All the royal mummies, twenty-nine in number, are now lying in state in the Boolak Museum. Arranged together side by side and shoulder to shoulder, they form a solemn assembly of kings, queens, royal priests, princes, princesses, and nobles of the people. Among the group are the mummied remains of the greatest royal builders, the most renowned warriors, and mightiest monarchs of ancient Egypt. They speak to us of the military glory and architectural splendour of that marvellous country thirty-five centuries ago; they illustrate the truth of the words of the Christian Apostle: “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.”[9]
These great Egyptian rulers, in all their magnificence and power, had no Gospel in their day, and can preach no Gospel to those who gaze wonderingly upon their remains, so strangely brought to light. Much as we should like to hear the tale they could unfold of a civilization of which we seem to know so much, and yet in reality know so little, on all these questions they are for ever silent. But they utter a weighty message to all whose temptation now is to lose sight of the future in the present, of the eternal by reason of the temporal. They show how fleeting and unsubstantial are even the highest earthly rank and wealth and influence; and how true is the lesson taught by him who knew all that Egypt could teach, and much that God could reveal, and whose life is interpreted for us by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.”[10]
Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St. Martin’s Lane, London.
BY-PATHS OF BIBLE KNOWLEDGE.
Under this general title The Religious Tract Society purposes publishing a Series of Books on subjects of interest connected with the Bible, not adequately dealt with in the ordinary Handbooks.
The writers will, in all cases, be those who have special acquaintance with the subjects they take up, and who enjoy special facilities for acquiring the latest and most accurate information.
Each Volume will be complete in itself, and, if possible, the price will be kept uniformly at half-a-crown.