New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-04-11
MUMMIES AT THEBES.
THE RECENT GREAT DISCOVERY.
From The London Times.

az fro ' ~ Tho recent dissoyery Of mummies at
Thebes, il may be satisfactory TO reaucIs Va t h
Times" to have some direct Information IIon Glg
highest authentic source. l am, theIeloIei Iiau
10 have il in my power to quote IN uansIauoG'
the following extract from n private letter au-
dressed by NJ Grebaut, director-genera Oh the eA-
cavatiOnS 10 his learned preuecesso'' ~
Maspero, of Paris ,,-.....u..
here is some account of fortunate discovery;
Having found, in stu. at Deir-e-Baharl' royal
sarcophagus of queen, and seeing tlaI tne sur.
rounaing ground had not been disturbed, thougnt
il worth while to make further excavations on the
spot. an. ....u ...o oo,,o ,,ron the
door of a rock-cut chamber, in which were pied,
one above the other, $50 mummy cases OF priests
and presesSes Oh Amen, loge'nS 6c miu incIudinS
some fifty Osirian statuettcs. Or these, we at
once opened ten finding a papyrus in eacn.
There are great many enormous WOODEN
sorconhaci containing mummies in triple mummy
cases. all very richly decorated. Among tnese we
have found a priest of Aah-hotep. These sarcoph-
oqi are of the time Of the twcntyhrst dynasty:
What we have found is, therefore, cache OF
the same period that of the royal mummles DIS,
covered in 1ss1, and made by the same priests Oh
Notwithstanding that the soil has remained un.
touched for 5000 years, some of these sarcophhSl
are broken and many of the gilded faces OF tle
superincumbent efliges are injured. The way LII
| Which they are piled up their damaged condition;
| and the general disorder point to hurried anu
| wholesale removal. as in the case Oh the roySd
! mummes We find, for instance, q mummy-case
| ;necrihed with one name incoscd in a SarcOpha8us
Inscribed with another, while probably the inner
prove to belong lG mu% Ran b wIs to
| find some royal mummies for when there was NY
snace in the vault discovered ten years ago!
| scarcely dare to hope IT, . - A., Lil
! At n first glance it would seem as II the hlgni
nriests had abstaned from burying the mummles oil
their more humble predecessors with thoSe oi
ROYALTY Everything must, however, De opchou
any About midway of the shaft now open may De
soon the door of an upper vault: and, TO Judge Dy
certain indications there is also probably an lnteI
mediate vault Had we, however, only the !So
sarcophagi contemporary WITH or anterior 10; ont
twenfy-irst dynasty, it would be mognlhhceen 1l
haul the greater number OF the sarcophagl gelns
rooIlv snlendd and in perfect preservation. 1here
are also some charming things among minor
| objects. o.od - ,,,ocbod
off from several of the large sareophagi, and the
place left blank if the scribe had not had time
TO fill in that Of the new occupant DuI we my
probably find the names OF those later occupants as
| on tboir inner mummy cases. One of the largest
Of these sarcophagi is surcharged with the name
of the High Priest of Amen. Pinotem
! Ae soon as we have cleared the lower VaulU
! shaiI attack the upper chamber or chambers.
| A few words in explanation OF some points III
this extract may be useful The high priests OF
Amen at Thebcs, were Inc OF pO%eTnu n ta tho
foundation of tho great temple under the 1lrst
kings of the twelfth dynasty; time supposed 10
be coeval with the visit OF Abraham 10 Eg sIon
Toward the close of the twentieth dynasty Iclrca
| III 90 or 600 3. c., they had attained TO sucn
height of political supremacy that the first
Prophet Of Amen not only united IN ms ms, s Tn
| nander-in-C hief Of the Egyptian Army. but ne
actually took precedence of the relgnlng Pharaoh
assumed the titles and ovals OF royalty, and 1oun-
cd the twentyirst, or Amenlde, dynasty OF IrleSC-
Kinrs II was during the DOntificate or the hrst
of these royal priests, Her-llor Se.Amen that the
| mummies Of n large number Of kings ana queens
Of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth
dynasties were removed for greater SAFETY ron
their sepulchres in the Valley of the Tombs of the
Kings to places where they could be more aGe-
auately protected from the Expectations OF inc
gangs of tomb breakers which at that time infested
the burial places Of Thebes These burial places
were very numerous comprising the two Valleys
Tombs Of the Queens, the metropolis OF the priest
csses of Amen and the great general metropolis
which also included the burial places Of the kings 1
metropolis of the priestesses Of Amen was well
known no metropolis of the priests had yet been
found and it therefore seemed reasonable to
temple precincts. Whether this was or was
not the case it would appear that the high
priests Of the twentyfirst dynasty became as much
alarmed for the sanctty of their own sepulchreS as
for the safety Of the royal mummes. and that they
removed and concealed the mummics of these ] 80
priests Of Amen as eXpeditiously and successfully
as they concealed the remains OF the heroic
Pharaohs Of the four preceding dynasties. There
is. however no ground for concluding that the
evident haste with which the transfer was con-
Quoted points to time OF national peril. Inc
period of the twenty-first dynasty was one or
innoble decadence and obscure peace, but the
tomb-rObbers were ever on the alert. ana ~ Is Is
obvious that unless wholesale removal OF TINS
kind was accomplished under cover of nlght ana
with extreme rapidty, no precautions wouid aValI'
The well-founded hypothesis of Professor MaSleroi
which attributed the concealment of the Royal
mummics TO this standing danger Of DESPERATION,
accounts therefore, with equol probability Tor
the condition of the mummy-cases Just discovered.
AS regards the Osrian statuetteS mentioned Dy
NJ Grebaut, a large number of similar hgurlnes
carved in wood may be seen by the visitor TO the
Upper Egyptian rooms ut the Irltism Museum.
These statuctteS were made hollow III order 10
contain roll of papyruS. but the documents thus
preserved almost invariably consist OF extracts
from 4" The Book of the Dead" and. although in
the present case we may expect to find such
extracts varied with DEGREES of Amen and other
rel gous forrnulae peculiar to the members OF the
great SacerdOtal College of Thebes, IL does not
seem very likely that they will comprise docu-
mcnts calculated to throw much light upon the
history Of Egypt. Too much reliance must not,
therefore. be placed on the prophetic utterances
of those who anticipate large historic results from
the bowels Of this multitude of Osiran statuettes.
The letter from which have the privilege Of
quoting concludes with summary account OF
various other interesting discoveries made by NJ.
Grebaut concurpntly with his great lind" OF
Amenide mummes. On the south side OF the
unique and beautiful temple erected at Deir-el-
Bahari by the renowned Queen llatasu eighteenth
dynasty, part of which was dedicated to Amen
Of Thebes and part to Hathor OF Punt VI. Grebaut
has found an undiSturbed tomb Of n prieSteSs OF
Hathor Of the very early period Of the eleventh
dynasty thus indicating the probable existence of
n vet earlier temple to Hathor on TINS same spot
1t Is open to conjecture that that earlier temple
might have been founded by King Sankhara, of the
eleventh dynasty who, according to n celebrated
rock-cut inscription in the Valley of Hammamat,
dispatched the first naval expedition to that part
of the Somali coast known to the Egyptians as
the Land Of Punt The name Of this newly en-
humcd pricstess was Ament, senifying the region
of the Western Shades-in other words, the land
beyond the grave. The door Of her sepulchre was
unopened, and at the further end of the little
Itinerary chamber stood an enormous limestone
sarcophagus, without inscription or decoration.
The lid being removed. it was found TO contain n
broken mummy-case with inscriptions both carved
and PAINTED and inside the mummy case. covered
with number of pieces Of neatly folded linen. lay
the mummy Of the presess. These pieces Of linen
hear tlc makers marks and are inscribed with the
date of certain "year "a" hut Of whose reign
il is impossible TO say, no Royal name being
| entered The mummy is that Of a large woman,
well bandaged Beside her Law four mirrors. three
of silver and one Of enamel. In front of the
- IL kn i.-l.t L.. ool