mouth open and the tongue partially protruded. The cranium is long,
the forehead low and receding, the face remarkably prominent, and the
whole expression, as in the former instance, to the last degree vacant
and repulsive. I presume that no one accustomed to comparisons of this
nature can examine these heads, without agreeing with me in opinion as
to their position in the intellectual scale. It may appear, and,
indeed, is surprising, that two idiotic heads should be found among
one hundred taken at random from the catacombs; and I can only explain
the fact by supposing that a particular tomb was reserved for this
unfortunate class of persons; and that the Arab servant employed by
Mr. Gliddon, in his explorations at Thebes, invaded by chance this
very sanctum. It is well known that idiotic persons have, in all ages,
been regarded with a certain degree of veneration in the East; and
hence their remains would be likely, in Egypt, to be carefully
preserved after death. In examining Professor Rosellini’s plates, I
find a solitary example of an idiot, whose head is represented in the
annexed diagram; and it is curious to remark, that the sagacity of the
Egyptian artist has admirably adapted this man’s vocation to his
intellectual developments, for he is employed in stirring the fire of
a blacksmith’s shop. This singular effigy is seen at Thebes.
NEGROID HEADS.
In addition to the two heads of this class from Maabdeh and one from
Memphis, I subjoin descriptions and outline drawings of five others
from Thebes, which are here grouped for the advantage of more ready
comparison.
[Illustration]
Fig. 1. (Cat. 864.) A female cranium, of a narrow oval form, with a
low, receding forehead, small nose, and protruding face. There is much
of the Negro _expression_ in the bony structure of this head.—I. C. 77
cubic inches. F. A. 75°.
Fig. 2. (Cat. 858.) A large and rather ponderous cranium, with a well
developed forehead, salient nose, jaws powerfully developed and
protruding, and the upper teeth presenting obliquely outwards.—I. C.
87 cubic inches. F. A. 77°.
Fig. 3. (Cat. 885.) An oval head, with a convex frontal region, small,
depressed nose, and very projecting face.—I. C. 77 cubic inches. F. A.
76°.
Fig. 4. (Cat. 852.) A small head, with a low, receding forehead, and
strong, small nose, projecting maxillæ, and obvious Negro expression.
A little hair remained, which was cut short, and was coarse without
being woolly.—I. C. 77 cubic inches. F. A. 75°.
Fig. 5. (Cat. 869.) An oval head, with a good frontal development,
salient nose, and very projecting face.—I. C. 88 cubic inches. F. A.
76°.
In the preceding five crania, the Negro features and expression
greatly predominate; at the same time there is an evident mixture of
Caucasian characters. Two of them might pass, perhaps, for genuine
Negroes, but for the comparatively fine texture of the hair. I
therefore regard them as Mulattoes, to which class, also, may be
referred a large proportion of the modern COPTS.
* * * * *
(Cat. No. 1044.) The subjoined wood-cut illustrates a remarkable head,
which may serve as a _type_ of the genuine EGYPTIAN conformation. The
long, oval cranium, the receding forehead, gently aquiline nose, and
retracted chin, together with a marked distance between the nose and
mouth, and the long, smooth hair, are all characteristic of the
monumental Egyptian.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIFTH SERIES.
THREE HEADS FROM KOUM OMBOS.
The remains of this once celebrated city are seen on a sandy hill on
the eastern bank of the Nile, to the south of Thebes. The Ombites were
celebrated for the worship of the crocodile, which they embalmed with
care and deposited in the catacombs. The three following heads were
obtained by Mr. Gliddon from the Ombite necropolis.
Plate XII., Fig. 3. (Cat. 830.) A female head of 30 years, with a low,
narrow forehead, straight nose, and sharp, prominent features. The
hair, which is in profusion, is long, fine and curling.—I. C. 77 cubic
inches. _Egyptian form._
Plate XII., Fig. 4. (Cat. 831.) Head of a woman of 30 years?, with a
narrow, but high and convex forehead, strong aquiline nose, and sharp
facial structure. The hair is abundant, long, fine and curling.—I. C.
68 cubic inches. _Egyptian form._
Plate XII., Fig. 5. (Cat. 832.) An oval, thin skull, with a good
frontal development, salient nose and delicate facial bones.—F. A.
81°. _Egyptian form._
It is remarkable that two of the preceding skulls (the third being too
much broken for measurement) give an average internal capacity of less
than 73 cubic inches.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIXTH SERIES.
FOUR HEADS FROM A TUMULUS NEAR THE ISLAND OF PHILÆ.
Philæ was the ancient boundary between Egypt and Nubia, and this
little island contained several of the most venerated shrines of the
Egyptian deities. The island of Beggeh (the ancient Senem) was also a
consecrated spot, and is immediately contiguous to Philæ. It contains
a funereal tumulus, which is supposed to have been the common
sepulchre of those pilgrims who died during their sojourn, and hence,
as Mr. Gliddon remarks in his memoranda, “they may have been of any
nation or of any epoch.”
Plate XII., Fig. 6. (Cat. 821.) A finely moulded head, with a good
frontal development, aquiline nose, and delicate facial bones.—I. C.
74 cubic inches. F. A. 79°. _Pelasgic form._
(Cat. 822.) A juvenile head, of perhaps 12 years, thin and
inequilateral, with a good forehead, and broad, inter-parietal
diameter. The face is broken, and the ethmoid bone imperforate.
_Egyptian form._
(Cat. 824.) A very narrow, infantile head, with brown, soft, curling
hair. The face is deficient, and the head is rather desiccated than
embalmed. _Egyptian form?_
Plate XII., Fig. 7. (Cat. 823.) An unmixed _Negro_, with a narrow,
elongated head, well-developed forehead, short and flat nasal bones,
everted upper jaw, and short, gray, woolly hair. This appears to be
the cranium of a woman of at least 60 years of age. The bones are
thin, and the whole structure remarkably small.—I. C. 73 cubic inches.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEVENTH SERIES.
FOUR SKULLS FROM DEBOD, IN NUBIA.
Debod or Deboud is about twelve miles south of Philæ, on the left bank
of the Nile, and in north latitude 24°. It was the site of the ancient
Parembole, and yet possesses some ruins of a once splendid temple of
Ammon.
The following heads were all obtained from a single pit, and from the
rude manner in which they were embalmed and wrapped, Mr. Gliddon (who
obtained them with his own hands) supposes them to have pertained to
people of the lower order.
Plate XII., Fig. 8. (Cat. 829.) Skull of a woman of 50? with a low but
convex forehead, with which the nasal bones have formed a nearly
straight line. The coronal region is low, and the whole osseous
structure strong and rather harsh.—_Egyptian form._ I. C. 70 cubic
inches. F. A. 85°.
Plate XII., Fig. 9. (Cat. 827.) Skull of a man of 40, which strongly
resembles the preceding. The forehead is low, but broad and vertical,
the whole cranium long, the coronal region compressed, the orbits
large, and the upper maxillæ slightly everted.—I. C. 82 cubic inches.
_Egyptian form._
Plate XIII. (Cat. 826.) A fine oval head, with a broad, high, convex
forehead, large, straight nose, and rather prominent maxillæ. On one
side is a mass of long, black hair, much curled, and of a fine
texture.—I. C. 74 cubic inches. F. A. 77°. _Egyptian form._
(Cat. 828.) An elongated, infantile head, with a narrow but vertical
forehead, delicately formed face, very full occiput, and (what is not
uncommon in children) a F. A. of 90°. _Egyptian form._
_Remarks._—In addition to the preceding details, it remains to offer
some general observations on the size and configuration of the head,
together with a tabular view of the whole series of crania, arranged
in the first place, according to their sepulchral localities, and, in
the second, in reference to their national affinities.
_Ethnographic Table of one hundred ancient Egyptian Crania._[4]
┌────────────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
│Sepulchral │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Localities. │ No.│Egyptian.│Pelasgic.│Semitic.│Mixed.│Negroid.│Negro.│Idiot.│
├────────────┼────┼────┬────┼────┬────┼────┬───┴┬────┐
│Memphis, │ 26│ 7│ 16│ 1│ 1│ 1│ │ │
│Maabdeh, │ 4│ 1│ 1│ │ │ 2│ │ │
│Abydos, │ 4│ 2│ 1│ 1│ │ │ │ │
│Thebes, │ 55│ 30│ 10│ 4│ 4│ 5│ │ 2│
│Ombos, │ 3│ 3│ │ │ │ │ │ │
│Philæ, │ 4│ 2│ 1│ │ │ │ 1│ │
│Debod, │ 4│ 4│ │ │ │ │ │ │
├────────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
│ │ 100│ 49│ 29│ 6│ 5│ 8│ 1│ 2│
└────────────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
The preceding table speaks for itself. It shows that more than eight
tenths of the crania pertain to the unmixed Caucasian race; that the
Pelasgic form is as one to one and two-thirds, and the Semitic form
one to eight, compared with the Egyptian: that one twentieth of the
whole is composed of heads in which there exists a trace of Negro and
other exotic lineage:—that the Negroid conformation exists in eight
instances, thus constituting about one thirteenth part of the whole;
and, finally, that the series contains a single unmixed Negro.
To these facts I shall briefly add the results of the observations of
some authors who have preceded me in this inquiry. “I have examined in
Paris, and in the various collections of Europe,” says Cuvier, “more
than fifty heads of mummies, and not one amongst them presented the
characters of the Negro or Hottentot.”[5]
Two of the three mummy heads figured by Blumenbach, (Decad. Cran.,
Figs. 1 and 31,) are unequivocally Egyptian, but the second, as that
accurate observer remarks, has something of the Negro expression.[6]
The third cranium delineated in the same work, (Plate 52,) is also
Caucasian, but less evidently Egyptian, and partakes, in Professor
Blumenbach’s opinion, of the Hindoo form. Of the four mummies
described by Söemmering, “two differed in no respect from the European
formation; the third had the African character of a long space marked
out for the temporal muscle; the characters of the fourth are not
particularized. The skulls of four mummies in the possession of Dr.
Leach, of the British museum, and casts of three others, agree with
those just mentioned in exhibiting a formation not differing from the
European, without any trait of the Negro character.”[7]
The two heads figured in the great French work, are both decidedly
Egyptian, but the second and smaller one is the most strongly
marked.[8]
_Internal Capacity of the Cranium._[9]—As this measurement gives the
size of the brain, I have obtained it in all the crania above sixteen
years of age, unless prevented by fractures or the presence of bitumen
within the skull; and this investigation has confirmed the proverbial
fact of the general smallness of the Egyptian head, at least as
observed in the catacombs south of Memphis. Thus, the Pelasgic crania
from the latter city, give an average internal capacity of eighty-nine
cubic inches; those of the same group from Thebes give eighty-six.
This result is somewhat below the average of the existing Caucasian
nations of the Pelasgic, Germanic, and Celtic families, in which I
find the brain to be about ninety-three cubic inches in bulk. It is
also interesting to observe that the Pelasgic brain is much larger
than the Egyptian, which last gives an average of but eighty cubic
inches; thus, as we shall hereafter see, approximating to that of the
Indo-Arabian nations.
The largest head in the series measures ninety-seven cubic inches;
this occurs three times, and always in the Pelasgic group. The
smallest cranium gives but sixty-eight cubic inches, and this is three
times repeated in the Egyptian heads from Thebes. This last is the
smallest brain I have met with in any nation, with three exceptions,—a
Hindoo, a Peruvian, and a Negro.
The Negroid heads, it will be observed, measure, on an average, eighty
cubic inches, which is below the Negro mean; while the solitary Negro
head (that of a person advanced in years,) measures but seventy-three
cubic inches.[10]
As this, however, is a question of much interest and some novelty, it
may, perhaps, be better illustrated in a tabular form:—
┌────────────┬────────┬────┬───────┬────────┬─
│Ethnographic│ │ No.│Largest│Smallest│ │Mean│
│Division. │Locality.│ of│Brain.│Brain.│Mean│ C.│
│ │ │Crania.│ │ │ │ I.│
├──────────┼────────┼────┬──┴─┬──┴─┬──┴─┬──┴─┐
│ │Memphis.│ 14│ 97│ 79│ 89│ │
│Pelasgic │Abydos. │ 1│ 89│ 89│ 89│ │
│Form. │Thebes. │ 5│ 92│ 82│ 86│ 88│
│ │Philæ. │ 1│ 74│ 74│ 74│ │
├──────────┼────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
│ │Memphis.│ 1│ 88│ 88│ 88│ │
│Semitic │ Abydos.│ 1│ 69│ 69│ 69│ 82│
│Form. │Thebes. │ 3│ 85│ 79│ 79│ │
├──────────┼────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
│ │Memphis.│ 7│ 83│ 73│ 79│ │
│Egyptian │Abydos. │ 2│ 96│ 85│ 90│ │
│Form. │Thebes. │ 25│ 95│ 68│ 80│ 80│
│ │Ombos. │ 2│ 77│ 68│ 73│ │
│ │Debod. │ 3│ 82│ 70│ 75│ │
├──────────┼────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
│Negroid │Maabdeh.│ 1│ 71│ 71│ 71│ │
│Form. │Thebes. │ 5│ 88│ 71│ 71│ 79│
├──────────┼────────┼────┼────┼────┼────┼────┤
│Negro. │Philæ. │ 1│ 73│ 73│ 73│ 73│
└──────────┴────────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
_Facial Angle._—I have carefully measured the facial angle in all
those _adult_ skulls which are sufficiently denuded for that purpose,
and have obtained the following results:—
┌────────────────────────┬───┬────┬────┬────┐
│ Ethnographic Division. │No.│ │ │ │
│ │Measured.│Largest.│Smallest.│Mean.│
├────────────────────────┼───┬────┬┴───┬────┤
│Pelasgic form, │16 │83° │73° │80° │
│Egyptian form, │20 │83° │76° │78° │
│Semitic form, │ 2 │77° │74° │75° │
│Negroid form, │ 6 │77° │73° │75° │
└────────────────────────┴───┴────┴────┴────┘
It is stated by M. Virey, that the numerous mummies which have been
brought to Europe present the full facial angle of the Caucasian race.
_The Structure of the Cranial Bones_ is as thin and delicate as in the
European, and a ponderous skull is of unfrequent occurrence. I make
this remark with the more satisfaction because it enables me to
contest one of the observations of Herodotus; who tells us, that on
visiting the field of battle whereon the Egyptians had fought with the
Persians, he saw the bones of the latter lying on one side, and those
of their enemies on the other. He then adds, that “the skulls of the
former were so extremely soft as to yield to the slightest impression,
even of a pebble; those of the Egyptians, on the contrary, were so
firm that the blow of a large stone would hardly break them.” The
historian then explains the reason of this difference, by stating that
the Egyptians have thicker skulls, because their heads are frequently
shaved and more exposed to the weather: while the Persians have soft
skulls, owing to the habitual use of caps which protect their heads
from the sun.
These reveries are wholly untenable in a physiological point of view,
and derive not the smallest support from anatomy itself; nor can there
be a question that the confiding historian received his impressions
through the ignorance or imposition of others. I have in my possession
eight skulls of Fellahs, or modern Egyptian peasants, who habitually
shave the head, and wear a thin cap; and yet their skulls, which are
of various ages from early youth to senility, are without exception
thin and delicate.
Some modern authors have also attributed to the mummy skulls a
_density_ which is not characteristic, but which is adventitiously
acquired by the infiltration of bitumen into the diplöic structure
during the process of embalming.
_Hair._—The hair is fortunately preserved on thirty-six heads, in some
instances in profusion, in others scantily, but always in sufficient
quantity to enable us to judge of its texture. Thirty-one of these
examples pertain to the Caucasian series, and in these the hair is as
fine as that of the fairest European nations of the present day. The
embalming process has changed it, with a few exceptions, from a black
to a dark-brown colour. There are also several instances of gray hair,
and two in which it is of a true flaxen colour: it is more than
probable, however, that the latter hue has been produced
artificially,—a practice still in use among the Saumaulies south of
Adel.
The preceding remarks on the texture of the hair accord with those of
other observers, as well as with the monumental evidences of every
epoch. Belzoni obtained plaited hair from the Theban catacombs
eighteen inches in length; and M. Villoteau mentions another instance,
from the same tombs, in which the tresses must have reached to the
waist. Entire wigs of the same character are preserved, as every one
knows, in the British and Berlin museums; and I also possess, through
the kindness of Mr. Gliddon, a portion of a similar relic from Thebes,
which is elaborately wrought into a great number of long and most
delicate tresses.
These facts lead to a few observations on the celebrated passage of
Herodotus, who, when speaking of the Colchians, gives, among other
proofs of their Egyptian lineage, that they “were black, and had short
curling hair.” [Greek: Melanchroes kai oulotriches]. The above
translation, which is that of the learned Beloe, expresses, in respect
to the mode of _wearing_ the hair, precisely what is verified by my
observations; for in nearly all the Caucasian heads on which it has
been allowed to grow, it is remarkable for a profusion of short curls
of extreme fineness,—a character which is preserved in several of the
accompanying delineations.
Herodotus farther tells us that the Egyptians kept their heads shaved;
or perhaps he might have said with more precision, closely cut. But
while the priests conformed to this rule, we are certain, from the
foregoing facts, that there was a diversity of usage among the other
classes, which is also proved by another passage in the same
historian; for he assures us that “you see fewer bald in Egypt than in
any other country.” Now if the Egyptians of all classes kept their
heads shaved, it would be difficult to ascertain, and yet more
difficult to _see_ whether they were subject to natural baldness or
not. Again, if Herodotus had not been accustomed to observe the
Egyptians _wearing_ their hair, how could he have compared them in
this respect to the people of Colchis?
The same author informs us that the inhabitants of Egypt permitted
their hair to grow as a badge of mourning; an observation which is
every where corroborated in monumental funereal scenes. This
observation, however, was probably for a comparatively short period,
and will not account for the frequent occurrence of long hair among
the mummies of all classes. It is mentioned in history that among
other indignities which Cambyses offered to the embalmed body of King
Amasis, was that of tearing the hair from his head.
[Illustration]
The monuments afford abundant proof that among the Egyptians, from the
highest to the lowest castes, it was not unusual to wear the hair
long. The marginal drawing represents a rustic, (one of six on the
monument,) who is engaged in a wrestling match. And it is hardly to be
supposed that the profusion of hair with which his head is covered,
can be any other than the natural growth.[11] A man thus occupied
would find a difficulty in keeping a wig on his head.
So also with another from a tomb at Thebes, wherein a carpenter of
pleasing but rather effeminate physiognomy, is engaged in the labours
of his art.[12]
Another example, that subjoined (No. 1,) is derived from a funereal
procession at Thebes,[13] but granting, what is quite possible, that
the woman in this instance, wears only a head-dress, the contrary can
be insisted on in reference to another painting, of a group of five
women engaged in athletic exercises, in the midst of which, one of
them holds and partially sustains the other by her long, straight
hair; showing that the latter could be no other than the natural
growth. (No. 2.) It is also interesting to remark, that this picture
dates back into “the night of time,”—that remote period antecedent to
the eighteenth dynasty, of which this is one of the many remains yet
preserved in the celebrated tomb of Novotpth, at Beni-Hassan.[14]
[Illustration:
No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4
]
Again, among the funereal processions at Thebes are several boat
scenes, from one of which I derive the above drawing, representing an
Egyptian woman in the act of lamentation, while her hair falls in long
and graceful ringlets below her shoulders. (No. 3.)
Another effigy, (No. 4,) that of an Egyptian lady from a painting in
the Theban catacombs,[15] has the hair dressed in the same manner in
which it is worn by the modern Nubian girls, as represented in one of
the beautiful sketches by Mr. Wathen in his work on Egyptian
architecture.
These instances have been selected out of hundreds of a similar
character which every where meet the eye on the Nilotic monuments, and
which present a most satisfactory accordance with the evidence derived
from the catacombs.
Hamilton, in his Ægyptiaca, when describing the paintings at
Elytheias, says that “the labourers are dressed in a kind of
skull-cap, and have very little if any hair on their heads; while that
of the others who superintend them spreads out at the sides, as with
the Nubians and Berabera above the cataracts,”—and yet among these
very labourers the hair of some is represented so long, that it
projects beneath the cap and falls upon the shoulders.[16] If I may
judge from the heads that have come under my notice, I should infer
that the women, as a general rule at least, allowed their hair to
grow; but that the practice was much less frequent among the men.
In the heads of every Caucasian type in the series now before us, the
hair is perfectly distinct from the woolly texture of the Negro, the
frizzled curls of the Mulatto, or the lank, straight locks of the
Mongolian.
Of the eight Negroid heads, four are more or less furnished with hair,
one is closely shaved, and two are entirely denuded. In those which
retain the hair, it is comparatively coarse, and in one instance
somewhat wiry. The hair of the solitary Negro head possesses the
characteristic texture.
I find a short beard (perhaps half an inch in length,) on three Theban
heads of the Caucasian part of the series. (Plate IV., Fig. 1, Plate
VIII., Fig. 1, and Plate X., Fig. 5.) The Egyptians habitually shaved
the beard; but on their statues and paintings we frequently see a
_beard-case_ which, as Rosellini remarks, appears to be merely
emblematical of the male sex and of manhood.
_The Teeth._—Professor Blumenbach, in his Decades Craniorum, long ago
pointed out what he considered a peculiarity in the conformation of
the teeth in some Egyptian mummies; namely, that the crowns of the
incisors are very large, thick, and cylindrical, or obtusely conical,
in place of having the characteristic chisel-like form.[17] I have
given especial attention to this supposed peculiarity; but although
the incisors remain more or less perfect in forty-five crania,
embracing upwards of two hundred teeth of this class, I have not been
able to confirm the preceding observation. On the contrary, there does
not appear to be the smallest deviation from the ordinary form or
structure; and I feel confident, that the learned and accurate
Blumenbach was deceived by the worn condition of the crowns of the
teeth, obviously resulting from the habitual mastication of hard
substances. Mr. Lawrence expresses the same opinion, from personal
observation; Dr. Prichard inclines to a similar view of the case, and
remarks, that “the most satisfactory method of obtaining information
is by inspecting the mummies of children.” Here, again, I have been so
fortunate as to examine the crania of three children from one year old
to five years, and five others between the ages of five and ten years.
The result is entirely confirmatory of the opinion I have already
advanced, and also coincides with the observations of Mr. Estlin.[18]
What the masticated substances were, has not been ascertained; but the
teeth of some Hindoos, even in early life, are as much worn away as
those of the Egyptians. The latter, as a general rule, are remarkably
free from decay, and in a number of instances the whole set remains
unbroken. There are various examples in which the teeth appear to have
been extracted; thus reminding us of the statement of Herodotus, that
there was a class of physicians whose attention, like that of our
modern dentists, was bestowed exclusively upon these organs.