Arizona republican., 1899-12-14

either one of(the Pharaohs or of some
very important public official. Unfor
tunately, no one with any authority to
interfere was present at the time, and
the workmen possessed themselves of
all the plates of gold and jewelry.
1t has not been established that there
was a mummy in the case. All the
looters wanted was the gold. Little
was it suspected that here was the
tomb of Joseph. In some strange way
the signet ring found in this tomb was
brought to Cairo and there purchased
by the earl of Ashburnham. This Brit
ish nobleman was a great collector Of
curios and rare books, but he did not
| then know how valuable a ring had
come into his possession.
| The earl set sail for Smyrna, carry
ing his new-found curios with him. but
on the way the ship was attacked by
Greek pirates, and all of his treasures
were taken from him. The signet was
sold to a Greek merchant, who in turn
sold it in Constantinople, where it was
found by a friend of the earl, and pur-
chased and returned to him. 1t aroused
! great interest among all who saw 1T,
and many learned men tried to read the
Inscription on it.
1t was recognized by the cartouche
and style of the workmanship as being
of the time of Thothmes III, about 1900
B. c. The ring and seal are of the
| finest solid gold, but the Inscriptions
are the most valuable part of the ring.
Here was the key to Jcseph's Egyptian
name and to his position in Egypt, con-
firming the Bible story in every minute
particular.
Even after it was read the scholars
were a little puzzled to explain what
seemed to be contradictory Inscriptions.
The front of the seal proved that it was
the signet of Thothmes, but the back of
it appeared to point to its having been
given to some one else by him. At last
an ingenious scholar noticed that the
first word on the front of the seal was
"Paaneah," and he remembered that
this was one of the Egyptian names
given to Joseph by Pharaoh when he
handed him his own ring.
This explained the whole puzzle.
While Pharaoh wore the ring it was on
ly engraved on the front, with the royal
cartouche and the two Egyptian words
"Paaneah mouee," meaning beloved,
or revered of Egypt" This was one of
the titles of Pharaoh himself, and in
proving to the people that he had given
him something of royal authority, just
as the Bible states that he did: "Only
in the throne will 1 be greater than
thee"
Then there is the inscription on the
back of the seal, which is, translated:
Beloved of the Shepherd King, the
Great Thoth, increasing wealth. This
&c he hoe firm nf Iai ma
this ring must have been the one given
to Joseph and that this inscription was
engraved on the ring by Pharaoh's or
der after he gave it to Joseph. For
here he describes his affection for
Joseph and at the same time refers to
his great and mastery plan of saving
the Egyptians from starvation and at
the same time increasing Pharaoh's
wealth.
One possible objection remains to be
disposed of. 1t is stated in the Biblical
account of the exodus of the Israelites
from Egypt that they took the bones
of Joseph" with them. How, then,
some may say, can this be the tomb of
Joseph, and the ring that he wore while
alive? AS Joseph had died in high
favor at least two or three centuries
before the exodus, it is reasonable to
believe that he must have had a mag
nificent tomb provided for him. Saq-
CARA was the cemetery of the kings of
Memphis and their court, so here was
the place in which to find his tomb.
Even if the Israelites did take his
bones with them, they could not have
carried the tremendous heavy mummy
case and the jewels that were laid on
it. So there is not any contradiction
between finding the tomb of Joseph in
Egypt and the transporting of his body
to Palestine.
The tomb with it's deliberately colored
decorations, proves the Importance of
the parsonage once buried there, and
the ring is the most solid evidence in
support of the Biblical story, bearing,
as it does, that strange Egyptian name
over which so many scholars common
tators and philologists have worried in
vain. The Psychologists. who now read
Egyptian with eXactness, after care
full study of the Coptic and other late |
dialects, are convinced that the deciph- |
erment of the inscriptions is correct, |
and all of the facts fit together as no |
Justification could make them fit.