Dead Men Tell Tales

by Harry Rimmer

Plate 8

Ancient seals, depicting historic events.

Section of a funerary papyrus, showing the progress of the soul on its journey in the Other World

“Well, it may be that every one else in antiquity could write, but Moses couldn’t...!”

And such an one would accuse another of dogmatism! Because we stand upon the certainty of the approved and orthodox conception of the credibility of the Scriptures, and maintain our case with the most exact evidence, we are not “scholarly.” Yet here is a reputedly religious leader, utterly ignorant of an enormous body of knowledge derived from a generation of research, who misleads those who are unfortunate enough to be under his ministry, and offers them the fallacious, repudiated, and utterly baseless conclusions of higher criticism, in the place of the living bread which God has provided for His children! This is but to be expected when we think the matter through. The bread of life is to be found only in the pages of God’s Book. Therefore, if the source of this bread is rejected and derided, the bread cannot be available!

The great pity of the matter is seen in the fact that this attitude is entirely untenable, in the light of our present knowledge. Although our science has demonstrated a remarkable culture for the very age of the patriarchs, we are faced with religious leaders who are so far behind the advanced learning of our day that they still teach the outmoded nonsense of criticism, and claim that Moses could not write!

It is rather amusing in the light of this dogmatic assurance of critical authorities to journey back through the hallways of time and find that writing was a common custom a thousand years before Moses, or even a thousand years before that! Throughout Egypt especially, the art of writing was a universal possession among all classes of the populace. The toilet articles used by the beauties of Ancient Egypt were highly engraved with charms, and with prayers to the goddess of beauty. As an Egyptian damsel prepared herself for the evening’s engagement, she would read these prayers and charms which were supposed to give her divine aid in impressing the ladies with her outstanding beauty! Poems of love and lyrics of passion were engraved upon her toilet articles and were incised upon the walls of her apartment as well.

In addition to this, most of the ancients wore amulets to guard them against the evil eye and every sort of disaster.

Some wore engraved pectorals that showed the high development of the art of writing to a great antiquity.

Businessmen of various kinds, minor officials and even the common people carried upon their persons seals wherewith to sign the documents and contracts of their casual business affairs.

From this common source there is a kaleidoscopic view of ancient life that thrills the observer with its ever-changing magnitude. It is almost impossible to limit the value of such discoveries as to the integrity of the Scriptures. In all this enormous mass of authoritative data not one single fact has ever been derived which argued against the credibility of any statement in the Bible.

An even more important source of historical evidence is found among the papyri of old. This valuable material was invented in Egypt at a very early age. In Upper Egypt the Nile was bordered, and in some places overgrown, with a prolific reed which is scientifically called “cyperus papyrus.” It is from this name that the paper manufactured from this substance derives its identification. The manufacture of papyrus was a simple procedure which nevertheless required time. Briefly stated, strips of the papyrus reed, cut to a uniform length and saturated with water, were laid down side by side. Another layer of strips was laid across them transversely, and usually a third layer was superimposed upon the second layer. These layers of reed, being laid in alternate directions, were then pounded with a flat paddle and smashed into a pulp. When the mass dried, it was a sheet of rough paper, somewhat comparable to the paper towels that are used in our generation. The edges were trimmed smoothly and the surface of the paper was smoothed off with a shell or rubbed with sand. This finished side of the paper was called the obverse and was the side upon which writing was customarily inscribed. So expensive was this substance, however, that frequently both sides would be covered with writing. In that case the rough side was always known as the reverse. Many of these papyri not only were inscribed with a written text but were highly illustrated with scenes depicting the life and customs of the people. These illumined papyri, some of which go back to a very remote age, are of tremendous value to the student of the Scriptures.

We have, for instance, papyri from Egypt at the time of Moses, showing the fowlers engaged in capturing quail. (See [Plate 10].) These birds being tired by their long flight in their annual African migration, fell easy victims to the men who smote them to the earth or captured them in hand nets. Incidentally, the author has frequently been offered such quail upon the streets of Cairo by vendors who earned a precarious living by peddling such game. Many Scriptural events are attested in this manner by these illustrated manuscripts.

Since there was a high content of starch in the finished papyrus, it was possible to make them any length desired. By moistening the edges of two sheets and pressing or pounding them together, the result would be a single sheet when the joint had dried. This process could be continued indefinitely. As a method of comparison let us note that the entire Gospel of John could be written on a papyrus of the usual width, if it was eighteen feet in length. Such a long sheet would be rolled to form a complete volume. The longest papyrus we have ever seen is in the British Museum and is exhibit No. 9999. This single sheet is 135 feet long.

Another papyrus of unusual length is that which shows the funery experiences of the scribe Ani. This is a highly illumined specimen and contains many illustrations of the soul of Ani, as he goes through the intricate process of achieving eternal life in the realm of Osiris. This papyrus is 78 feet long and is one foot, three inches wide. The average sheet of papyrus, however, is about six by nine inches.

These papyrus records are divided into many kinds and types. Some of them are funery, and deal with the events of the decease and resurrection of the individual. Most noteworthy among the papyri of this type are the various texts of the “Book of the Dead.” These are illuminated with scenes of religious beliefs. They depict the experience of the soul on its pilgrimage into the hereafter. They tell of the conditions of life in the other world and the manner of entering into a blessed state after death.

There are also papyri that deal with pure literature. Almost every subject common to modern literature is found in the ancient records of this type. For instance, fiction was a common field for the scribe of antiquity. The British Museum contains many of these prized papyri, as does the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.

It might surprise the modern reader to know that the Egyptian people of old highly prized stories of mystery and imagination. Some of their greater manuscripts bear a strong resemblance to portions of the Arabian Nights, and they may indeed have been the original basis of that later production.

In the British Museum a papyrus, No. 10183, is a fine example of this common theme. This is entitled, “The Tale of the Two Brothers.” In the introductory section, the life of a humble farmer in ancient Egypt is given in detail. The familiar triangle develops between the elder brother, his wife and the younger brother. The plot develops when the wicked wife made herself sick by rancid grease, and, bruising herself with a stick, lay moaning on the floor when her husband returned. Accusing the younger brother of attempted assault, she aroused her husband’s anger to the point where he grabbed an edged weapon and set out to kill the suspected villain. The oxen, however, told the younger brother of the ambush that was set for him and he fled the home. Marvelous miracles occurred during this flight, which opened the eyes of the elder brother to the injustice that he had been about to perpetrate. Whereupon he returned home, and satisfied the demands of the stern justice of his day by slaying his wife and feeding her body to his pet dogs. The rest of the story is taken up with the wanderings and adventures of the younger brother. This record goes back to the thirteenth century B. C., and is a perfect specimen of the fiction of that time.

Limited space will not permit the introduction of other notable classics of fiction such as the story of the shipwrecked sailor; the story of the doomed prince; the story of the possessed princess; the story of the eloquent peasant, and any number of other records, nor is their presentation essential to the development of our thesis. Their value, however, is seen in the fact that not only do they depict the literary tastes of antiquity, but they delineate many of the common details and incidents of the daily life of those ages.

There are also any number of poems which have a high historical value. We shall refer later to the famed poem of Pentauer, which immortalizes the victories of Ramses the Second, which this great conqueror achieved over Egypt’s ancient enemies the Hittites. The discovery of this record was the first appearance of the Hittites in archeology and caused a sensation in the ranks of Biblical criticism.

Among the more sober types of literature will be found narratives of pure history. Such would be the lists of the kings, giving the chronology of the dynasty of each. Records of conquest, lists of tribute, and the names of captive races form the bulk of this type of material.

There are also books of maxims teaching the higher morality of the age in which the papyrus was written. In a word, the literature preserved in the papyri of Egypt deals with religious aims, books of magic, records of travel, and the science of that day. From the latter we learn their beliefs and technique in the realm of astronomy. Their system of mathematics is preserved for us in such prize records as the Rhind Papyrus which deals with the geometry of that age. This papyrus is in the British Museum and is numbered 10,057. In the Museum at Cairo is a papyrus illustrating the geography and cartography of antiquity. This famous map shows the religious divisions of that province, which is now called the Fayyum. Others of these papyri deal with medicine as it was practiced in that ancient day. There are, of course, biographical papyri that are almost innumerable, all of which reconstruct for us the lives and times of these people who are so long dead, but far from forgotten.

Among the most important of all the varieties of papyri are those which preserve for us the embalming technique practiced at various stages in the development of this art in Egypt. Since the Egyptians believed that the resurrection of the body and its eternal life depended upon the preservation of the physical form, they took great pains in their preparations for the burial of their dead. The most graphic description of the method used is given by Herodotus and is thus familiar to all students of history. This noted writer states that three general methods were used by the Egyptians and the cost of each was graduated to the thoroughness of the method.

The most expensive means of embalming was an elaborate process indeed. The abdominal cavity was opened and the viscera were removed from the body. These were carefully washed in palm wine, thoroughly dried and sprinkled with certain aromatic spices. The brains were withdrawn from the head and treated in this same fashion. These cavities were then dried and filled with a combination of bitumen, myrrh, cassia and various other expensive and astringent spices. The openings were then sewed up. A tank was prepared which was filled with a solution of soda, and the body was steeped in it for seventy days. After removal from this pickling solution the body was thoroughly dried in the hot sun and anointed with spicy compounds which had the two-fold purpose of imparting a fragrant odor to the mummy and of further preserving its structure. The process was completed when the body was wound with the strips of linen with which all students of Egyptology are so familiar.

The cost of this type of embalming varied, of course, in each dynasty, but as a general average it would be in the neighborhood of $1500 in our modern currency. When we consider the disparity between our standard of money value and that of ancient Egypt, it can be seen that such a preparation was enormously expensive.

A cheaper method of embalming consisted of dissolving the viscera by means of oil of cedar. The flesh also was dissolved with a caustic soda solution, and the skin shrunk tightly to the bones. This dessicated form was then wrapped in the traditional linen bandages. The cost of this process was in the neighborhood of $300 in the currency of our day.

For the very poor, however, a cheaper form of preparation was used. The body was dumped into the tank of soda, where it was alternately saturated and dried for a period of seventy days. The pickled body was then handed over to the relatives, who wrapped it according to their own ability and means and arranged for burial at any convenient site. This process would cost in the neighborhood of $1.50 in our present standard of currency.

It will be noted that the customary period of embalming was seventy days. A discrepancy has been fancied here between this ordinary custom and the embalming of Israel, as it is recorded in the fiftieth chapter of Genesis. The third verse of that chapter states, “And forty days were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him three score and ten days.” The discrepancy, however, has been cleared up by the discovery of the fact that under the Hyksos Dynasties the period of the embalming was forty days instead of seventy, and the mourning of the dead was more important than the time used in preserving the body.

In the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, exhibit No. 1270, is a magnificent anthropoid sarcophagus from the time of Psammetichus the Second. The inscription on this sarcophagus confirms the statement that the embalming process lasted seventy days and is a testimony of the honesty of the undertaker in that he did not shorten the time for the extra profit involved.

It is to the reverence for their dead that was manifested by all in Egypt that we owe our present wealth of archeological material. The most voluminous evidences for the accuracy of the Bible come to us from burial sources. Very often the coverings of the corpse were inscribed with verbose descriptions of the life, morals, and piety of the dead individual.

A further source of material is found on the cartonnage. When the body had been encased in bandages a type of coffin was made that is called mummiform or, more commonly, anthropoid. (See [Frontispiece].) This first covering was made of some plastic material, which was moulded to the form of the individual to be buried. In the earlier days this cartonnage was made of strips of linen cloth pasted together and covered with a type of shellac. While still plastic, this material was moulded to the contour of the head and shoulders of the occupant until it took on a rough resemblance to the individual. This may have been the origin of the death-mask custom which continues in some regions even to the present time. In later times this first covering was gilded, and, in the case of the very rich, might be decorated also with eyes of obsidian or lapis lazuli.

In later periods, the cartonnage was made of outmoded papyri. These were dampened and moulded into a mulch like the method of using papier-mache in our generation. In so doing, however, the writing was not demolished. Some of the greatest discoveries of antiquity have come to us when a cartonnage made of papyrus has been carefully separated into its original sheets and the writing thereof recovered.

When the mummy was enclosed in its cartonnage, a wooden coffin was then prepared, which quite frequently was also anthropoid in shape. (See [Plate 11].) Not only did it maintain the form of the human body, but very often it had also a painted portrait of the dead person to identify the deceased. This wooden coffin was painted and inscribed on the inside and the outside with a record and history of the individual, to which were added scenes and texts from the Book of the Dead. (See [Plate 12].) This second coffin was not always made of wood, however. In the case of Tut-ankh-amen, the coffin was of solid gold, and constituted a tremendous treasure in itself. This was possible only to a monarch or a noble of enormous wealth.

The final covering was the sarcophagus, a great rectangular box sometimes made of wood, but often formed of stone. In this box the anthropoid coffin was carefully placed and the lid was tightly sealed. In preparing the sarcophagus, every inch of the inside would be engraved with a record of the history of the individual as well as of the times in which he lived. On the inside of this box, the bottom, both ends, and the two sides would be covered with writing as closely as the characters could be engraved. Not content with this, the industrious scribe of antiquity also covered the outside of the sarcophagus, both ends, both sides, and the top with further writings. We have illustrated this custom clearly in [Plate 13].

To make the case complete, the noble, the wealthy, and the great of antiquity were buried in tombs, the walls of which were illuminated with frescoes, murals, and texts in written script that covered every square inch of space on the ceiling, as well as on the four walls. All of the visitors to the Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt have wondered over these remarkable and complete records. They are, however, more than just a curious sight to satisfy the interest of the tourists. They are one of the priceless sources of valuable information concerning the coincidence of ancient history with the text of the Scripture! (See [Plate 14].)

Still another source of material and information is found in the innumerable stelae which covered the ancient world. The word “stele” is a Greek word meaning “an upright stone.”

Archeologically it applies to slabs of stone which were erected over a burial site in the fashion of a headstone in our modern custom. Some were square, some rectangular, and some were artistically rounded at the top. In the case of a burial stele, the name of the man so honored, together with a record of his life and conduct, was carved in high relief upon the stone. Thereon were named the king and the dynasty under which the dead man had lived, and sometimes the important historical events of that reign. Always such a stele contained the episodes of history to which the given individual had personally contributed. They are a large source of historical information. These stelae were sometimes erected in public places as memorials of great events. (See [Plate 15].)

When Ramses the Second won his great campaign against the Hittites, he ended a five hundred year period of warfare in which the Egyptians had been consistently defeated. To celebrate his victory, a voluminous account of his valor and skill was carved upon a large number of stelae and erected in prominent centers throughout his kingdom. So also Amenhetep the Third set up a stele to record his conquest of the country of Abhat. This beautifully preserved record may be seen in the British Museum. It is exhibit No. 657 in Bay 6.

In the Egyptian Museum at Cairo there is a stele originally erected by Amenhetep the Third. We shall refer to this one again because his successor Menepthah appropriated this stele, and because it contains his record of the Israelites, who are thus acknowledged by the monarchs of Egypt to have been a people of importance in the annals of their empire.

The most stupendous source of material is found in monuments. The larger and most important type of monument is of course the buildings of antiquity. To the Egyptologist the most entrancing and magnificent spectacle on the face of the earth is the ruined temple at Karnak. The general public is so familiar with the magnitude and extent of these stupendous ruins, it is not necessary to make more than a brief reference to them in this paragraph. Any standard encyclopedia, such as the current Britannica, carries a more or less lengthy article on this subject, and the number of interested observers who have studied these ruins is almost beyond estimating.

The present city of Luxor, in Upper Egypt, was once known as Thebes, and was the center of government in times long past. Three very important sources of study are found in that vicinity. There is the great Valley of the Kings, where so many of the dead great of Egypt were buried. Then also there is the great temple at Luxor, which is still in the process of recovery. It is to be regretted that excavations there have been halted for some time, due to the fanaticism of the Moslems, who refuse to permit a mosque to be moved from the top of the remaining mound, under which the balance of this great temple still lies buried.

Last, but far from least, there is the great temple, called Karnak. The evidences that have been recovered from this site carry us as far back as the early stages of the Old Kingdom, and may indeed be pre-dynastic. There are a number of temples that have been erected upon this site, which contribute to the glory of its past history. The earliest relics found are flint instruments, and there are a number of recoveries from the Middle Kingdom also. While the famed archeologist Legrain was in charge of the work of recovery here, he opened one great pit from which an unbelievable amount of material was recovered. In this one find, seven hundred and fifty large statues were dug up, and more than twenty thousand smaller objects were recovered from this same pit. This was largely a Middle Kingdom deposit. It may be said that the entire history of the land is seen here, from the archaic age to the end of the Ptolemaic period.

There are three major ruins that make up the vast monument of Karnak, which, with the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, is almost a mile in length. Each of these three enclosures has its own story to tell. The smallest one is the most northerly, and was built by Amenhetep the Third. Ramses the Second added to its structure, and the imposing gate was built by Ptolemy Euergetes the First. This magnificent gate is practically all of the original structure that remains today. The outline of the foundation of the original temple may be traced, but its material, with the exception of the gate, has long since disappeared.

The south enclosure contained the temple built to the glory of the goddess Mut by Amenhetep the Third, of which also very little of the original structure remains. Behind this temple, however, is a sacred lake, shaped like a horseshoe, upon which tradition says the barge of the sacred lady used to appear. Indeed, there are fellahin in Egypt today who maintain that at certain times when the moon is just right, this notable barge may still be seen if one is fortunate enough to be on the spot at the right time. (We regret to say that the times that we were there were never the right ones!)

There were small temples and shrines inside both of these enclosures where various kings honoured other deities in the lengthy pantheon. Some traces of these may still be seen here and there, and much more may yet be brought to light by the excavations now being conducted there by the Department of Antiquities.

It is the third enclosure which is the great one, and the really thrilling monument. It is about 1,500 feet square, so that it is at once apparent that it is immense. Undoubtedly it is the largest temple ever constructed by man. Two million, two hundred and fifty thousand feet of floor space make quite a place of worship in any day and age!

The original sanctuary was probably begun by Usertesen the First, who dedicated it to Amon-Ra. Having done so, the king then used the walls, pillars, beams, and all other available space to carve a record of his own reign and greatness; not forgetting, of course, to give Amon-Ra due credit here and there for such divine aid as the Pharaoh may have needed from time to time! The drawings, paintings, and carvings of this monarch are a fine source of information concerning his times and peoples.

This seems to have established a precedent at Karnak, for the original temple was added to by Thothmes the First, who faithfully followed the example of his predecessor, and told what a mighty man he also turned out to be! Then Seti the First followed him, to be in turn replaced by Thothmes the Third, and neither neglected to carve the tale of his power and successes on the additions to the original temple that Usertesen had started.

The next builder was Amenhetep the Third, and after him the three successive Ramses all built extensive votive shrines and temples. The amount of carving, painting, and hieroglyphics that covers all this mighty pile of stone work is almost unbelievable, and leaves the beholder amazed and somewhat awed.

The most noteworthy section of the standing ruins is the great hypo-style hall, which is one of the architectural wonders of the world. This hall is 171 feet deep and 338 feet in breadth. The roof was supported by 134 mighty columns, set in 16 rows, of which the two central rows were by far the highest. The roof of this great hall was 78 feet above the floor, and the entire structure was covered with reliefs and painted scenes from the conquests and lives of the builders.

Here are to be found the most gratifying evidences of the integrity and accuracy of the Scripture that the most ardent devotee of the Bible could desire. The Pharaohs who appear in the text of Holy Writ are there on Karnak’s walls as well, and this testimony of ancient heathen monarchs is conclusive and final.

As the kings of antiquity consistently carved upon the walls, the pillars, and the beams of Karnak the proud record of their conquests, it is inevitable that this source of material should be drawn upon heavily by the exponent of the Scripture. In a later chapter we shall return to Karnak again and again to read these treasured accounts.

There are many other temples of antiquity that are of almost equal value, such as the great temple at Luxor. Students have long been familiar with the nature of the great pyramids which have also a great contribution to make to our sources of evidence. It is to be noted, however, that only an honest and honorable evaluation of these evidences is of any aid to the faithful student of the Scripture.

One of the greatest but most nonsensical heresies of our generation is the false teaching that parades under the name of “British-Israelism.” This ridiculous fantasy is predicated upon the false premise that the Great Pyramid is a prophecy erected under divine leading. By a weird interpretation of its mathematical proportions, it is presumed to portray a prophetic record of coming events. It is the source of more fantasy than has ever been derived from any other misapplication of coincidence!

The advocates of British-Israel heresy claim that the pyramids were never used as burial sites. This is, of course, arrant nonsense. They were nothing but stupendous graves.

We have ourselves been in the burial chambers of the Great Pyramid and have seen the sarcophagi.

We have had the pleasure of examining the great stone casket that was taken out of the pyramid, containing the mummy of the buried king, as well as the replica thereof which was put back into this burial chamber to satisfy the interest of visiting tourists.

We have been in the burial chamber of the queen and the royal children as well.

We have seen these mummies that came out of the Great Pyramid, have poked our way into the treasure room and have seen some of these recoveries which were made when the pyramid was entered.

To show something of the interest the kings of antiquity had in their resting places, it is recorded on credible ancient authority that the building of this Great Pyramid occupied twenty years, and that three hundred thousand men were employed in the building. Ten years were occupied in the one task of quarrying the stone. Another decade passed by in the erection of the monument. Herodotus states that the men worked in groups of ten thousand, laboring three months at a shift. The records of Herodotus contain a description of the construction of earthen ramps up which the stones were skidded by means of wooden machines.

The Cairo Museum contains a number of very valuable exhibits from this greatest of all burial mounds. So also has the second pyramid of Gheza, in turn, yielded its mummies, as have the others which have since been breached.

We cannot ignore the great evidence given by the type of monument composed of the obelisks, the erection of which delighted the ancient conquerors. These consisted of enormous stone shafts that towered into the air sometimes to a distance of seventy feet. These great spires were engraved with the name of the monarch, a description of his greatness, and some of the more important records of his reign.

In closing, we must not neglect to mention also the boundary markers that were so common in the Assyrian culture. These engraved stones, often illustrated with sculptured figures in high relief, are of unique importance not only because of their written records but also because of their ubiquity. Throughout all of the ancient world of Mesopotamia they seem to have been in general use. Since they were an important factor in deciding the title of a section of land, they were carefully made and preserved. The date factor is generally a certain year of the reign of a given king, and the historical information derived from monuments of this type is practically unlimited. (See [Plate 16].)

Also, since the ancients had no hinges, it was customary in constructing a door to have it turn upon a pivot. Beneath the door sill was a hollowed stone customarily called an ouch. This acted as a bearing which supported the weight of the door and enabled one man easily to swing a very heavy structure. These ouches were generally engraved with the name of the building, the purpose of the building and, perhaps, the cost and record of the construction. (See [Plate 17].)

From all these scattered sources, then, we gather together the unified testimony of multiplied thousands of men once dead who speak from the long silence of their forgotten era. Their united testimony is an unbroken chorus of assurance for those who are concerned over the integrity of the text of the Scripture.

In the bewildering mass of all this evidence which together would weigh so many tons that the figure, if computed, would appear fabulous, there is not one word, one testimony, or one fact that has contradicted or disproved a single line of the Holy Bible.