MUMMIES AND MUMMY CASES
IT may be thought hardly possible that the makers of spurious
antiquities could copy the mummies and their cases. And yet there is no
doubt that this has been done. In the tale told by Dr. G. A. Reisner in
the next chapter, he mentions that in a tomb which had been “faked up,”
there were coffins and other objects.
Recently a gentleman became possessed with the idea of obtaining a mummy
in its case. He spoke of this openly, and on several occasions was
warned to be careful, or he would be imposed upon. People rarely thank
one, however, for such advice, preferring to believe the smiling,
plausible, ready-tongued dragoman or dealer, with whom they are in
negotiation. Indeed, sometimes advice given under these circumstances
tends to bring about a certain coolness, and the expert may have reason
to regret, by the loss of cordial relations, that he had ever attempted
to save his friend from an act of folly. The gentleman in question
desired to present to his native town a mummy in its case, and, though
warned, persisted in carrying on the negotiations. Eventually a handsome
case, containing what appeared to be a genuine mummy, was submitted to
him. The price finally agreed upon was £200. A little later, an
Egyptologist saw the case, and without hesitation pronounced it to be a
forgery.
The man who sold me the wooden figures seen in Plate III, told me with
great glee that he had made mummy cases from bits of old mummy cases and
other wood. One he sold to an American for £4, and when, later on, this
American showed it to the authorities of a museum, he was at once
offered £12 for it. However, he was so pleased with his bargain that he
refused the offer.
Plate XIV shows a piece of new wood made up to represent a piece of
genuine mummy case.
MUMMY CLOTH
The mummy cloth of ancient times was made with the warp and woof of
different thicknesses—the warp being thicker than the woof, so that it
would hang and fold better. The piece of mummy cloth shown in Plate XV,
No. 3 is genuine, but the painting on it has been done recently, as one
may be pretty sure from several signs. The painting has been put on with
a brush, instead of having the design outlined with a reed and then
painted. The colour has run, and shows beyond the edge of the design;
and the cloth, being dirty, shows signs of where the paint has wetted
it. It may belong to the twenty-second dynasty.
In ancient days the workmanship, however bad or however hastily
executed, was always done according to fixed rules, and each line had
its meaning.
This year, for the first time, I have seen copies of the long beads for
which Egypt is so famous. These are probably made in Venice. The colour
is beautiful, and mixed with the imitations are a few really old beads.
The material used is glass, and can be easily broken between the
fingers. The mode of selling these spurious beads is to have them made
up in a pattern, and to have genuine beads made up with them. They are
manufactured in various colours, but ladies especially admire the blue
beads, and the men sell six of the blue colour to one of the other. I
bought three lots, made up as seen in the illustration, Plate XV, No. 2.
Two were genuine, but the blue one was false. The price I paid was 3_s._
6_d._ each, and the seller looked at me ruefully, and said, “You have
got three pounds’ worth of beads there.” In the case of the forged blue
beads the colour is equal all the way round. The old beads are made of a
kind of composition; they are thicker, less regular, and there is
usually one part upon which the colour has failed to be equal—that is
the side upon which the beads were laid when fired.
No. 1 shows some glass beads supposed to be Roman, but they were made
recently in Venice.
No. 4 is a string of imitation sacred cats with genuine old beads, used
as a necklace.
* * * * *
There is a beautiful story, the humour of which would be spoilt by too
searching an inquiry into its authenticity, about what is jokingly
called “the predynastic mummy.”
The tale opens about the time when the predynastic graves were found in
Nubia. There was a great rush on the part of museums all over the world
to acquire specimens. It will probably be remembered that the bodies
were placed in the graves lying upon one side, the legs drawn up, and
one hand placed before the face. They were unembalmed, but the dryness
of the climate had given the skin the appearance of light-coloured
leather. Around the body were placed a number of jars and rough vessels.
As the demand increased, prices rapidly rose. The Arabs vied with a
Coptic antiquity dealer in finding and selling the graves, which were
then taken whole to the museums. After a time the supply ran short, and
the demand became urgent. The natives were hard put to it, but with
their customary adaptability, they rose to the occasion; and it is said
that they killed their business opponent, the Coptic dealer, and buried
his body in the approved position. Under the peculiar climatic
conditions obtaining in Nubia, a body often dries before decomposition
can take place, so, some time later on, when a special request came from
an important museum for a specimen of the predynastic burials, they
“discovered” the grave in which they had buried their opponent, and sold
the whole thing, pots and all, to the museum. But they could not keep
their good fortune to themselves, and later on were heard in the village
to boast that they had sold old Aboutig for £450.
The above story is almost too good to spoil, but what really happened, I
believe, was that, when the supply of predynastic burials fell short,
the natives took a body from a neighbouring cemetery and arranged it in
one of the predynastic graves which was minus a body, and later sold the
lot.
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