The Mummy of a King

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 23, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 37.

The Mummy of a King.

THE Paris correspondent of Science writes:—“A very interesting meeting was recently held at the Academy of Inscriptions. Some days after I sent my last letter it was rumored that M. Maspéro, the very modest and able director of the Boulaq Museum of Cairo, had found some very antiquated and interesting mummies. These were found, as he wrote to the academy, in a cachette of Deïr el Bahari, not at all in their tombs; they had been hidden to prevent violation. The mummies were un-done in presence of Nubar-Pacha, Sir Drummond Wolff, and the Khedive.”

“It was then easily ascertained, by means of the inscriptions on the cloths surrounding the mummies, that one of them was the body of Rameses II. This is certainly a very interesting fact; and it is easily believed that to assist at the unveiling of the corpse of a great conqueror, such as Rameses, who died forty centuries ago, causes an emotion of a rare and novel nature. A photograph of the mummy was produced at the meeting of the academy, and created quite a sensation. Although forty centuries have passed over this dead body, the face is in an excellent state of preservation. The expression is that of a man of high blood, grave, and full of will. The head is rather small, the hair white and rather thin, especially in front. The jaw is very strong; there are no teeth in the mouth. The hands are very elegant, and are yet reddened by the henné which was used for the body’s last toilet.

“Two other corpses have been found. One was in the sarcophagus containing the remains of Rameses II. The body was not as well preserved. It is believed to be one of the sisters or daughters of Rameses. The other corpse is that of Rameses III. The face is that of an intelligent and refined man, but the expression of power and will is less pronounced. The mouth is very large, and the teeth are all in good order. M. Maspéro intends to have these royal corpses renovated and set in good order; they will then be exposed in the Boulaq Museum, where everybody can look and wonder.”