Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-12-31
FINDING OF THE PHARAOHS.


Their Tociep accidentally Discover. d by
Wandering Arabs.
The most generally interesting among
the recent discoveries in Egypt was the
finding OF the Pharaohs. in 1881. The
story has been given to the world in
print, therefore it will be only outlined
here But by far the most fortunate
way il 70 hear it directly from the lips
of the keeper of the museum, Emil
BrHgsclf, himself. his vivid. briefly
direct narration adding the last charm
to the striking facts. by the muse
um authorities it had been for several
years suspected that some one at Luxor
(The bes) had discovered hitherto un-
opened tomb; for funeral statuettes
papyri, and other objects, all of i'm
portance, were offered for sale there.
one by one, and bought by travellers,
who, upon their return to Cairo, dis
played their treasures, without COM
pretending their value. Watch was
kept, and suspicion finally centered up
on family of bEpthers; these Arabs at
last confessed, and ono of them led the
way to place not far from the temple
called Deir-el-Bahari, which all vis-
itors to Thebes viii remember. Here,
filed with sand, there was shaft not
unlike a well. which the man had
discovered by chance. When the sand
was removed, the opening of lateral
tunnel was visible below. and this tun-
mel led into the heart of the hill, where,
in a rude chamber twenty feet high.
were piled thirty CIR more mummy
cases. most of them decorated with the
royal asp. The nummies proved to be
those of Seth the First, the conqueror
who carried his armies as far into Asia
as the Orontes; and of Rameses the
Great (called Sesostris by the Greeks),
the Pharoah who oppressed the Israel.
ties; and of Seth the Second, the Pha-
roah of the Exodus, together with other
sovereigns and members of their fami-
lies, princes, princesseS and priests
AT some unknown period these num-
mics had been taken from the magnifi-
cent rock tombs in that terrible Apoca-
lyptic Valley of the kings, not far dis
tant, and hidden in this rough cham
ber. No one knows why this was done;
a record of it may yet be discovered.
But in time all knowledge of the hid.
ing-place was lost, and here the Pha-
raohs remained until that July day in
1881. They were all transported across
the burning plain and down the
Nile to Cairo. Now at last they
repose in state in an apartment
which might we'll be called throne
room. You reach this great cruciform
hall by handsome double stairway;
upon entering you see the pharaohs
ranged in a majestic circle, and care
less though you may be, unhistorical,
practical, you are impressed. The fea-
lures are distinct. Some of the dark
faces have dignity; others show marked
resolution and power. Curiously
enough, one of them closely resembles
Voltaire. This, however, is probably due
to the fact that Voltaire closely resem-
bled a mummy while living. How would
it seem, the thought that beings who
are to come into existence A. ID. 5000
should be able, in the land which we
now call the United States of America
(what will it be called then?), to gaze
upon the features of some of our presi.
aents-for instance, George Washing
ton and A braham Lincoln? | am afraid
that the fancy is not as striking as it
should be. for New World ambition
grasps without difficulty all futures,
even A. d. 25. 600; it is only when our
eyes are turned to the past, when we
have no Importance and represent
nothing, that an enumeration of cent
uries overpowers MS a little. But in
any case, after visiting Egypt, we all
learn to hate the art of the embalmer;
those who have been up the Nile, and
behe1d the poor relics of mortality Of
fered for sale on the shores, become, as
it were by force, advocates of crema-
Fenimore Woolson, in
Harper's Magazine.