The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-30
why EGYPTIANS
PRESERVED DEAD
ANclENTs REGARDED THE SOUL
AS AN EXACT REPRODUCTION
OF THE BODY. SAYS WRITER
ATE AND WAS CLOTHED.

Why the Egyptians devoted so much
care to the preservation of their dead
has interested scientists for centuries.
Why they wrapped their bodies in
hundreds of yards of spiced and oiled
cloths. secreted them at the bottoms
of inaccessible caverns and provided
them with food and the wealth Of life
Is related by Sir CASTOR Maspero OF
Great Britain, in his most recent
work, Egyptian Art. This is what Sir
CASTOR tells US:
The Egyptians formed a somewhat
coarse idea Of the human soul. They
regarded it as an exact reproduction
Of the body of each individual, formed
of a substance less dense than flesh
and bones, but susceptible to sight,
feeling and touch.
Needs Beyond the Tomb.
The double, or to call it by the name
they gave it, the ka, was subject,
though in a lesser degree than it's ter
restaI type. to all the infirmities Of
our life: it drank. ate, clothed itself,
anointed itself with perfumes, came
and went in its tomb, required furni-
ture, a house, servants, an income.
A man must be assured beyond the
tomb of the possession of all the
wealth he had enjoyed in the world,
under the penalty Of being condemned
to an eternity of unspeakable misery.
His famiiy's first obligation toward
him was to provide him with a dur
able body, and they therefore mummi-
fed his mortal remains to the best OF
their ability, buried the mummy at
the bottom Of a pit where it could only
be reached with the greatest difficulty.
The body, however, in spite of the
care taken in preparing 1t, only very
remotely recalled the form Of the liv-
ing person. 1t was, besides, unique,
and easily destroyed: it could be
broken, methodicalIy di~smembered and
disappeared what would become Of
the double? For its support statues
were provided, representing the exact
form of the individual.
Ransom for Images.
Effigies in wood, limestone. hard
stone, bronze, were more solid than the
mummy, and there was nothing to
prevent any number of them desired
being manufactured. One body was a
single chance of durability for the
double: twenty gave It twenty chances.
And that is the, explanation of the
astonishing. number Of statues some
times found in one tomb.
The piety of the relatives multiplied
ports the imperishable bodies, Of the
doubles would, by themselves alone,
almost assure him immortality.
Both in the temples and hypogeums
| the SldlueB Oh pIlNdLS per "SIS lil-
tended to serve as support to the soul.
The conservation they received anil
mated them, so to speak. and made
them substitutes for the defunct; the
offerings destined for the other world
were served to them.
Rich Mans Tomb.
The tomb Of a rich man possessed a
veritable chapel, to which a special
body of priests was attached, formed
of honka, or priests of the double. At
the sacramento festivals the priests
of the double performed the necessary
rites, they looked after the upkeep Of
nues. The statues of the tombs them
selves demanded particular care.
Indeed. the clergy OF the temple in
which they were placed claimed their
cestor worship; veritable acts Of do
nation were drawn up in their favor,
in which were Hpecified the part they
were to play. in the. ceremonies, the
their share for the service rendered,
the number of days in the year conse-
Eecrated to each statue.
The. ceremonial Is set out in detail,
and we are shown how and under what
conditions a dead person was fed in
Egypt. The rolls, meat and corn were
placed in front Of the statue by the
who. after taking their part, transmit
ted the rest to the double.
Stone Portraits.
We now understand that the statues
that do not represent gods are always
n uniquely portraits as exact as the
artists could render them. Each was a
stone body; not an ideal body In which
only beauty Of form or expression was
sought, but a real body as to which
care should be taken neither to add
nor take away anything.
If the body of flesh had been ugly,
the body Of stone must be ugly in the
same way, otherwise the double would
not find the support he needed. The
statue from which the head preserved
In the Louvre was broken of was I'M
doubtedIy the faithful portrait of the
individual whose name was engraved
on 1T. if the realism of the expression
is somewhat brutal, it Is the fault Of
the model who had not taken care to
be handsome, and not that Of the
sculptor, who woul have been guilty
OF. a sort of impiety II he had altered
the physiognomy Of his model in the
least detail.
Have You Met the "But" Family?
Robert J. Burdette in The Los An
geles Times: I wonder what 1t is that
some persons who are slave to
@donfyp paver have any pleasant du-