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.
CHAPTER XI
A FORGED TOMB
I am indebted to Dr. G. A. Reisner for the following story and incidents, and for others which are incorporated in the earlier chapters of this book.
“It was in the summer of 1902, I think, that a couple of young men from the west bank of the Nile at Thebes visited a dealer in antiquities whose shop is in Luxor. After general conversation, coffee drinking, and so forth, they finally asked the proprietor if he wished to buy any antiquities.