History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12)Maspero, G. (Gaston)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12)
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- History -- To 640 A.D.; History, Ancient; Middle East -- History
It contained a wooden coffin, shaped to the human figure and painted
white, the features picked out in black, and enamel eyes inserted in
a mounting of bronze. The mummy is that of a thin elderly man, well
preserved; the face was covered by a mask made of linen smeared with
pitch, but when this was raised by means of a chisel, the fine kingly
head was exposed to view. It was a masterpiece of the art of the
embalmer, and the expression of the face was that of one who had only
a few hours previously breathed his last. Death had slightly drawn
the nostrils and contracted the lips, the pressure of the bandages had
flattened the nose a little, and the skin was darkened by the pitch; but
a calm and gentle smile still played over the mouth, and the half-opened
eyelids allowed a glimpse to be seen from under their lashes of an
apparently moist and glistening line,--the reflection from the white
porcelain eyes let in to the orbit at the time of burial.
Seti had had several children by his wife Tuia, and the eldest had
already reached manhood when his father ascended the throne, for he had
accompanied him on his Syrian campaign. The young prince died, however,
soon after his return, and his right to the crown devolved on his
younger brother, who, like his grandfather, bore the name of Ramses.
The prince was still very young,* but Seti did not on that account delay
enthroning with great pomp this son who had a better right to the throne
than himself.
* The history of the youth and the accession of Ramses II.
is known to us from the narrative given by himself in the
temple of Seti I. at Abydos. The bulk of the narrative is
confirmed by the evidence of the Kuban inscription,
especially as to the extreme youth of Ramses at the time
when he was first associated with the crown.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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