. ,1 



21 



rangomciit-; but from some tombs, containing 

 only bodies which had not been disturbed, a 

 complete skeletons Were collected for si ml y 

 and for comparison of the t\pe>of Kgyptians 

 supposed to be of the earliest historical reign 

 with those of later ages. Instead of being buried 

 full length, as all the later Kgypt ians appear to 

 have been, the-e bodies were crouched, many of 

 them with the knees up to the chin. Crouched 

 bodies in large earthen jars 

 d also to have been 

 found at (ii/.eh, but to have 

 been all destroyed. The 

 bodies \\viv always on the 

 left side, with the face 

 turned toward the east and 

 the head to the north, 

 without the accompani- 

 ments of funeral vessels or 

 head - rests ; but a few 

 scraps of charcoal were 

 found about the body. 

 Full-length burial seems 

 to have been practiced, too, 

 at the same period, with 

 funeral vessels of diorite 

 and alabaster and head- 

 Mr. Petrie suggests that the two methods 

 may mark distinct races the aborigines and the 

 conquerors not yet fused together. The pottery 

 of the fourth dynasty, of which a considerable 

 quantity was found, differs from that of all later 

 periods, and the discovery completes our historic 

 Knowledge of the pottery of Egypt. The survey 

 of the place and the exact measurement of the 

 pyramid are regarded by Mr. Petrie as showing 

 that in this structure, as in the pyramid of Khu- 

 fu, the proportions of the radius to the circle, or 

 7 to 22, prevail in the relations of height to cir- 

 cuit. The mode employed for laying out build- 

 ings was discovered in the course of the work. 

 To found a mostaba with sloping sides on un- 

 even ground, a wall (L shape) was built outside 

 of each corner. Levels on that were drawn a 

 cubit apart; red vertical lines on the walls de- 

 fined the width of the building at the ground 

 level ; and black lines, drawn sloping down out- 

 ward from the red at ground level, defined the 

 planes of the faces. From this arrangement it 

 .isy to start the work, no matter how un- 

 eVen the foundation. 



Excavations at Heracleopolis Maim a. 

 The exploration of Heracleopolis Magna, on the 

 site now known as Hanassieh, composed M. 

 Naville's work for the spring season of 1891. 

 The results were disappointing, in that no works 

 were found attributable to the period of the three 

 dynasties the eighth, ninth, and tenth when 

 the city was the capital of the empire. In the ne- 

 cropolis the tombs had been plundered, and re- 

 used in later times for interments of bodies be- 

 longing to the poorer classes. Here and there 

 were a few relics of former occupants, such as a 

 piece of the handsome funerary cloth on which 

 the weighing of the soul was painted, fragments 

 of papyri, and pieces of limestone hieroglyphic 

 tablet* which were assigned to the eighteenth 

 and nineteenth dynasties. Numerous wooden 

 and terni-cotta tablets were found, and coarse 

 Hxhnfitift, some of which were simply little sticks 

 on which nose and eyes had been indicated with 



ink, and the name written in hieratic. On tin- 

 site of the city nropcr, besides remain* of Unman 

 buildings ami Coptic churches, a struct in. 

 found which seems to be the remains of the vesti- 

 bule of OIK- of the side cut ram-o of the Kgyptiail 

 temple. They consist of six columns, l'? feet 

 high one of them complete with sculptures 

 representing Itameses II making offerings, and 

 the name .,i M, nephthuh in the intervals, while 



FAC-8IMILE FROM F1R6T PACK OF ARIHTOTLK'8 TREATISE ON THE CONSTITUTION 

 OF ATHENS. 



the architraves supported by the columns were 

 cut in a building with the cartouches of User- 

 tesen II, of the twelfth dynasty. The vestibule 

 was open on the water side. A few remaining 

 layers of stones on the other sides bore an in- 

 scription recording the dedication of the build- 

 ing by Rameses to Hershefi, or Arsaphes (a form 

 of Osiris), whose figure is sculptured on two of 

 the columns. A sitting statue of Rameses II, of 

 heroic size, in red limestone painted red, with 

 blue and yellow striped head-dress, and dedicated 

 to Arsaphes ; a red granite statue, of natural size, 

 without any name : a group of much-weathered 

 kneeling figures ; and a headless statue of Rameses 

 II, symmetrical with the former one, but broken, 

 in the opposite corner to it, were also found. 

 Bases of columns more than 4 feet in diameter 

 were seen in situ, and a few stray blocks bearing 

 hieroglyphic signs were found. Otherwise, the 

 whole temple had been destroyed. This temple 

 apparently corresponds with the one described 

 in the Harris papyrus as one of the chief temples 

 of Egypt, to which Rameses II gave slaves. 



A Collection of Priestly Mummies. In 

 excavating to the eastward of the temple of 

 Queen Hatasu, at Deir-el Bahari, a pit was found 

 containing 163 mummies, which, like the royal 

 mummies discovered in 1881, appeared to have 

 been retnoveYl from their tombs and concealed 

 here it is supposed, as in the case of the royal 

 mummies during the twenty-second dynasts. 

 about 966 B. c. The coffins were of the twenty- 

 first dynasty, and contained mummies of the 

 priests of Ra-Amun and their families. They 

 were deposited in a corridor some 10 or 12 feet 

 high and 250 feet long, which was reached by a 

 shall }."> feet deep. The bodies were usually laid 

 in triple coffins, some of which had been gilded, 

 and were piled upon one another with a con- 

 fusion that indicated haste. With them were 

 ba-kets of flowers, funeral offerings, .ind seventy- 

 five wooden statuettes inclosing papyri. The 

 hope that was entertained at first, that these 

 papyri might furnish valuable information, WHS 



