New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-06

From The Chicago Tribune.
Chicago has come into the possession "ithih
the last few weeks of what promises 10 De .ne
most valuable collection Of ancient wrluhsI ete
on this side of the Atlantic ocean ihIouS - Wv
efforts Of Edgar }. COcdspeed, Oh tnc t"'t..n'
University son Of the secretary OF inc iiSutu
ton. it has secured the latest and most proilits
ing find Of manuscripts made in EgyIS ~ S,tre.
In the ncighborhoCd Of two hundred or tnIeI
hundred complete pieces Of Iapyr' IN So
state Of preservation are included III INC 0o'-
lection, besides hundreds Of fragments $500.
This collection Of manuscripts. oil which sum
Interesting things expected, comes from d
most mysterious source. They were louhd py
an old Arab Sheik while digging ABOUT III III, me
sands somewhere alons the bank OF the Nile
He took pains to conceal The place OF discovery
but he offered the bundle Of old papyrl Tor SAFE
and at length it found its way TO Df retiie
who is conducting the principal work OF eAraTa
ton and exploration in Egypt IhrouSh ~
Breasted II the Chicago University me 0ppoi-
tunity came 10 purchase the possibly priceless
writings and Mr.. GoOGspeed. who holds Il ieno"-
ship in New Testament Greek at the University
and is an ardent student Of old manuscripts
jumped ut the chance The bargain "dS CON-
pleted several months ago, but the precious
relics have just reached Chicago. They are no"
reposing safely in the vadlt at Cobb Han;
IT is SUPPOSED by the two or three scholars
who have already glanced at this collection ct
papyri that they were found in the neShborho"d
Of what was Cnce the city OF ASCOT or Aslut
they were written in Greek during or before .nJ
time Of the Roman occupation OF E5Spt, anu
some few Of them partially deciphcrcd' sho"
date approximating 1GO A. D.. or during me
reign OF Emperor Hadrian. But there are man!
others not vet invest sated which arc evidently
Of much older writing, and give proinlse Ci
Some most interesting results. Among thCin -
fragment Of Homer If great va.ue. ana the
chances of finding another scrap OF the NV
Testament of similar nature to that recently
discovered in Egypt are thought bright
The papyri were shipped TO TINS country
wrapped i'm cotton in two large tin boxes. Those
manuscripts expected to prove Of the most N,tlu.
are in long rolls. about six inches long and h!lf
an inch to an inch and half in diameter 4npy-
ing total length Of the scroll Wheh uhroHeu
OF from two to six feet Some OF the ros are
doubled in the middle. others are sealed WIN
sealing-waX, and many OF the smaller ehr"IIci
pieces are strung on "A string as if on fle
Some Of the seals and strings still remain: me
papyrus itself made OF strips ~ lith la!I
side by side and covered with similar MAJ VI
strips laid ut right angles. the whole pressed 70
gether tightly. Many of the pieces U! TINS Costly
paper which Mr.. Goodsp"ed received show TINS
structure plainly, and several dlHclent siauc"
of the paper are plainly shown. That writing
materials were costly in Clcopatras time Is
shown from the fact that much OF the papyrus
has been written on on both sides, literary man
uscrpts being used later for notes ana business
memoranda.
The large rolls Of papyrus Mr. Goodspecd has
not yet touched. prefcrrins to wait Tor inc as
sistance Of DR. Breasted. who is IN expert IN
the handling and decipherinG Of ancient manu-
scripts. But many Of the smaller pieces ne mas
carefully nattened cut and mounted between
sheets Of glass and has already made consider
able progress in decipherinS them.
commercial documents Of Hadran's time. with
q few pieces Of a literary nature. In the DAYS
in which they were written the Romans 1arhcu
out the collection OF taxes. intrustlnS the work
10 various contractors. The receipts and state
ments which the latter made In their account
ings with the Government: officials compose the
bulk of the smaller fragments They are inter.
spersed with business letters ana memoranda Oh
a commercial nature. Frequently scraps OF
large manuscripts have been taken and used FOR
hasty figuring and notes Of Transactions
Following is Mr.. Goodspeeds statement or
what "A weeks work accomplished III cecipherih6
the papyri: -
Il put about fifty pieces under or between
glass; some Of these, while they are only rag
mens are quite large. say eight and mar by
six inches. Othels-SOmc thirty OF more com
rnercial memoranda--whe small, are complete
I find also the Homer fragment 10 when FRO
fessor Saycc called attention when ne looked
over the pieces in Egypt 1t consists Of fras-
ucnts Of two columns, containing siNty-scNcn
linas I'm all BEGINNING with the first line OF HOOK
viii Of the Had" The number OF such mag
ments II Homer on papyrus known Is ~ course
small and this fragment VIC regard as treas
ura II As quite legible ana is on stout p1pyruS.
Another good find is a letter from the Gov
ernors or plietors Il district, apparently Ar
since. to an officer dealing with some haEai |
affairs or ssdmen. The hand IS beauillui
uncial some Of the letters being hali an inch i
high. II ends with the usual 'Goodby found
at the end Of Greek letters.
"Anothcr piece. unfortunately fraSmentary,
refers twice 10 Bubastis. APP arently as the seat
OF the writer's business. and 10 A2lius iladrian,
early in whose reign. say about III 4. T.. the I.
document seems to have been written. tn"
paragraphs which follow have to do with bust
ness that was apparently transacted at Bubas-
It's in Iiadrian's day.
are some forty fragments worth studying. one |
OF them is very dirty roll of some size. But
the other box is what ! expect most from. al .
though | am far from being disappointed in this
,f,I, how f4t p1 a. .tftf q