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°.

Plate IV., Fig. 4. (Cat. 836.) A female head of a fine oval form, with a broad, convex forehead, low coronal region, and strongly aquiline nose. This head retains a profusion of long, fine, curling hair, and the face is gilded over the eyes and lips. This is a striking example of the tumid face which is not unfrequently seen on the monuments. Egyptian form.

11Remarks.—The two Negroid heads belong, obviously, to the lower class of people, for the bodies have been hastily and imperfectly embalmed, without mummy cases, and in ordinary wrappings. The two latter remarks apply to the other individuals of this series, which have, nevertheless, been much more carefully embalmed.