Omaha daily bee., 1897-11-01
GIFTS TO THE UNIVERSITY
Ancient Member of the Museum Describe
By Its orator.
FROM The RcYAl CEMETEtY CT 7H.Bts
Mummy Presented by Rev. u. V
RHmingc of Crawford, which
Dates BACK nj Least to the
ptoinmnic Period.

LINCOLN Oct. S1.-(Special) Rev, II. V
Rominge OF Crawford sends the following
! history and description of the mummy de-
! posted by him in the museum. The mummy
/ was purchased in 1885 by Prof. p. G. schmidt
/ OF Rome, N. Y. 1t was loaned to MIR. Ro-
minge and by him deposited in the museums
The mummy was found In a rocky re-
! cess of the royal burying ground at Thebes
! in Upper Egypt in January, 1885. 1t was
purchased from the Gizeh museum at
cairo, whittier 1t had been brough; in
March of the same year, Judge Hohe, a
member of the International Tribunal OF
! Cairo, secured the necessary permission and
documents for transporting the mummy.
DR. Brugsch, relative of the historian of
Egypt and vice director of the museum at
Cairo, drew up the documents relating to
Ike shipment. The mummy was sent by the
riorio- Rubattino Italian line. of steamers
from Alexandria by way of Naples to New
York where 1t arrived and passed the GUS
tom house in September, 1885.
length by twenty inches in width at the
bust and about twelve inches at the eX-
tIemity. 1t consists of two parts, syca-
more wood, originally Joined by wooden
pins, the upper covering, e.c lower re-
ceptacle in which the mummy rests The
case Is covered with a coating, of stucco
otnamented with iigurative designs of
Psychological subjects, scenes of funeral OBJ
servances, hieratic symbols and hero
g,yphlc Inscriptions taken from the Book
Of the Dead, portions of which we're in
closed with tle mummies. The figures run
ming vertically down the sides of the case
represent the goddess of Truth holding in
her hands the ostrich feather the symbol
of truth. Around the head and neck is an
elaborate ornamentation, representing q
network of beads, the head OF hawk and
serpent, Below this is n sCarabaeus with
outspread wings and a sundisk to indicate
the protecting influence of the deity.
The face Of the head on the sarCoDhagus
lid was entirely covered with goldleaf and
shows the person was of some rank or
consequence. The mummy is that of male
rODuSf.
has a large forehead, eyes, lashes, teeth.
The face has been exposed by cutting
bandages.
The mummy was classed by some of the
museum authorities at Cairo as belonging
to the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasties,
about ehe time of Ramses H. 1t would
therefore be a contemporary of Moses. DR..
Brugsch, however, thought it might date
from the Ptoiamaic period If it belongs to
the eighteenth dynasty it would be over
2,G00 years Old. 1t appears from the quality,
from the place of burial, that this person
may have belonged to the family or have
been ATTACHED to the household of a
Pharaoh The mummy is valued at $1,000.
The authorities at the university have no
doubt that the mummy belongs to the
PtoIlmaic period. The university already
possesses a collection of typical Peruvian
mummies and the addition of the Egyptian
mummy is valuable for purposes of compare
tive study.
The bulletin issued from the Experiment
Station upon corn as fuel, by Prof. C. r.
Richards, forms the basis for an article in
CassieI's Magazine, devoted to engineering
industry, steam, electricity and power, in the
October issue This is another evidence that
the entire country is following the beneficial
work of the station. The bullerin itself may
be had free by any applicant, at the uni
veTsity
Dr. Fling will read an article before the
December session of the American Historical
association at Cleveland. The subject of the
paper is Relations Between Mlrabeau and
CalOnne in 17S5.' In the paper DIR. Fling
will make use of some of the material taken
by him from the Paris archives last summer.
The university has received another valu
able gift This time from the United States
Geological survey through Mr. Charles ID.
Wolcott. The donation consists of $50 typical
rocks of America, trimmed and furnished
with printed labels for the instruction Of
students and the public. Another gift comes
from the survey through Mr.. n. II. Dar-
ton, consisting chiefly of typical specimens
from many localities representing the de-
posits of volcanic and datomaceous earth OF
Nebraska. Miss Barbour assistant curator
of the museum, is arranging these for dis
play in the museum and for exhibition at
the Transmssissippi Exposition.
Rev. Francis e. Clark gave a chapel talk
this week, taking as his theme '"The Su-
preme Importance of Spiritual Ideals" DR..
Clark is the founder of the Christian En-
deavor movement. He appealed to the stu
dents not to despise lowly things and let
the materialstic idea creep in upon them.
He illustrated his remarks by presenting the
rusty hammer used as gavel at the Young
Peoples Society of Christian Endeavor con-
vention last summer and which was long
ago used by the great missionary Carey in
mending shoes.
Chancellor MacLean has been invited to be
the guest and one of the leading speakers
at the famous annual banquet of the New
England society on Forefathers Day, De-
cember 81. at st. Louis