"S6 [ASSEMBLT 



In assigning this number of mummies to the above period, I 

 have made no reference to those which exist in the districts in 

 the back ground, known by the name of Ethiopia (from Siene to 

 Moro). That country, covered with magnificent ruins, and poli- 

 tically separated from Egypt as an independent State, was, never- 

 theless, inhabited by a race possessing nearly the same origin, re- 

 ligion and the same customs as those of the lower part of the 

 basin of the Nile. 



Neither have I accounted for a period of at least 500 years 

 which must have preceded the arrival of Joseph in Egypt, which 

 even at that time was covered with magnificent cities, and inha- 

 bited by a people highly advanced in the arts and sciences, (testi- 

 fied to by the erection of the great pyramid of Cheops or Seam- 

 phis, at Memphis, 2120 B. C, and the elegant workmanship in 

 glass, porcelain, enamel and metal pertaining to objects found in 

 the tombs and mummy cases of that period,) facts which could 

 only have been the results of a certain number of centuries of 

 existence. Nor has any calculation been made for the two or 

 three centuries which elapsed after the birth of the Savior, 

 when Christianity having become the religion of the majority of 

 the people, the custom of embalming the dead ceased. There 

 has, therefore, been omitted from this approximative estimate a 

 quantity of mummy cloth, which would be fully equivalent to a 

 third part of the above mentioned amount. 



These premif^es being laid down, there remain certain questions 

 not difficult of solution. 



How much of this linen cloth is available for paper manufac- 

 ture, and what is its make and value above the cost of collect- 

 ing it 1 



The quantity and quality used varied with the expense and 

 style of embalming, and during the period of 800 years, of the 

 zenith of prosperity of Egypt, embracing two centuries anterior 

 to the exodus of the Jews, to the invasion of Sabaces, 800 B. C, 

 the art of embalming had been carried to the highest degree of 

 perfection, and the finest specimens of mummies and architecture 

 are to be found within that epoch. The former can be distin 



