St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-01-30
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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 Il will be only outlined
here. But by far the most fortunate
way n to hear il directly from the lips
Of the keeper Of the museum Emil
Brugsch, 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
(Thebss) had discovered . .hitherto un-
opened tomb; for funeral statuettes,
pspyrt and other objects, all Of i'm
portancc, 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 brothers; these Arabs at
last confessed. and one of them led the
way to place not far from the temple
called Deir-el-Bahari, which all Wis.,
itOrs to Thebes will remember. Here,
filed with sand, there was q shaft not
unlike 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 q rude chamber twenty feet high.
were piled thirty or more mummy
cases, most of them decorated with the
royal asp. The mummies proved to be
those of Seth the First, the conqueror
who carried his armies rs far iptO Asia
as the Orontes; and OF Rameses the
Great (called Sesostris by the Greeks).
the Phar6ah who oppressed the Israel
Res; and Of SETH the Second. the Pha.
roahOf 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
tan&. and. hidden in this rough cham
Der. Noone knows why this was done;
a record Of it may yet be discovered.
But in time all knowledge of the hid.
ing.plaee 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 lie called q throne
room. You reach this great cruciform
hall by handsome double stairway:
upon entering you see the pharaoix
ranged in q majestic circle, and care
less though you may be, unhistorical.
practical. yOc are impressed. The fea,
tsres are distinct. Some of the dark
faccsthave dignity: others show marked
resolution and power. ,Curiously
enough, one of them closely resembles
Voltaire. This. ihowevef, is probably dus
70 the fact that volatile closely resem.
bled . mummy while living. How woult
it seem, the thought that beings who
are to come into existence A. D 50Oe
should be able, in the land which We
now call the United States of America
(what Wilt be called then?), to gazs
upon the features of some of our presi
dents-fOr instance. George Washing.
ton and Abraham Lincoln? AN afraid
that the fancy is not as striking as il
should be, for New World ambition
grasps without difficulty all futures
even A. ID. 5000; it is only when our
eyes are turned to the past, when We
have no Importance and represent
nothing, that an enumeration Of cent
urics. overpOwers us a little. But in
any esss, after visiting Egypt we AL
learn to hate the art of the embalmer:
those who have been up the Nile. an6
beheld the poor relics Of mortality Of
fered for sale on the shores. become, q.
it were by force, advocates of crcma-
Fenimore Woolson, II
Harper's Magazine.