Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-06-30
TOMBs OF DEAD KINGS.
Mummies of Seven Kings Are Found
mt Thebes.

4
Mummies of Seven Kings Are Found
/ mt Thebes.
! AS a sequel to his discovery of the
tomb of King Thothmes III, at Thebes,
M. Loret, Director General of the An
tiquities Department, has discovered
and opened the tomb of Amenophis ii,
King of the eighteenth dynasty, who
reigned some 1500 years B. C. The
find is among the most interesting ever
made in Egypt, as, although the jew
elry, &C., were rifled from the tomb
probably during the twentieth dynasty,
the mummies of Amenophis and of
seven other Kings are intact. The
tomb is entered by steep inclined
gallery, which terminates in well of
some twenty-siX feet in depth, and, this
obstacle surmounted, the entrance to
the Kings sepulchre is reached.
In the first chamber the body of a
man is found bound to richly painted
boat, his arms and feet tied with cords,
a piece of cloth stuffed as a gag into
his mouth, and marks of wounds on
the breast and head In the next
chamber are laid out the bodies of a
man, a woman, and boy. None Of
the four bodies has been embalmed,
but owing to the dryness of the atmos-
phere they are all in the most COM
plete state Of preservation, with the
features perfect; and, although they
evidently met with violent deaths, they
have the appearance of being asleep.
The hair upon each is luxuriant, and
the features resemble to a marked de-
gree those of the fellahin of the pres
ent day
The Kings tomb is chamber of
magnificent proportions in perfect
preservation. The roof, which is sup
ported by massive square columns, is
painted a deep blue, studded with gold
covered with paintings, the colors of
which are as vivid as if laid on only
yesterday. At the end of this cham
Der, in an excavation sunken several
feet below the level of the rest of the
floor, is the sarcophagus of the King,
ter. The sarcophagus is of sandstone.
colored bright rose hue.
and contains the mummy intact. with
chaplets of flowers round the feet and
neck.
In a small chamber to the right are
nine mummies, two of them bearing
no names and the others those of the
Kings Thothmes ", Amenophis III,
Set Nakht, Seti III, supposed to have
been the Pharaoh of the Exodus
Rameses ~, Rameses VI, and Rameses
VIII, who all reigned between about
], 800 and 1,150 b. C. The tomb is
that of Amenophis II, for whom It was
built, and is supposed to have been
opened later to receive the mummies
of the other Kings, probably to save
them from violation. The floors of all
the chambers are covered with a mass
Of objects-statues. vases, wooden
models of animals, boats, &c. requiring
immense care in sorting for removal.
The whole constitutes one of the
most impressive sights that can be
imagined. For the first time on rec
ord, the body of an Egyptian King has
been found in the tomb prepared for
lim, as previously discovered royal
had been removed from their
ombs and secreted for safety at DER
Il Bahari. Possibly this discovery of
he bodies of murdered victims in a
Kings tomb may throw some light up
IN the vexed question of human sac
ifices which now divides Egyptolo-
lists.
The Public Works Ministry has re-
uested NJ. Loret to remove only the
mailer objects and to leave the num-
MES and bodies in their present place.
he entrance to the tomb will then be
uilt up until next Winter, when iron
ailirgs may be placed to prevent in
ury from touching by visitors, while
fording them the unique sight of the
wing in state of a King who reigned
yer 3,400 years ago.-London Times.