The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-01-28

the motive Tor THIS uncanny custom nc
says ito bestow upon the one who ate
the flesh the intelligence, knowledge ana
good qualities of the person eaten. mus
the eating of human flesh as pracuced
by these ancient Egyptians and their pre-
historic ancestors was not done for the
purpose Of nourishment, but ito increase
the eaters own intellectual powers ana
capacities at the expense of the victims
devoured." For they undoubtedly held
the belief that the best qualities of per-
son eaten would pass into their own
forms, and thus TO their own capabilities
add all the virtues and accomplishments
of the person consumed.
PROF. PETRIE'S STATEMENT.
Before this startling find no such bar
barrie custom was ever dreamed of in
connection with this people, but the proof
is now so abundant that there can be lit
tie doubt that the grewsome rite was
practiced by them through many CEN
turtles Regarding the finding of these
bodies and his discovery of cannibalism
as existing among this ancient people,
Professor Petrie says:
I'm clearing a group of early tombs
of about $500 p. c., near the village or
Deshasheh, sixty miles south of Cairo,
the first burial that 1 found was all loose
bones huddled into a hollow in the rock,
with the skull lying on the top. 1 natu-
rally set this down as a barbaric, and
could not suppose that it had anything
to do with the supremacy skillful and re-
fined Egyptians of that age. But the next
tomb was a puzzle which no ordinary
assumptions could explain.
eve found on the hillside a large mass
of blocks of stone, wedged together and
cemented by ages into solid mass.
When these were cut away and passage
into the rock was opened, it was found
to be again blocked, further in, with
other great stones. When these were
cleared a fair sized chamber in the rock
was reached, in which stood wooden
coffin. Inside it lay, at full length, the
body of a man, carefully swathed in linen,
and began removing the bones TO pre-
serve them. To my great surprise L
found that the hands were cut off and laid
upon the chest, though the arms were
down the side. Next I found the knee
caps had been taken out and were laid
a little lower down upon the body. And
then the feet were found lying upon the
stomach. while the gs-footless-were
stretched out at length below.
A WEALTHY BURIAL.
''Here was evidently a wealthy burial,
in a costly rock chamber, very carefully
concealed and certainly never before dis
turbed. Yet, with much apparent care
and detail, parts of the body had been cut
off and placed in special and intentional
positions The next chamber was yet
more strange. The door of it, opening
from the first chamber. was blocked with
stones and mortar. Inside was another
wooden coffin and another swathed body
in it. 1t was that of woman. The spine
had been cut away and inverted in one
block; one foot and knee cap was between
the hips; each arm had one of the two
bones of the forearm cut away and placed
by the sides of the upper arm, and there
were no hands upon the arms. Here there
had been considerable mutilation of the
body, which was then rearranged, some
what out of order. And this again in a
costly tomb where the remains (or rather
what was left of them) had been buried
with every care and honor.
Clearly I saw that we had not to do
with merely stray barbarians, but with
people who followed all the regular Egyp-
tan usages. after having more or less.
dissected the body. Out of thirty-six bod
les thus brought to view, fourteen. or
nearly half, had been more or less cut up
and they were found in all parts of the
ancient cemetery, extending over half a
mile. Many of the thus dissected bodies
were those of women.
about half the bodies were buried IN
wooden collins. The rest were merely laid
in the chamber, wrapped in linen band
ages without any other covering. Some
werein rock-cut chambers opening out of
square pit shafts. while others were in
tombs fashioned in the manner of long
recesses at the side Of gravelike trenches.
In one chamber we found a fine wooden
coffin quite untouched. Pottery lay out
side of it, and inside was a wooden head
rest just beyond the head of the body
on moving the head from the wrapping
four vertebrae were found attached to it.
and then came plug of cloth four inches
long to make up the neck. The arms were
not dissected. but the hands had been cut
off and were laid on the lower arms,
while a kneecap was found TO have been
placed under one shoulder. The hips were
separated and the thighs disjoired. and
no trace of ankles or feet were attached
to the legs.
In this case also the bones showed
plainly that the flesh had been taken
from them prior to the burial. Yet the
bones were carefully wrapped in thick
masses Of linen cloth and arranged to
represent a perfect body, showing that
whoever had cut of the flesh had i'm
mistakably done it through some cere-
monial rite and had then given the bones
as respectful burial as We do our present
day dead. In another instance a child
was buried with an adult We found the
body of the child TO be perfect but that
of the adult badly mutilated. But. not
withsatnding that many of the bones had
been picked perfectly clean. the whole
body had afterwards been put together
and completely wrapped in ac lose swath-
ing Of linen. Many OF the other remains
which we unearthed were intsimilar con-
dition.
LEARNED FROM THE LIBYANS.
when looking for the origin of this
| newly discovered dissectiug practice in
! Egypt We may turn 10 other cases found
! in that same land-those of the IiAvan
| invaders-and here set a clew as TO the
| source and object Of this custom. The
| Libysns who occupied upuer Egvpt about