SIXTH SERIES. FOUR HEADS FROM A TUMULUS NEAR THE ISLAND OF PHILÆ.

Philæ was the ancient boundary between Egypt and Nubia, and this little island contained several of the most venerated shrines of the Egyptian deities. The island of Beggeh (the ancient Senem) was also a consecrated spot, and is immediately contiguous to Philæ. It contains a funereal tumulus, which is supposed to have been the common sepulchre of those pilgrims who died during their sojourn, and hence, as Mr. Gliddon remarks in his memoranda, “they may have been of any nation or of any epoch.”

Plate XII., Fig. 6. (Cat. 821.) A finely moulded head, with a good frontal development, aquiline nose, and delicate facial bones.—I. C. 74 cubic inches. F. A. 79°. Pelasgic form.

(Cat. 822.) A juvenile head, of perhaps 12 years, thin and inequilateral, with a good forehead, and broad, inter-parietal diameter. The face is broken, and the ethmoid bone imperforate. Egyptian form.

(Cat. 824.) A very narrow, infantile head, with brown, soft, curling hair. The face is deficient, and the head is rather desiccated than embalmed. Egyptian form?

Plate XII., Fig. 7. (Cat. 823.) An unmixed Negro, with a narrow, elongated head, well-developed forehead, short and flat nasal bones, everted upper jaw, and short, gray, woolly hair. This appears to be the cranium of a woman of at least 60 years of age. The bones are thin, and the whole structure remarkably small.—I. C. 73 cubic inches.

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