ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART IN THE MUSEUMS OF

AMERICA.

BY W. C. WINSLOW, D. D., LL. D.

[It is the design of the Editor to publish a series of articles on the archæological relics contained in the various museums of America, with a short account of the character, the location from which they came, and the date and age to which they belong. The following article by Dr. Winslow is used as a leader. The cuts and some of the material have appeared in Biblia for June, they are reproduced here with others, as they represent the best specimens which have been secured.-ED.]

In the hall of the Library of the University at Philadelphia stands a tall and graceful shaft in red syenite stone of the XIIth Dynasty period. It is from Ahnas, the Heracleopolis of the Greeks, the Hanes of the Bible, and the Ha-Khenensu, or seat of government, of the IXth and Xth Dynasties. In the University Museum is the colossal statue of Rameses II., with finely cut hieroglyphs, partly in color. Among our "objects" in Chicago is the oldest known group of statuary in the world, of the remote Vth Dynasty, and as such is of priceless value in the history of art. And why?

In his History of Greek Árt" Professor Tarbell says that "Egyptian sculpture in the round never created a genuine integral group, in which two or more figures are so combined that no one is intelligible without the rest; that achievement was reserved for the Greeks." (p. 22). The Curator of Classical Antiquities in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts remarks of the Monument of Kitylos and Dermys at the National Museum, Athens, "that the work is a primitive attempt to compose a group, by putting together two figures of the early athlete type. They stand chest to chest and leg to leg, the outside arm of each hanging rigidly at his side. The difficulty of the inside arms the sculptor has tried to overcome by placing that of each around the shoulder of his companion, making it visible on the outside." The word primitive I have italicized.

But one group presented to the Haskell Museum, Chicago, antedates this "primitive attempt" by about 3,000 years. It has much freedom of poise and is not without grace; "the outside arm" of the wife, not "hanging rigidly" at her side, reaches across her breast to clasp gently her husband's arm; and "the difficulty of the inside arms" is no difficulty at all to the husband, for his left arm is in full view, with his wife resting against its shoulder. The date of Professor Tarbell's book and of the descriptive catalogue of the Curator is 1896; our volume on the site Deshasheh, in the Fayum, in which this group is among the discoveries, dates 1898. As a poetical fact,

•See Illustration page 246.

our discovery was being made while the foregoing critics were commenting as quoted. The translation of the un-rhythmical name of Nenkheftek is soothing and ethical, "No enemy of thine"; and Professor Griffith poetically and grammatically supplies "existeth."

The colossal statue of Rameses II., from "the fields of Zoan," presides in the Egyptian Hall of the Boston Museum of

from the Egyptian Exploration Fund, afford a richly varied opportunity for study, in history, sculpture, art, ceramics, epigraphy, and ethnology. They are a splendid objective lesson. There is inspiration in" originals." An incident is appropriate. A prominent member of Congress was shown Harvard, Mt. Auburn, and St. Gaudens lions on guard in the Public Library, and how much more. He walked the Hellenic halls of the Museum and entered the Egyptian halls. "Why, these are originals! This is an inspiration. This is worth more to me

than all else that I have seen in your city." So said this practical law-maker to a friend of mine.

Observe the illustration of the sarcophagus of Tabekenkhonsat, in this article, now exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of New York. On the lower shelf is this outer coffin of "a lady of quality." In the upper shelf are various interesting obects, but one of which I notice. It is the toot-board of the lady's inner coffin (see ilustration), made of wd, cov

ered with stucco and painted. The scene represents the deceased in a white garment, holding a red heart in her hand, being led by Thoth to Osiris and Isis. The figure of Nut, who personifies the heavens, is about the vignette, and the winged sun-disk is just above the group. The inscription explains the

scene:

Royal offering of Seb (the father of Osiris) god of gods, may he bestow offerings of bread, wine, cattle, geese, incense, apparel, all things good and fine, all things sweet and delightful to the Ka of the Osiris, the lady of the house, the noble Tabekenkhonsut, the justified one. Her mother was the lady of the house, the noble Ta-ma, revered, Osiris.

The second and third coffins (see illustration) are described in detail by Professor Gillett in his "Hand-book of Antiquities

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

in the Egyptian Department," but we will quote only his account of the outer coffin or sarcophagus:

"The coffin is rectangular, with a square post at each corner. It has a vaulted top, nearly semi circular. A line of text runs on the two sides of the coffin near the top, beginning at the foot end (right side):

O Atum, everlasting lord, of An (Heliopolis), Ra-Harmachis, the great god, ruler over gods, may they grant offerings of bread, wine, beeves, geese, divine incense, garments, all good things, pure things, all sweet and pleas ant things, divine life to the Ka of the Osiris, the lady of the house, the honorable, Tu- (end of line) -bekenkhonsut, daughter of the priest of Menth,