The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-02-20
cLEoPATRA.s. MUMMY.


L
ccptihft scrton Man.
One day recently. while saunter ng
through the British Museum, sfoatfd
myself in the sepulchral section OF tho.
Egyptian antiquities. And almost be-
fore knew 1t. T. was standing before
Case No. 6.7e7, nnarked,in large letters
Mummy Of Cleopatra, and near by
was another ease With the further In.
srription, Coffin Of Cleopatra" PER-
maps fnay-s=lfave# beefi isiasa aewhat.
sentimental mood, for my feelings were
singularly stirred. | was on the look
out Scr surprises. but this was greater
treasure than had expected to find.
What food for thought. Cleopatra! |
sat down ON benchnear bysand looked
at tho mummy, and gave my imagina-
ton loose rein. Here Is the great tfeo-
patra, the serpent and siren Of the Nile.
This Is that fascinating Egyptian who.
as girl of only twenty summers. led
captive the great world Caesar This
Is the woman who played the willy al
lurements of Venus Anadyomene, and
charmed the great Antony to his de-
struction. Thisis the woman for whom
| the roman world shed rivers Of bfeed.
This that thing of flame, whose
passion breathing beauty shaped
the destiny Of empires" as Mr.. Rider
Haggard says in his recent romance.
She died BY her own hand thirty years
before the time of Christ, and now after
| two Thousand years, Hook upon her very
| faceg=the face that charmed the world.
Tstand by that very form to which
Antony chung when he cried: Il am dy-
ing, Egypt, DYING" This wfthered
visage with sunken eyes and voiceless
tongue was once all bloom and fire and
honeyed words. and woke the inspira-
ton: +. Age cam not wither, nor custom
stale, her infinite variety" | tried to
picture tomyseH that gorgeous period
Of the dynasty of the Ptolemies ! saw
this stiff, uncouth mummy fling off its
linen cerements, and array itself in silks
and puppies and live again those golden
days OF dalliance and revelry. With
this historical setting well in mind
every scrap Of Egyptian history and
/ literature that knew called into requi-
| sition, rose from the bench and went
over and examined the mummy more
critically There was painted
shroud on the wrappings, repre-
senting Cleopatra herself. Isis and
| Nephthys and some other deities. There
were still the remains of wreath seen
on her head. There, too, was her comb
inserted in the bandages at the right
side of the hair. / took another look at
the eefiln.--There were various crudo
paintings upon it. They represented
the scene of Judgment before Osiris, the
visit of the soul to the body, the goddess
author, the heavens with the twelve
signs of the Zodiac, and, other interest
! ing matters. Then / took out my note
book to make verbatim copy of the in
scription, which is of some length.
Shades of the great Hermes Trismegis-
tus and all the gods of Egypt at once!
had l been wasting my meditations on
the wrong girl? This is notmy Cleopatra!
This is not my Greek Queen of the
Ptelemies! See what this finer lettering
of the inscription says: This Cleopatra
was surnamed Gene1ikc. She was the
daughter of Ammonios, of the family OF
Sober, about 100 b. G., found at Thebes.
/ Strengthened up with stoical com
| posture, put the notebook calmly into
my pocket and left the false, false Cleo
patra alone in her alluring glory.-Cor.
Boston Traveller.