The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-11-02
REMAINS or YHE PHARAoHS
HOW THE ANCIENT RULERS or EGYPT
LOOK IN GLASS CASES.


s,skft and scene. =. n. nhs 4Tk.
Museum AZ Boutak ~ Royal Num-
nsses $500 Years DID, iRarnsses ana
ssssstus AMER sleep OF Centuries.
The Nile is not older than Other
rivers, yet 1t has about II smack O.
antiquity. Itrolls near Cairo with al
afr OF decayed dignity that suggests
better days.
It is beneficent old river, scatter.
ing its waters with lordly indolenct
70 feed the hungry sands, needless
alike whether they appreciate the
overflow OF Its munificence or greedilJ
long for more. 1t IL Indifferent. 1t d
slovenly, 1t IL blaze; It languidly
dwells on its past splendors. pitief
Luxor and Thebes, and wistfully eyef
the pyramids to see II they too are
wasting away.
Those pyramids are empty and have
given up their treasures. The Phar
aohs had an eye to permanence after
death, they heaped up pile Of stones
such that no usurper could demolisk
NOR conqueror steal, and which might
defy time, their bodies were 30 pre-.
served or picked as to defy. decay,
and wrapped In cloths and liRa.
ments. they lay for $500 years with
the mass Of stone above them, . type
Of rest and permanence. They did
mot forsee that scientific resurrection.
lists would snatch their corpses, tear
on their wraps and expose them
naked to the vulgar gaze in the vii
lage at Boulak.
A mile and half from Cairo, the
village lies at the base OF the iron
bridge, square and modern. under
which the Nile haughtily deigns to
dow. Its narrow streets and open
shops reek with typical Eastern odors,
It's houses are huddled together,
contrast to- the huge white barracks
and parade ground on the outskirts.
Ioungers hang about the doorways
and corners of the streets, stalwart
Arabs, with dirty blankets over shout
der and back; loosely made Egyp-
tians, and black Soudanese, with
white eyes and white teeth cleaning
from black wool and black visage,
and white tunics connecting black
necks with black arms and black legs.
The museum is erected close to the
river, solid, solemn building, with
its entrance guarded by two noble
sphinxes, who stretch their paws
stiffy upon the pedestals, and whose
faces, upheld by stiff neclxs, stare with
passionless gaze from their stiff head
dress. You pass between them under
. massive doorway into the most won
derfui collection Of celebrities in the
world. Mime. Tussaud's wax dolls,
decked in gaudy frippery, draw
crowds, but at Boulak you have the
real article unadorned, skin, bone,
face. expression as In life, and 3, 500
years old.
Could museum at Westminster
exhibit the actual bodies Of Alfred the
Great, Harold, Siward. the Williams,
the Henrys and the Edwards. II would
be child's play compared with those
Pharaohs at Boulak. who date 5000
years before them. There they lie OF
nndonbted authenticity. the series Of
Rameses and Sesostus. kith and kin,
who ruled Egypt with mighty sway
from 5000 to 1000 years ago, before
Joseph was sold, while the Jews were
making bricks without straw, and be-
fore they took possession at Pales-
tine.
They are ranged in the room, each
lying on his back In his own glass
case, concealed by oilcloth. You pull
aside the cover and a Pharaoh is
asleep before you. his head, neck.
shoulders, and arms bare, the fur
rows on his brow, the lines on his
cheek. the smile on his lips, the wrin-
kles on his neck, all but the heaving
OF the chest betoken sleep. 1t may
be Rameses or 4 Sesostus, and It
matters little at this distance Of time
how old he is. Ten years makes a
great difference between the ages Of
ten and twenty; 1t has almost disap-
peared between fifty and sixty-what
matters, then. q few hundred years in
three or four thousand.
The lips preserve their curve and
set, the chin and nostrils still give
testimony to character, the lines Of
the cheek and forehead, the arch Of
the eyebrow, suggest material for
diagnois of the habits of life. The
hands retain the pose Of the fingers,
and the lines for palmistry. The FIX
ing OF the expression, lines andsatti-
tude OF the features, and their pre-
servation for $500 years, Is so marvel
lousy perfect as to leave the impress
sion OF sleep.
Indeed, to all appearance, that face
might yesterday have lit up the hills
Of Luxor, or Karnak. We picture the
huge massive palaces Of old Egypt,
the double colonnades OF gigantic
pillars, the lotus capitals and heavy
cornice casting shade and coolness
on the glistening marble portals.
We see within the hall itself all the
magnifcence Of Eastern luxury, the
profusion Of solid gold work, the
costly silken hangings, the sumptuous
carpets yielding to the tread, the
sparkle Of jewels, the awe-stricken
courtiers bending low before the
throne OF ivory and gold on which