This last remark also applies to sixteen other heads of this series; whence I was at first led to suppose that they could not pertain to a very remote epoch. But when we find that the oldest remains are similarly characterized, and bear in mind that the removal of the brain through the nose was a conventional part of the more perfect art of embalming, may we not suppose that this imperforate state of the cranium points to an early epoch of Egyptian history, before mankind had resorted to those elaborate methods of preserving the dead body which are so remarkable in the Theban catacombs? It has been conjectured, that the proximity of the Natron Lakes to the city of Memphis gave rise to the custom of embalming; and it is not an improbable supposition that the profuse employment of bitumen was a subsequent refinement of the art. This suggestion derives some support from another fact; namely, that in every instance in which I have observed the brain to have been removed through the nose, the bones and integuments are much more charged with bitumen than in the imperforate crania.
It may, perhaps, be conjectured by some that the Pelasgic heads of this series belong to the Ptolemaic epoch, and hence pertain to the Greek inhabitants of that age: but it must be remembered that the rule of the Ptolemies lasted but about three hundred years; whereas the Egyptians were themselves the masters of Memphis, and entombed their dead in its necropolis more than two thousand years before either the Persians or Greeks effected the conquest of the country, no less than during the period of and after these epochs of foreign domination.
Of the sixteen adult Pelasgic skulls in this series, two or three are small; yet the whole number gives about 88 cubic inches for the average internal capacity of the cranium, or size of the brain, while the mean of the facial angle is 80°. The seven Egyptian crania have a mean internal capacity of 80 cubic inches, and a facial angle of 77°.
SECOND SERIES.
FOUR HEADS FROM THE GROTTOES OF MAABDEH, NEAR MAGARAT-ES-SAMÒUN.
This is the name of a series of sepulchral grottoes in Middle Egypt, on the limestone hill opposite Manfaloot, and near the modern village of Maabdeh. It is within the ancient nome of Heracleopolis. This cemetery is a natural cavern, which was chiefly dedicated to embalmed crocodiles, but in some measure, also, to man. Mr. Gliddon observes that the human mummies are of the common order, and adds: “I brought them from a measured distance of 438 feet under ground, horizontally, averaging about twenty feet below the surface.”
Plate [IV]., Fig. 1. (Cat. 833.) A large, oval head, with a very low, receding forehead, and large, aquiline nose. A man of 35 years? The hair is long, soft, and curling, and the beard is partially preserved on the lower jaw. Pelasgic form?
This person has been much disfigured by ulceration of the cartilage of the nose and the adjacent integuments; part of the upper lip has been removed by the disease, which appears partially on the lower jaw, and may account for the beard not having been shaved. The embalming process has been very carefully conducted. Large lozenge-shaped patches of gold-leaf are seen on the centre of the forehead and over each eye, with smaller pieces dispersed in other places, and especially on the bone and teeth of the upper jaw, where these have been denuded or exposed by ulceration.
Plate [IV]., Fig. 2. (Cat. 834.) A female head, of a short, oval form, with a narrow, receding forehead, prominent nose, and very protruding maxillæ. The teeth, which are salient, indicate a person of 25 or 30 years of age; and the lower jaw, which is very angular, has a remarkable downward projection. The hair was long, but harsh, and was necessarily removed with the integuments, on account of the imperfect nature of the embalmment, which appeared to have been effected with a soft or tar-like bitumen. Negroid form.
Plate [IV]., Fig. 3. (Cat. 835.) A woman of 30? with a long, narrow head, slightly salient nose, and very projecting face. The hair is eight or ten inches long, harsh, but not wiry. Negroid form. I.C. 71 cubic inches. F.A. 73°.