These are interesting as illustrative of the Egyptian art of remote
period. These fragments occupy no less than twenty-four cases
(77-102). In the first case (77) the visitor should notice the coffin
of the mummy Cleopatra, ornamented on the outside with ordinary
emblematical drawings and on the inside with a Greek zodiac. The three
next cases (78-80) are filled with sepulchral tablets representing
various Egyptian divinities, among which the embalmer of the dead,
Anubis, ever figures prominently. The cases marked 81, 82, are filled
with a collection of rings of ivory, jasper, and cornelian; gold,
silver, and porcelain earrings and bracelets; signets with scarabaei,
or sacred beetles, in gold, silver, bronze, and some of the
Graeco-Egyptian period, in iron; necklaces, ornamented with various
religious symbols, in gold, jasper, amethyst; and in the 83rd case are
some specimens of old Egyptian glass. The next six cases (84-89) are
entirely devoted to sepulchral ornaments, including sepulchral tablets
showing priests adoring the sun, scenes of the embalmment of the dead,
and devotees adoring their favourite deities; pectoral plates; patches
from the network outer coverings of mummies, including the popular
scarabaei, wings, sceptres headed with, the lotus flower, and the
crowns of upper and lower Egypt, all in porcelain--all taken from the
coffins of various mummies. Case 90 contains the coffin of the archon
of Thebes, Soter, with the hawk of the sun on the top, and the
judgment scenes of the Amenti on the sides. The next three cases
(91-93) are filled with more specimens of Egyptian ornaments,
including four sides of a sepulchral box in wood (92), and sepulchral
tablets. The three cases next in succession (94-96) are filled with
amulets of all kinds, chiefly in the form of the scarabaeus, cut in
stone. The scarabaeus of the Egyptians was an emblem of the Divinity,
which the devout wore about their necks, and hung round the necks of
their dead relatives, as in the present day an effigy of the Virgin
rests often upon the cold breast of a Catholic corpse. As the visitor
will perceive, the collection of amulets comprehends representations
of various sacred animals, including the hedgehog. They are, in some
cases, nearly four thousand years old. The collection of scarabaei
includes one recording the marriage of Amenophis III. to Queen Taia,
and several bearing the name of Rameses, or Sesostris, according to
the Greeks. These ornaments are in various substances; the more
valuable being in cornelian, and basalt. The following three cases
(97-99) contain sepulchral tablets in wood, with various sacred
drawings upon them; and in the 100th case are inclosed the sepulchral
scarabaei, usually engraved with a prayer, and found inserted in the
folds of mummy bandages. Several are costly, as for instance that
marked 7875 of green jaspyr, said to have been extracted from the
coffin of King Enantef. The next two cases (101, 102) contain various
interesting fragments from mummies, including plain scarabaei and
other symbolic amulets, and ornaments inscribed with the names of
early Egyptian kings. Having noticed these revelations of Egypt's
sepulchres, the visitor should turn at once to the eastern wall cases
in which he will find a vast collection of