stituted abbess, the monks and nuns living in society and regular order: it flourished for nearly two hundred years, but was destroyed, with its inhabitants, by the Danes, in 870.-See T. T. for 1814, p. 255. 18.-SAINT LUKE THE EVANGELIST. Luke was born at Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, a place celebrated for the study of the liberal arts. The notion that he was a painter is without foundation, as it is not countenanced by antient writers. Dr. Lardner thinks that he might have been by profession a physician, as the expression beloved physician,' Col. iv, 14, seems to intimate. Luke lived a single life, and died in the 84th year of his age, about the year of Christ 70; probably a natural death. ex threa *18. 1817.-TOMB OF NECHO DISCOVERED, Near the remains of Egyptian Thebes', by M. BELZONI, whose excellent fac-simile of this extraordinary monument of antient times, now hibiting in London, is doubtless familiar to many. of our readers. It is scarcely possible by description to convey an adequate idea of these subterranean abodes, or of the strange and horrible figures with which they are filled. Most travellers are satisfied with entering the large hall, the gallery, and staircase; in fact, as far as they can conveniently proceed: but M. Belzoni frequently explored the inmost recesses of these extraordinary excavations. Of some of these tombs many persons could not withstand the suffocating air, which often occasions fainting. 'On entering the narrow passage,' says M. Belzoni, 2 more must on p of gla of th more According to Strabo, the antient city of Thebes might vie with the noblest cities in the universe. Its hundred gates, celebrated by Homer, are universally known, and acquired for it the surname of Hecatompylos, to distinguish it from the other Thebes in Boeotia. Its population was proportionate to its extent; and, according to history, it could send out at once two hundred chariots and ten thousand fighting men at each of its gates. The Greeks and Romans have celebrated its magnificence and grandens though they saw it only in its ruins. so anenst were the side the s the torc rour with COV mun des Sev Rea one it c to bet bro WO mo su an SO T ia in oughly cut in the rock, and nearly filled nd and rubbish, a vast quantity of dust e that it fills the throat and nostrils, and, ith the strong smell of the mummies, uffocation. In some places there is not the vacancy of a foot left, which you ive to pass through in a creeping posture, and keen stones, that cut like fragments After getting through these passages, some 0 or 300 yards long, you generally find a nodious spot, perhaps high enough to allow posture. But what a place of rest! sury bodies, by heaps of mummies on every h, previously to my being accustomed to mpressed me with horror. The blackness of the faint light given by the candles or r want of air, the different objects that surme, looking at, and seeming to converse nother, and the Arab guides, naked and with dust, themselves resembling living , absolutely formed a scene that cannot be 1. In such a situation I found myself imes; and when exhausted, fainting, and vercome, I sought a resting-place, and found weight bore on the body of an Egyptian, and d like a band-box. I naturally had recourse nds to sustain my weight, but they found no pport: so that I sunk altogether among the nummies, with a crash of bones, rags, and cases, which raised such a dust as kept me ess for a quarter of an hour, waiting till it again. Thus I proceeded from one cave to all full of mummies, piled up in various ways, anding, some lying, and some on their heads. pose of my researches was to rob the Egypttheir papyri, of which I found a few hidden breasts, under their arms, in the space above es, or on the legs, and covered by the nufolds of cloth that envelope the mummy." The art of embalming the dead, so as to remain perfect for centuries, has been comparatively unknown to all nations, except the Egyptians. Herodotus, and after him Diodorus Siculus, informs us, that bodies were embalmed in three different ways. The most magnificent was bestowed on persons of the most distinguished rank; the expense of which amounted to a talent of silver (about 1387.) In this ceremony several hands were employed. Some drew the brain through the nostrils, by an instrument; others emptied the bowels and intestines, by cutting a hole in the side; after which the cavities were filled with aromatics and various odoriferous drugs. After some time, the body was swathed in lawn fillets, which were glued together with a kind of very thin gum, and then crusted over with the most exquisite perfumes. The body thus embalmed, was delivered to the relations, and placed upright in a wooden coffin against the wall, either in sepulchres, or in their private houses. M. Belzoni brought with him to England the most perfect mummy he could find, after six years' research in Egypt. The body and limbs are quite entire; the ligaments and muscles visibles; and the teeth and nails have almost preserved their natural and original perfection. He also possesses the mummy of an Egyptian priest, with the swathings still perfect, and the arms folded over the body. ADDRESS to the MUMMY at BELZONI'S EXHIBITION. And thou hast walked about (how strange a story!) In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago, When the Memnonium was in all its glory, And Time had not begun to overthrow Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, Speak! for thou long enough hast acted Dummy; Thou hast a tongue-come-let us hear its tune; -for doubtless thou canst recollect, hom should we assign the Sphinx's fame; eops or Cephrenes architect ther Pyramid that bears his name? pey's Pillar really a misnomer? ebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer? s thou wert a Mason, and forbidden nce that very hand, now pinioned flat, not ask thee if that hand, when armed, after thy primeval race was run. couldst develope, if that withered tongue silent, incommunicative elf? t sworn to secrecy? then keep thy vows; prythee tell us something of thyself, eveal the secrets of thy prison-house; e in the world of spirits thou hast slumbered, t hast thou seen-what strange adventures numbered? first thy form was in this box extended, e have, above-ground, seen some strange mutations; Roman empire has begun and ended, ew worlds have risen-we have lost old nations, countless kings have into dust been humbled, le not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled. Crispinus and Crispianus, two brothers, were born at Rome; whence they travelled to Soissons in France, about the year 303, to propagate the Christian religion. Being desirous, however, of rendering themselves independent, they gained a subsistence by shoemaking. It having been discovered that they privately embraced the Christian faith, and endeavoured to make proselytes of the inhabitants, the governor of the town immediately ordered them to be beheaded, about the year 308. From this time, the shoemakers chose them for their tutelar saints. There is a curious anecdote relative to this day in T. T. for 1816, p. 291. |