The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-11-11


lie Egyptian gallery at thu prlt-
ish mnsealn has just come into po,-
session Of the mummy Of a man which
may well be the oldest known body
of any human being. The facts con-
.cerning 1t are briefly summed up In
the following inscription reproduced
from the case containing the mummy.
Body of man who was buried in a
shallow oval grave followed out Of
sandstone on the west bank OF the
Nile, in Upper Egypt Before burial
the body vas treated with a prepara-
tion Of bitumenl and was arranged in
the posture in which 1t now lies, on
its left side. with the hands before
the face and the knees drawn upnear-
ly on HefeA With the chin. The
grave with has been srohghly imi-
tated by the model shere exhlbited)
vas. covered with slabs of unworkedi
stone, and In it beside the body were
disposed flint knives and IA number
Of vases partly filed with the remains
and dust of fpAefal offerings The
man probably belonged to a fair
skinned. -Afghtshaired race. which
may be regarded as one OF the abori-
ginal stocks of Egypt. whose settle
menst are usually found on the west
bank of the Nile The tyle Of the flint
implements found in the grave indi-
Gates that the man lived in the later
neolithic period of Egypt; that is. in
remote ages long before the rule OF
Menes5 the first historical king OF
Egyptf The grave was first seen by
a wandering Arab; he reported his
diseoyefy to a British official. who
Immediately sent a. compile OF Egypt
ian soldiers telgdard It DAY and night
hFntil it could be safely removed The
sbody e an mummy Of the ordinary
hisfoliN Egyptian period such as that
q llaIlneBes H., the father Of the Pha-
foah cf the Exodus. 1t was never
fbeunA up in linen or cased in any
painted coffin, but was merely coated
with preparation Of bituman. the
Arabic word for, which is num.a:
hence, our word n1umm y.
To reach the period when this man
hunted along the banks Of the Milo
it is necessary to travel backward In
time through 7he modern period since
Eiizsbetl1 through medieval Europe,
through the whole history OF Rome
and Greece, past the time Of the ear
liest mummied king the museum pcs
sesses9 past even Menes, the earliest
king to which Egyptian records make
reference. who according to Mareitte,
ruled about 1904 B. G. Then we are
among the. prehistoric races, one the
conqusrors and the other the conquer
lledg out on which sprang the Egyptian
races Of sthe earliest dynastIes. It Is
with these remote stocks that this
man Is connected. Considering the
lconditions IN which he was found II
is evident that he was associated
with "a late period of the new stone
age Of Egypt. He Is buried In a char
actefisticallyl3 neohthie grave Cthi
GRAVES Of this period are covered with
rude slabs Of stone), and has neolithis
pots and flint implements beside him
\ It is curious to note that certain an
cient Egyptian documents mention
4 fFadifions9 afl a RAGE called the Ire
! hehnu. WHO had red hair and blue
Feyes. This man has distinctly auburn
hair Heiwas buried on the western
shore In later times every Egyptian
was buried on that side Of the river,
and Egyptian models of the death
| boats on which the bodies we're fer
ried over the stream may be seen in
the Egyptian gallery.