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Article THE RECENT DISCOVERY AT THEBES. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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The Recent Discovery At Thebes.
Cairo , August 31 . " All those who take an interest in the past life of this country have been awaiting with the utmost anxiety the arrival from Upper Egypt of the proofs of the reported grand discovery made lately , and ivhich Herr E . Brugsch has gone to "bring home to Cairo , said to consist of various kings and queens who have long been known bnamebut have scarcely been thought to exist
y , longer in the state in which they are well known to have been preserved after their death . The remarkable and valuable things found much more than substantiate the reports , but before entering into a description of the actual relics found , and now lying in the Boulak Museum , it may interest you to have a short account of how the valuable mummies , cases , & c , were found and rescued from their tombs .
" It was remarked by the authorities of Upper Egypt during the earlier part of the year that an unusual quantity of antiquities , papyri , statues , pieces of mummy cases , & c , were offered for sale by the natives . A suspicion was caused by this fact aud the matter reported to the Viceroy , who sent Herr E . Brugsch to Upper Egypt to investigate and endeavour to find out the reason . His investigations soon proved to his satisfaction the fact that more was known
of the valued treasure than should be confined to the sole keeping of such people as the natives , whose only reverence for the antiquities is in exact proportion to the amount of sovereigns or piastres they can secure in exchange . More careful and systematic investigation very soon enabled Herr Brugsch to discover the native who was in possession of the desired secret , and he was called to give an account of all he kneiv . To all those knowing the country it
is needless to remark the native was entirely ignorant of any tomb or valuable . However , he was given six hours to make up his mind and receive the reward for disclosing his secret . Fair means failing , and the six hours having passed without , the man presenting himself , an order was issued for his arrest ,
and as he still pleaded ignorance , he was put into prison . Meanwhile , the fact travelled to his brother , with whom he had had a quarrel , and , it being a fine opportunity for revenge , he disclosed the whole secret and conducted Herr Brugsch to the tomb , in which were such treasures as never yet-have been discovered , and one cannot but regret that the late Mariette Pasha is not alive to participate in the wonders which it is now the good fortune of M . G . Maspero to be the medium of giving to the world . At Dayr-el-Baharior the
, Northern Convent in the Lybian mountains , was the pit or tomb , about thirt y feet deep , cut into the solid rock , and leading into a gallery about 150 feet long , and full of the most perfect antiquities yet exhumed . For several minutes Herr Brugsch remained in silent awe , overpowered by the grand sight of the splendid wonders , unable to do anything but gaze at the magnificent cases containing the mummies of E gypt ' s past kings and queenswith
, papyri , statues , & c . Steps Avere at once taken to remove all to Cairo , and a steamer was a few days afterwards on its way with the whole collection bound for the museum , where everything now is . Such is the history of the discoveries , and I should like to describe in detail all there is to see . But this must be left to those more competent than myself , and from whom you will get an historical
account . A few , however , of the most important things may be interesting , which will give you an idea of the great value of this discovery . Through the kindness of a friend I had the pleasure of visiting the museum , and the most interesting of many interesting objects , to an ordinary visitor , are its various and numerous cases containing the mummies of ancient Egyptians and over twentyfive royal personages . English people will generally feel more deeply the value of these discoverieswhen it is knoivn that among the royal mummies are to be
, found the embalmed bodies of King Thothmes III ., about B . C . 1600 , and King Rameses II ., about B . C . 1330 . The former it was who ordered the execution of the obelisk which now ornaments the Thames Embankment , and the latter who , 270 years later , added his own titles to those already inscribed by order of his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Recent Discovery At Thebes.
Cairo , August 31 . " All those who take an interest in the past life of this country have been awaiting with the utmost anxiety the arrival from Upper Egypt of the proofs of the reported grand discovery made lately , and ivhich Herr E . Brugsch has gone to "bring home to Cairo , said to consist of various kings and queens who have long been known bnamebut have scarcely been thought to exist
y , longer in the state in which they are well known to have been preserved after their death . The remarkable and valuable things found much more than substantiate the reports , but before entering into a description of the actual relics found , and now lying in the Boulak Museum , it may interest you to have a short account of how the valuable mummies , cases , & c , were found and rescued from their tombs .
" It was remarked by the authorities of Upper Egypt during the earlier part of the year that an unusual quantity of antiquities , papyri , statues , pieces of mummy cases , & c , were offered for sale by the natives . A suspicion was caused by this fact aud the matter reported to the Viceroy , who sent Herr E . Brugsch to Upper Egypt to investigate and endeavour to find out the reason . His investigations soon proved to his satisfaction the fact that more was known
of the valued treasure than should be confined to the sole keeping of such people as the natives , whose only reverence for the antiquities is in exact proportion to the amount of sovereigns or piastres they can secure in exchange . More careful and systematic investigation very soon enabled Herr Brugsch to discover the native who was in possession of the desired secret , and he was called to give an account of all he kneiv . To all those knowing the country it
is needless to remark the native was entirely ignorant of any tomb or valuable . However , he was given six hours to make up his mind and receive the reward for disclosing his secret . Fair means failing , and the six hours having passed without , the man presenting himself , an order was issued for his arrest ,
and as he still pleaded ignorance , he was put into prison . Meanwhile , the fact travelled to his brother , with whom he had had a quarrel , and , it being a fine opportunity for revenge , he disclosed the whole secret and conducted Herr Brugsch to the tomb , in which were such treasures as never yet-have been discovered , and one cannot but regret that the late Mariette Pasha is not alive to participate in the wonders which it is now the good fortune of M . G . Maspero to be the medium of giving to the world . At Dayr-el-Baharior the
, Northern Convent in the Lybian mountains , was the pit or tomb , about thirt y feet deep , cut into the solid rock , and leading into a gallery about 150 feet long , and full of the most perfect antiquities yet exhumed . For several minutes Herr Brugsch remained in silent awe , overpowered by the grand sight of the splendid wonders , unable to do anything but gaze at the magnificent cases containing the mummies of E gypt ' s past kings and queenswith
, papyri , statues , & c . Steps Avere at once taken to remove all to Cairo , and a steamer was a few days afterwards on its way with the whole collection bound for the museum , where everything now is . Such is the history of the discoveries , and I should like to describe in detail all there is to see . But this must be left to those more competent than myself , and from whom you will get an historical
account . A few , however , of the most important things may be interesting , which will give you an idea of the great value of this discovery . Through the kindness of a friend I had the pleasure of visiting the museum , and the most interesting of many interesting objects , to an ordinary visitor , are its various and numerous cases containing the mummies of ancient Egyptians and over twentyfive royal personages . English people will generally feel more deeply the value of these discoverieswhen it is knoivn that among the royal mummies are to be
, found the embalmed bodies of King Thothmes III ., about B . C . 1600 , and King Rameses II ., about B . C . 1330 . The former it was who ordered the execution of the obelisk which now ornaments the Thames Embankment , and the latter who , 270 years later , added his own titles to those already inscribed by order of his