PROFESSORS OF THE EL-AZHAR.
THE CITADEL, CAIRO, WITH MOSQUE OF MOHAMMED ALI.
Doctor Bronson told his young friends that the finest general view of Cairo, and the surrounding region, was from the Citadel, at the southern end of the city. They went there several times, generally a little while before sunset, and the impression they received is well described in the following letter from Frank to his mother:
VIEW FROM THE CITADEL, CAIRO.
".... The view from the hill where the Citadel stands has been called the finest in the world, or certainly one of the finest, and in all our travels we do not remember anything that can surpass it. We stood on the platform of the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, and had the great city of Cairo spread at our feet. Immediately below us was an open square, with groups of people and camels moving slowly about. Just beyond was the beautiful Mosque of Sultan Hassan, and beyond the mosque was the plain covered with cupolas and flat roofs, seamed with streets and avenues, dotted with waving palm-trees, and revealing open spaces here and there,to give diversity to the picture. Beyond the city was the bright green of the rich Valley of the Nile. In front of us was the famous old river of Egypt, like a broad, irregular belt of silver, reflecting the light of the setting sun, and forming a sharp contrast with the land through which it flows. Across the green fields, which were stippled with the white walls of palaces or dotted with the brown villages of the peasants, our gaze rested on the yellow desert, backed by the Libyan mountains which form the western horizon. From the edge of the desert the great pyramids rose in all their grandeur, and it was not difficult for us to realize their enormous proportions. From other points the pyramids had appeared to be almost on a level with the valley of the river, but as we viewed them from the Citadel we could see that they stood on a rocky platform fully a hundred feet in height.
"Doctor Bronson says every traveller should make his plans so as to come often to the Citadel, and there can be no better time for the view than at sunset. In the morning there is liable to be a haze on the landscape, and at noon there is too much glare of light, especially when the eye is turned toward the desert. At sunset the colors of the Egyptian sky are at their best. You may have wondered sometimes, when looking at pictures of Egypt, whether there is really as much color as the artists give us. We can assure you that no painting we have yet seen is at all exaggerated, and if you could have a sunset view from the Citadel of Cairo you would fully agree with us.
"The Citadel was built by the great conqueror Saladin, and stone for its construction was brought from the pyramids and from the ruins of Memphis, a few miles farther up the river. The spot was not wisely chosen, as the hill is commanded by a higher one just back of it. On this latter hill Mohammed Ali placed his cannons, and compelled the surrender of the Citadel, and consequently of Cairo. There are two roads leading up to the Citadel, one a broad carriage-way, and the other a narrow lane. We went by one and came by the other. In the latter—the narrow lane—the guide showed us a spot which has an historic interest, and perhaps you would like to hear about it:
"There was a body of soldiers in Egypt called the Mamelukes, and they ruled the country for several centuries. They chose the governors of the provinces, and could place one of their number on the throne at any time they wished; in fact, they controlled the country, and the nominal ruler was obliged to do as they wished. When Napoleon came here in 1798 they fought him in the famous Battle of the Pyramids, and were defeated; many of them were killed, and others fled to UpperEgypt, but enough remained to give trouble. When Mohammed Ali came to Egypt, after the French had been driven out by the English, the Mamelukes made him understand that he could do nothing without them. He soon determined to do something with them, and get rid of their interference.
"He sent invitations for the chiefs—four hundred and seventy in all—to come to the Citadel on the first day of March, 1811, to a grand banquet, where they would discuss the plans for a campaign into Nubia. They came at the appointed hour, and assembled in the narrow lane I told you of, waiting for the upper gate to open. When they were all in the lane the lower gate was shut, and there they were in a trap! Then the Albanian soldiers of Mohammed Ali began to fire on the Mamelukes from the loop-holes and the top of the walls. All were killed except one man, Enim Bey, who made his horse leap through a gap in the wall. The horse was killed by the fall, but his rider's life was saved. This was the end of the power of the Mamelukes in Egypt.
"Fred says Mohammed Ali reminds him of the Spanish warrior who said, on his death-bed,
"'I leave no enemies behind me; I've shot them all!'
"The mosque, which was begun by Mohammed Ali and finished by his successors, is on the site of the palace erected by Saladin. It is built of alabaster, from the quarries up the Nile, and though faulty in many points of its architecture, is an interesting structure. It is sometimes called the 'Alabaster Mosque,' and as we went through it our admiration was excited by the richness of the materials of which it is composed. The tomb of Mohammed Ali is in one corner of the building, and is surrounded with a handsome railing, but there is nothing remarkable about the tomb itself. Close by the mosque is the palace; but it is in a half-ruined condition, and contains only a few rooms worth visiting.
"We went to Joseph's Well, which is a shaft nearly three hundred feet deep in the limestone rock; the tradition is that it is the well into which Joseph was cast by his brethren, but it probably gets its name from 'Yoosef,' which was the other name of Saladin the Conqueror. There was a well here when Saladin built the Citadel, but it was choked with sand, and the great ruler ordered it to be cleared out and made useful. It is probable that the well was originally made by the ancient Egyptians, and, if so, it may be the one into which Joseph was cast by his brethren. There is a sakkieh for raising water in this well, but it is of little importance at present, as the Citadel is now supplied by means of a steam-pump."
THE TOMBS OF THE CALIPHS.
From the Citadel our friends went to "the Tombs of the Caliphs," which extend along the east side of the city, and are conveniently reached by the Bab-el-Nasr. They are supposed to be the burial-places of the caliphs or sultans who ruled from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. Some of them are or were magnificent structures, while others are comparatively plain in appearance. Down to the beginning of this century they had large revenues for keeping them in repair, and were guarded by the descendants of the sheiks and their followers, who had charge of them during their days of glory. Their revenues were taken away by Mohammed Ali, and since the time of that ruthless despot the custodians of the tombs have lived by what they could beg from visitors. Beyond the Citadel is a similar necropolis, called "the Tombs of the Mamelukes."
Evidently the buildings were erected, in most instances, without regard to cost, and before they began to decay they were to be ranked among the triumphs of Moslem architecture. Some of the domes and minarets are still magnificent, particularly those marking the resting-place of Sultan Barkuk and Keit Bey. The latter is considered the finest of all, and is the one most frequently drawn or painted by artists.
THE TOMB OF KEIT BEY.
The boys paid a second visit to the tomb of Keit Bey, and carried along their sketching materials. They found the architecture more difficult to represent than they had supposed, and Frank made two or three attempts at the graceful minaret before he succeeded in satisfying himself.The minaret is one of the finest in Cairo; it rises from a corner of the building, and has three stages or balconies, which diminish as they approach the top. The summit is shaped like a pear, and is usually disfigured with poles, from which flags are hung on days of festivals. The dome bears a marked resemblance to that of the Taj Mahal at Agra, in India, and terminates in a sharp spire instead of the conventional half-moon that generally surmounts a Moslem edifice. While Frank was busy with the structure, Fred made a sketch of several camels that were halted in front of the famous mausoleum, and the work of the two youths was afterward united into a single picture.
An early day was devoted to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Boulak, a suburb of Cairo, and practically a part of the city. An excursionwas made to Old Cairo, and from there by ferry to the island of Rhoda. On the latter is the famous Nilometer, or instrument for measuring the depth of water in the Nile; it is a square well, connected with the river, so that the water can freely rise and fall within it. In the centre of the well is a stone column, marked like a scale, with the old Arabic measures: thedra, or ell, was the unit of measurement, and was 21-1/8 inches in length, divided into 24kirat. The height of the column is 17 ells, or about 30 feet, and the Nile at its lowest point covers about 7 ells of this length. When the water mounts to 15-2/8 ells the river is considered full, and the whole valley of the Lower Nile can be inundated. The embankments that restrain the water are then cut with a great many ceremonies, and the prospect of an abundant harvest causes general rejoicing.
Doctor Bronson explained to the youths that the taxation each year was based on the height of the water at the inundation, and the Nilometer was the official evidence of the condition of the river. Inscriptions on some of the monuments show that the ceremonies of cutting the banks were established as early as the fourteenth century before the Christianera, and the taxation was based on the height of water in ancient times as at present. The Nilometer was exclusively in charge of the priests, and the people were not allowed to see it. It was the object of the authorities to tax the people as heavily as possible, and there is good reason to believe that the priests made false statements concerning the height of the water, and no one could contradict them. The Arab and Turkish rulers did the same thing, and the practice is continued to the present time; at the period of the inundation the Nilometer is closed to the public, and every one must depend upon the figures of the officer in charge. As he owes his position to the government, it is pretty certain that he does what the government desires, and reports the river at the highest figure whether it is so or not.
The guide pointed out the spot at the end of the island where the infant Moses was found by the daughter of Pharaoh. The boys thought the place was pretty enough for the historical event to have occurred there, but were in some doubt as to the correctness of the guide's information.
THE FERRY AT OLD CAIRO.
Before the construction of the bridge over the Nile the principal crossing of the river was by the ferry at Old Cairo. At present it is not so much in use; but there is yet a considerable business transacted there, and the stranger will generally find a crowd of men and camels waiting to be taken to the other side.
The evening previous to the visit to the museum at Boulak was devoted to a study of the history of ancient Egypt, so that the youths would have an understanding of the interesting collection of antiquities in that establishment. At the Doctor's suggestion Frank and Fred wrote a brief account of what they had learned, and placed it on the pages of their journal. Here is what they prepared:
THE DRESS OF AN EGYPTIAN KING. FORM OF CROWN AND APRONS.
"The history of ancient Egypt is full of interest, and has been a subject of a great deal of study by many learned writers. Herodotus, who has been called 'the father of history,' and flourished in the fifth century before the Christian era, was the first of these writers, and some of the discoveries of the present time have been based on his records. Another Greek writer, Manetho, lived two centuries later than Herodotus, but, unfortunately, the greater part of his works have not come down to us. A large part of the history of ancient Egypt has been obtained from the inscriptions on the walls of the temples and tombs, and from the writings upon papyrus scrolls, and the linen in which mummies were rolled. In modern times there have been many explorers and writers who have devoted years of study to the subject, and consequently we know more of ancient Egypt than of any other country of antiquity. If you wishto know more than we can tell you now about the people that lived here four thousand years ago, we refer you to the works of Wilkinson, Poole, Mariette, Lepsius, Belzoni, Bunsen, Brugsch, and many others. There are books enough on Egypt to keep you busy a whole year, and perhaps two years, just to read them through. We are reading 'The Ancient Egyptians,' by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and find it very interesting.
MENES.
"The first King of Egypt that we know about was Menes, who founded the City of Memphis. There is a difference of opinion among the writers as to the date when he existed; Wilkinson, Poole, and others say he lived about 2700b.c., Bunsen says it was 3623b.c., and Mariette thinks it was 5004b.c. The reason why they make this difference is because some of them believe the dynasties, or families of kings, of ancient Egypt succeeded one another, while others believe some of them ruled at the same time in different parts of the country. The difference between the 'successive' and the 'contemporaneous' theories, when you add up the periods of all the dynasties, is more than two thousand years. Down to the seventeenth dynasty the figures are uncertain; from the seventeenth to the twenty-first it is agreed that the dynasties were successive, but there is some difference about their dates; while from the twenty-first dynasty to the Christian era there is no dispute.
"Perhaps this is dry reading; if so, you had better go over it carefully, and then skip.
"Whether King Menes lived seven or five thousand years ago makes very little difference to us, and probably to him, as he is dead now. To avoid confusion we will take the theory of Wilkinson, and suppose it was only five thousand years ago that the first dynasty began. That will seem more neighborly, and bring us so near to Menes that we can almost imagine we knew him personally. Just think of it—only five thousand years ago!
"Some of the dynasties of ancient Egypt lasted two hundred years and more, while others were much less, the shortest dynasty being seventy days. During the fourth dynasty, which lasted two hundred years, the Pyramids of Gizeh were built (about 2400b.c.). In the twelfth dynasty many monuments and temples were erected, and many of the famous tombs were made; Abraham, and afterward Joseph, came to Egypt, and several important events of Egyptian history belong to this dynasty. The eighteenth dynasty lasted nearly two hundred and fifty years (in the sixteenth, fifteenth, and fourteenth centuriesb.c.), and was the most brilliant of all the periods of ancient Egypt. Thebes and other cities were in the height of their glory, the armies made great conquests, the temples at Karnak and Thebes were built, and the obelisks that are to-day the wonder of the world were brought from Syene, and erected where they could attest the power of the rulers of the land. The inscriptions on the monuments say that during the reign of Thothmes III., one of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, 'Egypt placed her frontier where she pleased.'
RAMESES II., FROM AN INSCRIPTION.
"During the nineteenth dynasty one king, Rameses II. (or 'The Great'), reigned sixty-seven years, and left many monuments that remain to this day. One of his predecessors in the same dynasty, Sethi I., built several magnificent temples, and madethe first canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. The flight of the Israelites from bondage occurred in this dynasty during the reign of Meneptah. He is generally known in history as the Pharaoh of the Exodus; and it is well to explain here that Pharaoh was the Egyptian word for 'king,' and is properly prefixed to the name of the ruler. The Egyptians would say 'Pharaoh Rameses,' 'Pharaoh Necho,' and the like, just as we say 'King George,' or 'King Charles.'
MENEPTAH, THE SUPPOSED PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS.
"In the twenty-seventh dynasty Egypt was taken by the Persians, and held by them one hundred and twenty years. Then the Egyptians made a successful rebellion, and drove out their oppressors till the thirty-first dynasty, when the Persians came back again. In the thirty-second dynasty (332b.c.) Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, and founded Alexandria. The Greeks ruled the country for three hundred years, till the time of Cleopatra, at the beginning of the Christian era (thirty-fourth dynasty), when it became a Roman province, and what is called 'Ancient Egypt' came to an end. As we are not concerned now with modern Egypt, we will close our historical record and take breath."
With this brief outline of the history of ancient Egypt in their minds the boys were able to make an intelligent observation of the museum atBoulak. On their way thither the Doctor gave them a history of the Museum which owed its existence to the labors of Mariette Bey.[5]
THE NAME OF EGYPT IN HIEROGLYPHICS.
"In the early half of this century," said the Doctor, "many of the tombs of the ancient Egyptians were explored, and their contents carried away to the museums of Europe. In 1850 the French Government sent an officer, Auguste Edouard Mariette, to examine the ruins of Memphis. His mission was successful, as he discovered the Serapeum, or tombs of the Sacred Bulls, and opened one of the principal temples of the long-ruined city. In 1856 the Egyptian Government appointed him Director of the Department for the Preservation of Egyptian Antiquities, with the title of Bey, and gave him a liberal allowance of money for carrying on his work. Through his efforts an order was made forbidding the exportation of antiquities, and establishing a museum near Cairo for their preservation. So much has been found that the museum at Boulak has been filled, and a new and larger building has been erected on the opposite side of the Nile, to which the collection will be transferred. Many interesting discoveries have been made, and every year reveals something new. Much light has been thrown on the history of ancient Egypt, and many questions that were formerly matters of dispute have been set at rest. It is safe to say that we have learned more about ancient Egypt through the labors of Mariette Bey than through those of all other explorers combined, with the possible exception of Champollion."
PTOLEMY IN HIEROGLYPHICS.
Frank asked who Champollion was, and what he discovered.
"I know," said Fred; "he discovered the Rosetta Stone, and told what was written on it."
THE ROSETTA STONE, WITH SPECIMEN LINES FROM THE INSCRIPTION.
"He did not discover the Rosetta Stone," the Doctor answered, "but he translated it. The stone was found at Rosetta, in 1799, by a French engineer, and when the English came to Egypt they sent it to the British Museum. It was a slab, with an inscription upon it in three languages.
"Previous to that time nobody could make anything out of the Egyptian hieroglyphics; there were plenty of them, but no one was able to read a syllable, or even a letter. A key was wanted, and Champollion found it in the Rosetta Stone.
"The inscription was in three languages, one of them being Greek, and the other two the hieroglyphic and demotic, or common language of the ancient Egyptians. The Greek inscription proved to be a decree of one of the Ptolemies, about the beginning of the Christian era. The name of the king occurred several times, and Champollion observed that certain characters appeared at about the same intervals in the hieroglyphic and demotic versions as the royal title in the Greek. With this as a starting-point he went to work and built up a grammar and dictionary of the language of ancient Egypt. He found the key that had been missing for nearly two thousand years—the key to unlock the mysteries of the language of the people who built the pyramids and the great temples at Thebes.
"It is no wonder that the Rosetta Stone is considered one of the most precious treasures of the British Museum, and that the name of Champollion is revered by every student of history.
"I cannot give you a better definition of the forms of writing among the Egyptians than by quoting the words of Mr. Prime. 'There were,'he says, 'three styles of manuscript and sculpture—hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic. The first was a language of complete pictures, the second of outlines derived from the first, and the third was the character for the people—a species of running-hand derived from the others. The first was the style of the monumental sculptures; the second of the priestly writings; the third was for the ordinary transactions of the people.'
SPECIMENS OF THE THREE FORMS OF WRITING USED BY THE EGYPTIANS.
"And here," said the Doctor, as he opened a book and exhibited a page with some characters upon it, "we have specimens of the three languages, one taken from the walls of a temple, and the other two from rolls of papyrus."
The boys looked at the printed page, and readily distinguished the difference between the three kinds of writing. While they were discussing its curious features the carriage halted in front of the entrance to the museum, and the dialogue was suspended.
DEDICATION OF THE PYLON OF A TEMPLE.
Boulak is the port of Cairo, as the great city does not stand on the banks of the Nile, but a couple of miles away from it. Before the days of the railway Boulak was a place of considerable importance, as it was the point of arrival and departure for the steamers plying between Cairo and Alexandria, and at the present day it is the station for steamers ascending the Nile. It was chosen as the site of the Museum of Antiquities on account of the convenience of landing statues and other heavy objects directly from the boats that had brought them down the river, and the museum was erected on the very bank of the stream. But the position was found insecure, on account of the tendency of the Nile to change its channel, and for several years the safety of the treasures accumulated under the direction of Mariette Bey has been seriously threatened.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTORS AT WORK.
Our friends passed through the gate-way, and found themselves in a garden filled with large statues and sphinxes. Their attention was attracted to the colossal statue of a king in a sitting posture, and close to it were several sphinxes. The Doctor explained that the figure represented one of the kings of the twelfth dynasty. Some of the sphinxes came from Karnak, and once formed part of the great avenue leading to the temple, while others were from Tanis and Sakkara. The statue of the king was of solid granite and admirably carved, leaving no doubt that the Egyptians were well advanced in the art of the sculptor.On the walls of the temples at Karnak there are several pictures that show how the makers of royal statues performed their work, and the methods in vogue seem to have been almost identical with those of modern sculptors.
We have neither time nor space for describing all that our friends saw in the museum, and can only refer to the objects of greatest importance. As they had talked about the Rosetta Stone, and the key it gave to the translation of the language of the ancient Egyptians, the Doctor led the way to the "Tablet of Tanis," in the first hall of the museum, and told the youths to observe it closely.
"It is," he explained, "a more perfect stone than the one found at Rosetta, as it is in a fine state of preservation, while the Rosetta one was badly defaced. Here is a decree in three languages—Greek, hieroglyphic, and demotic—and the translation confirms the correctness of Champollion's theory, which I have already explained. It was found in 1866 by Doctor Lepsius, and you see that it is regarded of great importance, as it is framed and covered with glass to protect it from possible injury."
Frank asked what was the language of the decree, and how old it was.
"According to the translation," said Doctor Bronson, "it was made by an assembly of priests in the Temple of Canopus, on the 7th of March, 238b.c. It praises the king for having brought back the image of the gods from Asia, gained many victories, established peace, and averted famine by importing corn; and it ordains that festivals shall be held in all the temples of Egypt in honor of Princess Berenice, who died a short time before the date of the assembly. The inscription closes with a declarationthat the decree shall be engraved on stone in three languages, just as you see it here, and there is no doubt that the stone we are looking at was prepared in obedience to this order."
WOODEN STATUE FOUND AT SAKKARA.
In another room the Doctor halted in front of a wooden statue, and waited for the youths to fix their attention upon it. They were not long in doing so, nor in expressing their admiration for its wonderfully life-like appearance. When they had looked at it a few moments the Doctor explained what it was.
"It is probably the oldest wooden statue in existence," said he, "and some persons think it is the oldest statue of any kind in the world. It represents asheik el belyd, or village chief, and was found in a tomb at Sakkara. Mariette Bey says it belongs to the fourth dynasty, and is not far from six thousand years old."
"Six thousand years old!" said both the youths in a breath.
"Yes, six thousand years old," was the answer; "but, as I told you, there was a difference of opinion among the Egyptologists; it may be more modern than that, and not over four thousand years old."
"Even if it is only four thousand," responded Frank, "it is antique enough to be very interesting."
"Yes," the Doctor continued, "we needn't trouble ourselves about a matter of twenty centuries. We will split the difference, and call it five thousand years."
"How life-like it looks!" exclaimed Fred. "It almost appears as if it were ready to speak to us. And what an expression about the eyes!"
"The eyes are unequalled in any modern statue," said the Doctor. "You observe that they are set in rims of bronze, which serve for eyelids; the eye itself is made of opaque quartz, like ground glass, and there is a piece of rock-crystal in the centre, which forms the pupil. If you look closely you see a glittering point below the crystal, which makes the eye sparkle as though its owner were about to smile. There is nothing of modern times that equals it."
One of the boys asked if the statue was in the condition in which it was found. The Doctor said the feet had been restored, so that thefigure could be placed upright, and the stick in the left hand was modern. "In all other respects," said he, "the statue is just as it was found, and it is a rule of the museum to keep everything as nearly as possible in its original condition."
Other statues were examined, and at length the boys stopped in front of a case containing several small articles of wood and stone.
"What are these things?" said Frank, pointing to one corner of the case.
"And these? and these?" said Fred, as his eye wandered from one thing to another.
WOODEN DOLLS.
"They are mostly toys for children," the Doctor answered. "Yousee that the ancient Egyptians tried to amuse their little ones just as parents in America try to do to-day."
CHILDREN'S TOYS.
The collection of toys was an interesting one. Here was a rude figure of a man supposed to be washing, or kneading dough, and he was made to move his hands up and down an inclined board by means of a string, like a "jumping-jack" of to-day. A wooden crocodile was there, with his under-jaw moving up and down at the will of the child who owned it, and there were several wooden dolls, some well modelled, and others painted in brilliant colors, intended to catch the juvenile eye.
The sight of the toys naturally brought up a question relative to the games played by the ancient Egyptians.
POSITIONS IN PLAYING BALL.
BALLS OF LEATHER AND PORCELAIN.
"There is abundant evidence," the Doctor remarked, "that the Egyptians were familiar with many games which are popular at the present time. We are not aware that they had base-ball clubs five thousand years ago, and there is no proof that they went about the country playing for 'gate-money;' but that they used to play ball we know very well from the pictures on the walls of the tombs, and from sculptures elsewhere. And, furthermore, the balls they played with have been found at Thebes, some of them covered with leather like our own, and stuffed with bran or corn-husks, or of stalks of rushes plaited together into a solid mass. There were also balls covered with strips of leather of different colors, as we have them to day, and several have been found of glazed earthen-ware, on which the colors were laid before the ball was baked.
PLAYING BALL MOUNTED.
"The positions they took in playing ball are the same that you will see at base-ball matches in America. There is one picture of a curious game, in which it was the custom for some of the players to mount on the backs of the others, probably on account of the latter failing to catch the ball when it was thrown at them, or for some other forfeit. They also had the trick of throwing two or more balls in the air and catching them, just as you see jugglers performing in our own time. If you want to believe that there is nothing new under the sun, you will go a long way toward it by studying the life and manners of the Egyptians of the days that are gone.
PLAYING CHECKERS.
"They had the game of draughts or checkers almost identical with the one we play to-day. They did not play at cards, so far as we know. In fact, cards were invented in comparatively modern days, and the tradition is that they were originally made for the amusement of an insane king. The Egyptians had the game of "mora," and from them it probably descended to the Italians, with whom it is a national amusement. They were skilful in what we call 'the Indian club exercise,' and one of the pictures represents men raising heavy weights, after the manner of the professors of gymnastics in New York or Chicago. Sometimes they used bags of sand instead of clubs or stones, but the result was the same in each case—an exhibition of strength.
SAND-BAG EXERCISE.
"There are pictures that show bull-fights and rowing-matches, together with other amusements of the same sort. Wrestlers were as numerous as they are to-day, and probably quite as skilful, and endowed with similar strength; but we have nothing to prove to us that they travelled with the circus, or that an Egyptian Barnum existed with his wonderful hippodrome. Many of the wrestlers were women, and some of the pictures represent them showing feats of strength of which the men might be proud."
A BULL-FIGHT.
From the room of the toys our friends wandered to another which contained, among other things, several mummies, together with the cases in which they had reposed. Some of the mummies were wholly and others only partially unrolled, and the boys eagerly examined the remains of the ancient inhabitants of the land. While they were doing so, Doctor Bronson explained the process by which bodies were preserved by the Egyptians, and their reasons for devoting so much time and attention to the preservation of the dead.
GODDESSES OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE.
"The ancient Egyptians," said he, "had a great many gods: the list is so long that it would not be worth while to name them all, as you could not remember them; and, besides, it would take more time than we haveto spare. Each of the gods had distinct attributes, and was represented in a form unlike the others; some of them had the heads of birds, beasts, or reptiles, but their bodies were of human shape. They are thus represented on the walls of temples, and the evidences are that the ignorant classes believed the gods had the shapes ascribed to them. There was one supreme deity who had power over all the other gods, and his shape was not represented. The Egyptians believed in the immortality of the soul, in the responsibility of every one for his individual acts, and in a future state of rewards and punishments.
THE NAME OF APIS, AN EGYPTIAN GOD, IN HIEROGLYPHICS.
"They believed that the soul after death took its flight from the body and passed to another world, where it was judged according to its deeds, and received its proper punishment or reward. In course of time it could return to the body it had inhabited, and the length of the period of absence was determined by the god before whom it had been brought to be judged. Of course no one was expected to know the length of the separation of soul and body. It was certain to be for a long period (not less than three thousand years), and therefore it was necessary to preserve the body from decay. This, in brief, is the outline of the religion of the ancient Egyptians, and the reason of their careful preservation of the bodies of their friends.
KING AND QUEEN OFFERING TO THE GODS.
"As the possessor of the greatest wealth the king was more carefully embalmed than his humble subjects; the process of embalming was a secret with certain classes of men, and its professors were looked upon with great respect. The whole work occupied seventy days, and consisted in preserving the body by means of strong salts, and the application of various kinds of aromatic spices, peppers, and the like. The bodies of the rich were carefully wrapped in fine linen, and sometimes hundreds of yards were used for a single operation. The fingers and toes were separatelywrapped, and at each turn of the linen aromatic oils were poured on the cloth so as to saturate it thoroughly. A wooden case, into which the body fitted closely, was made for it, and covered with a history of his life, or with extracts from the 'Book of the Dead.' Another case was placed outside the first, and the whole was then enclosed in a stone coffin or sarcophagus. Then, with suitable ceremonies, the mummy was laid away to await the day of the return of the spirit, and the consequent resurrection."
DIFFERENT FORMS OF MUMMY CASES.
While the Doctor was making this explanation the boys were examining the mummy that lay before them. He was a very quiet mummy, and made no objection to being handled, though the case was different with the attendant in charge of the place. The latter intimated that visitors were not expected to touch anything they saw, but if they wished to look into the box he would open it for them. The hint was taken, and a franc slipped into his hand; the result was our friends had the pleasure of examining the specimen to their complete satisfaction.
TRANSPORTING A MUMMY ON A SLEDGE.
There was an odor of gums and spices as the box was opened, but it was not by any means overpowering. The Doctor said the substances had lost a good deal of their strength in three thousand years, and it was a wonder that any odor at all was perceptible. Some of the linenwrappings had been unwound, so that portions of the dried flesh of the mummy were perceptible. It resembled wood in a state of decay more than anything else, and a very brief inspection was all that our friends cared for. The inscription on the lid of the case was more interesting than was the occupant within, and Fred remarked that the mummy must have been a person of great consequence to need so much door-plate on the outside. "And to think," he added, "that he was shut up for thirty centuries, and had no friends to call and see him!"
GODDESS OF TRUTH, WITH HER EYES CLOSED.
Frank repeated some lines which were originally addressed to a mummy in Belzoni's Museum, in London, many years ago:
"And thou hast walked about—how strange a story!—In Thebes's streets, three thousand years ago.When the Memnonium was in all its glory,And time had not begun to overthrowThose temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,Of which the very ruins are tremendous."Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy.Thou hast a tongue—come, let us hear its tune.Thou'rt standing on thy legs above-ground, mummy,Revisiting the glimpses of the moon;Not like pale ghosts or disembodied creatures,But with thy bones, and legs, and limbs, and features."Tell us, for doubtless thou canst recollect,To whom should we ascribe the Sphinx's fame?Was Cheops or Cephrenes architectOf either pyramid that bears his name?Was Pompey's Pillar really a misnomer?Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer?"
"Good-bye, sweetheart, good-bye!" said Fred, as Frank paused, and the Doctor turned away from the relic of other days.
LADY'S HEAD-DRESS ON A MUMMY CASE.
"You're wrong there," said the Doctor; "he has not a sweet heart, but a solid one." Turning to the attendant, he asked him in French to show the scarabæus and other things that came from the mummy at the time the case was opened.