Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-02-26

canon Char1eS Kingsley IN ''Hypatia." So
carefully has this work been done that we
have AZ last remarkably complete history
of this famous city of the Macedonian
Alexander, and can describe it at almost
any decade of its development with as
much accuracy as we can Paris, London or
New York. While most of the discoveries
have been made by prominent Egyptolo-
glsts in pursuance of their studies, few
have been made by accident
The most notable Of the latter is Cleo
patra's tomb" so called. 1t was discov-
evered Il year and half ago. when some
workmen were digging a well at Rambler,
now pretty suburb of Alexandria. but at
the beginning of the Christian era, when
the city was more than ten times its pres
sent size, fashionable quarter for both
the Greek and Roman residents. The
tomb lay thirty feet below the surface, and
was buried not by soil, but by the remains
Of streets, houses and heaps of debris with
which the centuries had covered the neigh
borhcod The room disclosed was cham
Der about IS feet long, 70 wide and 70 high.
The walls, floor and arched ceiling were
built OF the rough stone and concrete with
which she Egyptian has toiled for at least
1000 years, and from which he has not de-
ptNhOSA ~NSAL OctI6bys 1utIS WIS uOuC Oh
that magnificent workmanship which is
found in the Temple OF Silence alongside
the Sphinx and in Sakkara, Thebes and
Memphis.
The tomb was Greek rather than Egyptic
in character. Within was . superbly carved
sarcopAagus containing the skeleton of a
woman, and q lot Of coins, terra Gotta YES
seis, lamps, jewel cases and such other
PI1vorIC. iclc ~ 40
creed should be buried with person of
distinction. The sarcophagus is limestone,
about II feet thick, feet wide and feet
high. 1t represents a huge caslet with an
arched lid, and is ernbelIished with bass-re-
liefs and geometrical patterns of high or
der Of workmanship. The skeleton was
that of "A well built and graceful woman
fully matured. A low, broad forehead, q
typical Greek nose, mouth and contour of
face, small hands and feet, and beautiful
taper fingers and toes Il well arched chest,
and broad hips Indicate that she must in
life have been remarkably handsome.
There is no indication that she was of
royal blood, much less that she was the
immortal Cleopatra. The only evidence is
a legend that the famous queen of the Nile
was buried in that neighborhood, and that
the bass-reliefs on the sarcophagus are
female heads in whose temples the deadly
asp is sinking his fanGs. The body was in
all probability that of some wealthy and
beautiful Greek woman of the time of the
early Ptolemies, and the sarcophag1s, If
not made for her expressly, belonged to
some opulent Hellenic noble or merchant
prince. The coins and other curios were
nothing extraordinary and threw no fur
ther light upon the identity of either corpse
Or tomb.
Nevertheless, the finder of this interest
ing relic, with brilliant foresight, named
it Cleopatra's tomb, and Cleopatra's tomb
it has remained ever since. II is visited by
every European who goes to Alexandria,
and what with the admission fee Cifty
cents on the one side and the profits of a
cafe and salon just started next door, it has
been Il small bonanza. This week, how
ever, saw the beginning of the end, when
the owner signed an agreement to sell tomb
and all for $4,000 to an American syndi-
cate, which will take it to the United
States, exhibit it this and the next year in
the great cities and finally make it a special
attraction at the Worlds fair in Chicago