The Recent Discovery At Thebes.

predecessor , Thothmes III . It is difficult to realise the fact that side by side in the Boulak Museum one can now see the actual bodies , enclosed in their respective cases , of men whose orders caused the execution of the monument so lately the object of so much interest in England , and which , in almost perfect preservation , has survived 3000 yeaTS . It is curious to notice in these cases containing the royal mummies the flowers ( among the number the now obsolete lotus ) and

garlands with which it was the custom to encircle the neck of the embalmed body after swathing with cloth , perfect in form , but , perhaps not unnaturally , faded and dry . It is supposed that these royal mummies were removed from their own tombs and sarcophagi to prevent their being desecrated by an invader , perhaps Cambyses , and placed for safety in the pit just discovered . This would seem to be corroborated by the fact that Belzoni found ancl took aivay

to England a sarcophagus , but without any mummy , some years ago , and that the body for which that same sarcophagus Avas made , and said to contain at one time , is now found among the number collected in the Dayr-el-Bahari and now ly ing at Boulak side by side with the supposed father of Rameses II ., during whose reign , it is saict , Moses was born ( somewhere about the sixth year ) . One of the most magnificent of the mummy cases is that containing the body of King Rameses ' s daughter ( possibly the identical lady who found Moses in the cradle among the bulrushes ) , Avhich is in a most perfect state of preservation , looking , at it lies in its coffin , just as if it had only a few hours

previously left the hands of the people whose duty it was to embalm it and swathe it in its cloth . The coffin is most beautifully finished and ornamented with colours and a sort of mosaic of precious stones . The colours are as fresh as though only done yesterday . It is to be regretted that much of the valuable mosaic has been robbed , having been chipped off , evidently with some sharp instrument . The crystal eyes have also been removed , but the breast ornamentations fortunatelremain perfect ancl untouchedthus giving one an idea

y , of the grandeur of this case before its mutilation . If all the wives and children of this distinguished monarch were treated in the same fashion as this daughter , one may hope to some day find other specimens of this grandeur , for he is said to have had many wives aud 170 children . It was during his son's reign ( his successor ) that the plagues of Egypt occurred , and the Exodus of the Israelites . "Everyone will await with impatience the translation of the various

papyri , ivhich form anything but the least important portion of this discovery , and may possibly prove its most valuable feature , as throwing conclusive light upon many points ivhich are now much disputed among savants of Egyptology . Many alabaster A'ases were also found , Avhich are said to contain the heart , & c , of defunct kings and queens , & c . Small statues in many hundreds have also been added to the already large stock in the museum , also a most curious tent made of p ieces of leather of different colours sewn together , and bearing the cartouche of some king , and hieroglyp hs embroidered in various colours . It is supposed to have formed a canopy over the sarcophagus of some king or

queen . Another curious feature in this collection from the Dayr-el-Bahari is a number of hair wigs , the property of royal personages , who upon occasions of grand ceremony thus adorned themselves . " There are many other things of great interest , but you will see from the foregoing how valuable and grand has been and is this collection , the full value of whichhoweverwe must wait until a thorough study has been made by

, , M . G . Maspero and others to thoroughly understand . The papyri read and translated , the mummies , perhaps , unwrapped , and all told which can be by those documents and defunct personages of a far-off past , will afford an interesting subject for some future time . "