The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, October 30, 1928, Page 9

The mummified head, of Seti 1, one of ancient Egypt's royal young men... . Unlike the luckless romantic maid, he was embalmed the expensive way... may have been a gay, ” young blade like her lover. 4 4 URDER,” they say, “will out.” « But can you imagine a murder committed three thousand years ago, and only now dis- covered ? The dreadful killing of a 16-year-old girl has just been brought to light. A girl who lived and loved —and sinned —when Tutankhamen reigned in ancient Egypt. bes tomb is nameless. Call her Nessita. She was a little creature, with small bones, and tiny hands and feet. She had narrow, sloping shoulders, and a delicately modeled body. Her hair was short, and black and curly. Like all the girls of her crowd, she painted her lips and rouged her cheeks, and put drops in her eyes to make them n ey shine, And her parents scolded her, most ea for her flighty wa Because parents, in those days, probably talked to their children pretty much as they do today. Sometimes you hear a father or a mother teprimand a girl, when she has come in late—or been out with a boy the family doesn’t Ii x done something indiscreet. And very frequently you may have heard Cae say, “I'd rather see you dead, and in your grave, than . * have such and such a thing happen. ‘Well, that is exactly the way certain parents talked who lived in Egypt 3000 years ago. . . . Only today, of course, it is nothing but talk. And in those days they meant it. ESSITA had a lover... . have a baby. She carried her secret in her heart, and there was none who knew. Nessita’s father was a stern man, and her brothers were fearfully old- fashioned about any number of things. They believed, for instance, that it was very wrong of a girl to have £ a boy friend, in even the most casual way. ‘They wanted Nes- sita to marry respectably and prosperously. But to the cravings of her romantic little heart they gave scarcely a thought. So that when the child fell in love, she kept her romance from them. And contrived, without their knowledge, to meet her sweetheart. She met him on moonlight nights, in the desert, in the shadows of the pyramids. on they stood at the foot of the Sphinx, and lighted their troth beneath the stars. And the ugly old Sphinx looked down upon them, as she has looked ‘on countless lovers. And her stony mouth seemed softer in the moonlight, so that, perhaps, they thought she smiled on them. And they met on dark corners of streets about the market pace And, sometimes, when ly bias about, the boy might have gone to Nessita’s house in Until, finally, the Aug an to whisper. They ut their heads together, buzzards, every time "ahr walked down the v4 Perhaps one of them went to fal Maybe it was “ia brothers who heard the scandal. At any the famil rd the Seach rumors. ry call and demanded to know if it And Nessita was going to mona lock of ol % rate, News; _ was Poor Nai Perhaps she denied it—at first. Maybe she admitted it—defiantly, perhaps. And a little proudly, jet she was ed. And then—ch, dreadful murder!—they set upon her—her father and her Craters And they killed her with sticks. And when she lay at their feet, they rained more blows upon her pretty head. And, lest there be a al, they instructed the embalmer to Presre her hurriedly for jeatrcted and to dispose of her body as quickly jessita Three thousand years fe Fo spay bom (renee her broken the secret she bore beneath her heart, And Nessita’s sin—as old world—is bandied today on the tongues of archaeologists; For the reconstruction of this 6 eo room, of ary are Vinee, to the tale of Nessita, who died for love. were working in the Cairo Medes 1 School Je Earl, sal detail ate a fscinatng task of ming a sort of post mortem men—kings He queens and es folk—w! "bodies eee taken Jnogg che auclelt some. where, they Bed teat for 90 canter. “*After one of us had unwrapped-all the mummies, excepting one of mean appearance that seemed to lack any particular ~ ‘ Ve gH F = = = = Old Egyptian drawing showing a iQ yO a One thousand blows with the bastinado . . . was the customary punishment given a man for adultery. intexest, the late Sir Alexander Simpson appeared upon the scene,” Mr. Smith relates. Now, Sir Alexander had recently retired from the Professorship of Midwifery in the University of Edin- burgh, and was naturally particularly interested in obstetrics. “Have you ever,” he asked, “* nancy in a mummy?” Eon gentlemen at work on their examination of t’s ancient tiem explained that no such instance ever been found, because the embalmer removed ha the viscera (that i is, the internal organs) excepting the heart and kidneys. Then Sir Alexander expressed a desire to see a mummy unwrapped. There was only one still swad- dled in its grave cloths—the mean, little mummy in which no one, at the moment, was particularly inter- ested. Students lifted it carefully, and laid it on a table. And then, by a very remarkable coincidence, Sir Alexander and the archaeologists received the surprise of their lives. They were still chatting of the remote possibility of discovering the of a woman about to me a mother. Smith and Dawson and the others were con- vinced that no such finding could ever take place. Yet, by a sort of miracle, the body actually being unwrapped at the moment, proved to be such a one. In three months—had she lived—the girl who lay before them would have become a mother. “The mummy,” says Mr. Dawson, “was that of a young woman not more than 16 years of age. “Immediately before me cab this hee had had both her forearms broken, and led by a blow on the head which had Fate | skull. “From the injuries revealed in her bones, it is clear that she put up one hand after the other, to fend the blows . ; » and had both her wrists broken in turn. “Then, when she was writhing upon the ground in her agony, she received the fatal blow upon her head. IERHAPS in these facts we have the record of an incident for which many parallels might be * found in modern Ey ‘or it is no uncommon occurrence when relatives discover that a girl has com- mitted an indiscretion—the results of which in the case we are considering became apparent at the sixth month of pregnancy—to set on her wil ih sticks ind kill her. “After they had killed Ny the fey ‘was pre- pared for burial in summary Aa without the care that would have been bestowed ed upon her remains if she had not been disgraced. 5 Wha Neste father aod yg coursed her, they thought, of course, were silencing a scandal. One wonders if—where they wander among the Shades—the story of Nessita’s shame has reached them. How surprised they rea be, if they could know that thousands of people will read today of the » crime they committed, because a girl surrendered her ty for love. Tootead of keeping her indiscretion a secret, they were instrumental in publishing it to all the civilized world. For years sorry bai slumbered. And now, at Test murder has out Smith and Dawson have ead agin remark- able discoveries about people who lived thou- sands of years before Jesus Christ was born. They know, for ere that there was a very, ~ vesy old woman who died 900 yeas before Christ, who had bed see She was quite an important lady, ——though nobody the bed sores—the found a case of preg- tragic romance is one of the marvels of ‘science. how women were beaten for grcenty, thought it seas be nicer if ARREN DAWSON and G. Elliot weadeae be eke So ter mone putches of gale So, ste have unwrapped and ex- skin, and affix et ben vr very neatly over and a prominent nose, who wifes horribly toothaches. There Probably wore mot ay. copes We thane dave, ‘The poor people, who lived on coarse foods, had excellent teeth. But .the kings, and all the beautiful ladies who were their ribet pice cavities, and probably walked ate sweets, and got floor nights with jumping toothaches. ‘i STILL LULL LL Lo The Crude Mummy of an Egyptian Girl Yields the Secret of Her Romance And How Her Father and Brothers Killed Her Because They Disapproved “Of Her Clandestine Lover Mummy case un- earthed at Thebes forei the face is a painted likeness of the deceased. (Photos courtesy Boston Museum of Fine Arts) Left, an un- known royal mummy of the XVIL dynasty . and below, an ancient draw- ing of mummy making. A boy is bringing band- ages to the em- balmer while an- other workman polishes the case. een Nefretari, who was very old, was bald on the top of her head. But she was a vain woman, and twisted wisps of false hair among her oat locks. The Lady Ray, who was her nurse, ad gorgeous hair, which she wore in small plaits arranged on either side of her face. She was a graceful, delicate woman, with fine features and well propor- tioned limbs—much better looking than the Queen. ; IHE discoveries made by the scholars who examine mummies are so startling that it seems as if no age-old secrets might be preserved from the all-seeing eyes of modern science. They know, for instance, that the great Seta had a club foot. And that his successor had a mastoid. They know about the gluttonous old Christian who got gout. He was a member of the local comraunity of Christians who settled about the temple of Philae, about 50 years after the Jews had crucified Jesus over in Jerusalem. ~ His feet, especially the rar’ toes, were fearfully gnarled and swoll And, in addi- tion, to the signs of gout, _. were the typical inroads of arthritis. Doctors have analyzed a white concretion taken from the body—and actually it yielded the reactions of uric ! Scientists have discovered that a certain priest died of gall stones. And a prince died of Pott’s disease. There was some little tuberculosis. And a great deal of rheumatism. Rheuma- tism, in fact, appears et te a Sinease of at mest antiquity and wonderful prevalence. m grew to adult life without experiencing = of its ve ffects. shave found the mummy of a woman who died of And scores who from mastoid diseases. Roe hed sms An aged priestess suffered from a It is a curious foes that im a comely hear oe inte have onpecten Mepenty 0 be common, only one case has been found. Social diseases seem to have been There has been no evidence, whatever, of any injuries to the bones. Nor _any even resem| ilitic injuries to the teeth of i jans of ancient times. Post mortems oa pepe! It is ghastly. And marvelous almost beyond bel The diagnoses ible because of the miraculous success Jc bes eee rome ‘ew people have the oles et Cae lost art. But from an ancient hen by Tecedotss. 200, Ses 500 Lady before Christ, you ma maing of the ma of re The most , perfect way was extremely expensive. The second way was | (Copyright, 1928, NEA Magazine) 6 OL UTS HNN DAU MAA A painted limestone statue of the IV dynasty... . sita may have looked like this when she loved beneath an Egyptian moon. MUU id OU UU \ _MUTOIIUUNNUUYUNUTUUOUADUAU LUTHERAN gy Poor little 16-year-old Nes« inferior and less costly, And the third way cost practically nothing. In the expensive way, they drew the brain out through the nostrils with an iron hook, taking part of it this way, and the rest by pouring in drugs. Next they made an incision in the flank, and removed all the entrails, cleansing and purifying the body, filling it with myrrh and cassia and frankincense. Then, sewing up the incision, they soaked the corpse in a natron for 70 days. And, afterward, they stuffed it with fine linen, to preserve the contour of the living body. Sometimes they filled the cheeks ith butter, which was a good preservative. Sometimes they made artificial eyes. Some mummies have small onions inserted under the lids. The vital organs, which were removed, were preserved and placed in jars, because the dead would undoubtedly need them in the next world. But first they were duplicated so exactly that it was practically impossible to tell the real from the false. And the duplications were inserted with- in the body. The whole body was painted red or yellow. And then wound tightly in strips of linen. Over the face the cloth was drawn so tightly that the contour of the features was plainly visible. Over the eye sockets, eyes were drawn. The form of the body was preserved exactly through the wrappings. wooden c>-> of human shape was made, and on it a portrait of the deceased was painted. Then, with charms and treas- ures, the dead were carried to their sepulchral chambers. IHE elaborate funeral ceremonials of the Pharaohs lasted from two to three months and were attended by nation-wide mourning while the body of the monarch was being pre- pared for mummification. When famed Tutankhamen, whose tomb yielded such rich treasures of antiquity, died, the words: “The King is dead!" echoed from a hundred thousand throats along both banks of the Nile. Laborers laid down their tools, sailors anchored their boats, travelers dismounted from camels, oxen, asses, and retired to the inns, merchants closed their shops and the streets of Thebes and other Egyptian cities were all but deserted. The temples and all public buildings were closed for a period of 27 days to allow for many strange ceremonials and for the mummification of the king's remains in the City of the Dead, where the undertakers and embalmers were compelled to live. During this time the citizens were ordered to refrain from bathing and from the use of perfumes, meat, fish and wine. Love-making during this period was re very serious offense, and the whole period was supposed to be passed in contemplation and prayer until the day when the king’s body was taken from his palace to embark on the so-called Ship of the Dead for the City of the Dead. The second way of embalming was simpler. Cedar oil was injected into the body, and remained there for 70 days. When the oil was ejected the internal parts came away with it, in a fluid state. And the natron dissolved the flesh, so that nothing remained but skin and bones. The bodies of very poor people, were simply soaked in natron. IHE. broken body of the child called Nessita was embalmed so hurriedly that it is evident her people did not wish to ify her mortal remains with decent burial. Poor little Nessita! When she was called before the God of Judgment, she had to confess her sin, and receive the punishment she had Her “idea of immortality was not a great deal different from conception. From the great collection of religious texts, known as “Book of the Dead,” scientists and historians derive their knowledge of the Egyptian belief in the resurrec- tion. And they know that the Egyptians possessed, years ago, a religion and a system of morality as sublime as our own. But the, had inherited from their predynastic ancestors vari- ous superstitions, and childish reverence for amulets, magic rites and charms. The curse of the ns was that they could not forget. Despite their culture and their wisdom, they clung, through the centuries, to the superstitions of their forefathers. And so it is that in modern Egypt today, a father may say to his child, “I had rather see you dead, and ii in your coffin, ‘than disgraced: by an affair with So-and-So.” . . . Exactly, you see, as American parents are apt, sometimes, to talk. in America it is nothing but talk... . Bi Bur ia: Exyot thee z mean it. mM MUU 1 a = = = = = = TT