
large number of cats and dogs in the ad.
vance of his army, and as the Egyptians
would not kill them they became an easy
prey to the Persians. Cambyses found
partial judge whom he fayed alive, and
then he nailed his skin on the judgment
seat so that his successor would remember
where he sat.
Diocletian in 296 A. D. seized all the
books in Egypt treating on astrology, sor-
cery and on making gold and silver and de-
stroyed them, fearful less their mysteries
and opulence should make the inhabitants
rebel against Rome. The destruction of
many valuable books on other subjects was
the result This persecution by Diocletian
was the first authentic event in the history
of alchemy which was afterward difused
over the globe by the conquest of Egypt by
the Arabs.
THE ARTS AND SCIENCES.
The darkness and ignorance of the Mid |
die Ages insured favorable ear 10 eyery-
thing marvellous, but the Caliph of Bagdad |
began the cultivation of learning and the |
sciences and arts in the eighth century. and |
it is a well-known fact that these fierce Arabs |
kept them alive, and to them the world is |
indebted for the preservation of letters and |
Of the arts and sciences which died out |
again in the ninth and tenth centuries in
Europe. Manetho wrote poem in B. C. |
261, in which the stars which hold powers
over the birth and fate of mankind was ex-
planned. Algebra, astrology and astronomy
we're taught by her philosophers and wise
men.
Rollin says that it was common for the
great men OF Greece to 60 to Egypt to finish
heir education, and that God Himself has
given this kingdom a glorious testimony
when, praising Moses, He says of him that
ne was learned in all the wisdom OF the
Egyptians" Suitable rewards were given
% encourage scientific pursuits, and for the
discovery of any useful invention. They
we're so tar advanced in astronomy as to di-
vide the year into 365 days and hours.
Their great works of art and science attest
heir ingenuity and diligence. They attained
considerable efficiency in physics, and they
we're among the first to communicate thought
BY writing, and engraving on stone and
metals. They were the first to form Libraries,
which they called "Ofice for the diseases of