The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18

Newspaper Alliance for The Age-
 Herald in United States and Cam
 ada.)
 NEW YORK, March 17.-Why do men spend their lives digging up the musty tombs of Egyptian kings civilized world today, 1900 years since the coming of Christ-impa- tently awaits every vestige of in- formation emanating from the recent discovery of civilization that was at it's height 1900 years before 'e Christ7 time. Why? What have these exhaustive and persevering re- searches contributed to the fund of human knowledge? The answer can be summed up in the reply of MT. Ambrose Lansing, assistant director of the department of sEgyptology of tho New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. a noted archaeologist and f' experienced eXcavator. ''The contribution of Egyptology." says MT. Lansing, lis of no material value, in the sense of being of prac- tical use-if one discounts the pres ent craze among the modistes, or the occasional furniture dealers who like to copy some Theban design. In t ancient Egypt the sciences were still in their infancy-rudiments of ge- ometry or bit of elementary phy- sics being the extent of their de- velopment.
 No Literature or Philosophy
 There have been no records of 2 Egyptian scribes, no writer of his- tories, dramas, or romance, as we find in the early Greek civilization. What written records have been pre- served have been merely the person. al eulogies of great kings and mo- bles. q might make one exception in t, k. .I1 ~f Il. iphar's wife, which was undoubtedly of Egyptian origin).
 "The idea of immortality of the soul, if this could be called a philo- sophical contribution, was an Egyp- tan conception, although the same idea has persisted through nearly all civilizations.
 In Pharoah Akhnaton, the father- in-law of Tutankhamen, we find the first disciple of monotheistic form of religion.
 Excelled in Architecture
 Tn the field of architecture the Egyptians eXcelled, although the form and technique of their work has long since passed into the dis card. We have marveled at the con struction of the great pyramids and the immense stone obelisks and won- H1ered how such accomplishments tewere possible with the apparently | meagre tools at hand. But these n.arvels could be duplicated many Y times over today. The names of a ,i1ew Egyptian architects have come :. down to us, such as: Senmut of the :, eighteenth dynasty; Puyemure, the official architect and builder for Thutmose III; Daga, who built the temple of Mentohotup III, and Amen hotep, the father of Akhanaton.
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 Better EmbnlminE Today
 Tn weaving and linen making the Egyptians showed great skill, but the early Greeks were much more adept at this sort of work and did it with much greater efficiency. In 'embalming, which many have con sidered the great hidden art of Egypt, we today are far superior. ., What Egypt Does Contribute .i 'Only in the sense, therefore, that 'tiall civilization is evolutionary-tha 'tevery period of development has :. taken it's source in the period before |. .it-can we ascribe any definite ma . terial contribution to the early EEyp- iians. What we do gain by these delvings into a remote past is the fields of history and art. And, what is even more impressive, we have re- vealed to us the unchangeable, eter- .nal nature of men and women as truly ~eXempHHed tOQdy as IL was m the time when, Pharaoh Tutankhamen reigned in lordly splendor."
 The latter is undoubtedly the ex planation of the present popular ap- peal. To know that Egyptian ladies wore side combs in their hair had Z bronze mirrors with ivory handles on their dressers, wood and bone hairpins. Sdaintily carved cosmetic dishes and curling irons, very much the same in design as those sold to- day in the corner drug store, gives to this ancient history a glamor of romantic reality.
 Safety RazOrs And Ink Wells. - In the Metropolitan Museum of Art \. in New York are complete razor out fits used by the gentlemen of age-old Thebes, blades of bronze, grit stones for honing, and small pair of tweezers, all packed. in a neat leather case to facilitate carrying oh jour neys or tucking in the pocket. Also one may see ivory combs, with coarse and fine teeth, just assthey are made today; pen-holders, with wells for red and black ink and the long reeds, frayed at the end like brush, for writing; wooden iewelry boxes and all sorts of fragile receptacles for oils and ointments.
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 Egyptians Had Folding Beds. The ancient Egyptians raked their lawns with garden rakes, long handle