The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-11-13
DOWN AMONG MUMMIES.
EGXPTTAx BEsEofCE AND WHAT
IT rs REYEALIN0.
The Museum at Gixeh--1be Worlds Old
est Painsip gs-Rsmarkabls Rsifsfs.
Worshipping the Gods.

lecture upon ancient Egyptian art ant
architecture. at the Peabody, Baltimore,
DR.. Dickerman very properly observed
that 1t was a chapter In the history of
civilization describing the tremendous
struggle which the minds and souls of
men have made to write on external ma
ture their ideas about the true, the beau
tiful and the good And long struggle
1t was, too, extending over thousands Of
years. Its history engraven I'm stones
and embodied In manifold symbols still
leaves ample room for Investigation, and
the study Of its documents Is not as yet
beyond the stage Of it's Infancy. On Co.
lumbus day, says the Sun, two gentlemen,
one well-known Psychologist, formerly
OF this city, the other a Johns Hopkins
man, were earnestly discussing in the
presence OF a third member of the SYM
postum not the Columbus cantata, which
they had just heard at the Academy OF
Music, nor the celebration of the anniver-
sary of the discovery OF America but the
question whether Egyptology were not
destined to reveal how the existence OF
the Western Hemisphere had been known
In the times Of the Pharoahs to the dwell
ers on the Nile. How the eyes Of the old
! scholar flashed when he limited TO his
younger friends that he had just sue
ceeded in deciphering one single symbol
and with 1t part OF Egypt's ancient his
tory hitherto unknown, or, at least, mis-
understood. He did not tell them what 1t
was, but the youngest Of his interlocutors
jumped up from his seat, vowing that the
next year he would no longer stay in the
Alexandria OF America-Baltimore-
native town, but seek the shores OF the
Nile.
There is, therefore, no danger that peo-
pie, especially Baltimoreans should care
nothing for ancient Egypt or the Egyp-
tians, for their arts, their laws or their
customs" and II may be timely to lay be-
fore them part Of a letter, dated GiZeh,
September 9th, written under the shadows
of the great pyramids, and giving a de-
scrption of tile new Egyptian museum of
that place, situated on the left side OF the
Nile, opposite Cairo. The antiquities there
collected were formerly stored without or
der or design at Bulak, the harbor OF
Cairo, but have now been arranged in
the palace of Ismael Pasha at Glzeh,
which has been transformed into mu-
scum. "A more appropriate place" says
the writer, could scarcely have been
chosen. In front flows the mighty Nile |
and back rises the Pyramids and Sphinx, |
while within the palace are conserved the |
monuments that trace the history OF this |
land. In front OF the palace IS the sar-
cophagus that contains the remains OF
Marietta Pasha, to whom is due the found
Ing OF the museum, as well as the dis
covery and preservation of a great part
Of the monuments. The surrounding park
is laid out in European style, but the en-
vironments remind one that 1t is Egypt"
Auguste Edouard Marietta, the Egyptolo-
gist, who died In 1881. at Bulak. had be-
gun 10 gather his collections there in 1858.
He was a native OF Boulogne, France, and
received the title Of Pasha in 1879.
The monuments are arranged according
to the period to which they belonged.
Almost without an exception all the OBJ
jects have been taken from tombs. The
ancient empire is represented from the
first to the eleventh dynasties the middle
empire from the twelfth TO the eighteenth,
and the modern empire after the nine
teenth dynasty. The first room contains
chiefly objects OF the fourth dynasty 1
about 1925 b. c., according to Marietta I
Pasha). At this time, during the relgns I
Of Khufu (CheOps), Khafra (Clephren), I
and Men-Kan-Ra (Mycerinus), the three
great pyramids OF Egypt were built. The
are so well and clearly {
lrawn that it shows there must have been :
/ high state Of civilization at this re- !
note period. From the tomb of the royal c
cribe Hest were taken several wooden I
PANELS, some Of the figures being colored :
]
world In the second and third rooms Z
ire relics from the fourth to the sixth !
lynaSties. In the centre OF the second q
Dom are two large statues Of Ranofen /
nd statue in wood OF Raemka. The
walls are from the tomb of Subj. In the ,
hird room are the first monuments Civ Z
ng the names Of kings, and the large +
tea from the walls of the tomb of Una. ;
living the history OF his life. He lived 6
nder the Kings Teta and Pepi Fourth J
nd fifth rooms). The fine statue Of Kha- &
"a, in diorlte, was found in the Temple ,
t the SpinX, at GiZeh. One can scarcely | n
ealize, observes the writer, that six .
thousand years ago there were artists =
hat could chisel SO perfectly every de- =
all. =
In the centre of the sixth room is the y
olossal statue OF Thi, from his tomb y
{ Sakkarah, and number OF statues OF :"
ifferent persons from tombs Of the lat =,
sr place and Gzeh. On the walls are =,
eea representing Apa, a Government Of :,
cial under KEPT l., and people at diff -
srent occupations and domestic work - ~
4 the seventh and eighth rooms are sew -,
al remarkable reliefs. One represents =.
)atmen in a dispute; another the offer 81
X of sacrifices. In the centre Of the 49,
nth room is the granite sarcophagus OF a.
le high priest of Khufu, Aukh, with ei
designs. In this room are 20
CdelS or funerdl boats Srdndry, and :,
)useS. In the tenth apartment Is the IN
jimmy OF a King named Mentursaf, III
nd in a glass case are the fragments OF co
e mummy Of the King Unas, OF the fifth III
nasty taken from his pyramid at SAX III
lrah. In the eleventh TO the thirteenth 10
oms are collins, some OF elaborate de- WI
rations, with line of hieroglyphics re
ound the edge and a chapter from the
ok OF the dead written inside. The wa
urteenth room contains relics OF King "a
l-Autef, OF the eleventh dynasty. sh
At the fifteenth room commences the In
iddle empire. There are a number OF De
rious statues one is Of the Princess TN
3fert, wife OF Usertasen l., OF the ro
'efth dynasty. From Tanis are black Ly
hinXcs, on which different epochs sew !
al kings have marked their names, but RE
Z features are those Of a Hyksos King TOO
le sarcophagus is OF Tagi the stella OF IN
ichte and Amoul, and the offering table gr'
King Usertasen and one with the name Zig
the Princess Phah-nefer-u. In the six SCI
snth room are a steala from Abydos and 20
number OF relics recently found at an
ebes.
n several rooms following are the
relative 10 the eighteenth and
leteenth dynasties. This was a period
great events in Egyptian history The ,
umphal stella Of Thothmes Ill, OF black cdi