ANCIENT EGYPT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 154, 29 June 1907, Page 6

ANCIENT EGYPT.

A crowded audience welcomed Mr George Aldridge at the Leys Institute on Friday evening, when, after a few introductory remarks by Mr Cecil Leys the lecturer began his "Romance of Ancient Egypt." The first part dealt with the monuments of ancient Egypt, in the second a short description of the hieroglyphics was attempted, and some account of the means by which they were first deciphered. The third part was aptly termed by the lecturer "A Romance of Ancient Egypt."

A -view of Pompey's pillar was one of the first of the fine views shown, and, when it was stated that this great obelisk, 98ft in height, was not made of several blocks of stone, but was one solid shaft, transported from distant quarries at the cost of immense human labour, the interest of the audience was thoroughly roused, and there is no doubt that this interest was sustained to the end, for, not only were the pictures especially fine, but the lecture was in itself most interesting, and even fascinating.

Views of Cleopatra's Needle, the well known Sphinx, the Great Pyramid, and the great Colossi of Thebes were then shown. Each of these gigantic Colossi was 1000 tons in weight, and was brought by prodigious human labour from the quarries of Assouan. Several pictures were then shown to enable the audience to realise the nature of the Egyptian picture writing or hieroglyphics, and the story of the famous Rosetta Stone, the key to the mysterious writing, was unfolded. This stone, containing an inscription in three languages, one of which was Greek, and another "hieroglyphic was discovered by the French in 1798, but in the conquest of Egypt by the English in 1801, it passed into the possession of the latter, by whom it was placed in the British Museum. The Greek inscription stated that the three inscriptions, though in different languages, were of identically the same meaning. From this starting point, the whole system of the hieroglyphics was gradually deciphered, and the story of Ancient Egypt was laid bare to the gsize of the modern world. In order that the audience might be able to understand the third part of his lecture, Mr Aldridge gave a short description of the two kingdoms of Egypt, with their several capitals, Thebes and Memphis, and related the story of the invasion of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, who led their invading hosts from what was probably Chaldoea, and established themselves in Lower Egypt. The features of these Hyksos conquerors, as shown in mummy cases and elsewhere, were quite different from those of the Egyptian, high cheek bone and a prominent nose being very marked Hyksos characteristics. Of the 19th dynasty, Barneses the Second, commonly called the Great, was the most famous, and the boastful story of his conquests is inscribed in imperishable stone- After this great king had been buried with much pomp, the country was invaded by the Persian monarch OambyseJ* who was stated to have disinterred his mummy, and caused it to be torn in pieces and flung out upon the desert. This story was believed until recent years, when hidden away among the hills, a secret chamber was found, in which were crowded together the mum-mies-sf ibsbj-of the celebrated j*ere«_-

ages of Egyptian history, amongst them that of Rameses the Great. . It must have been a strange sight, the lecturer remarked, when the last remains of these great Egyptian monarchs were transported upon the Nile, past groups of wondering inhabitants, to their last resting place in the Boulak Museum at Cairo. It must have been a stranger sight still when tlie mummy of the great Rameses was unrolled from its wrappings in the view of the Khedive and other distinguished officials, and the features and tie body of the great conqueror -were displayed to view, thus disproving the story of its mutilation by Cambyses. This concluded the "Romance of Ancient Egypt," and, after a few closing remarks from Mr Cecil Leys, tbe audience dispersed, after passing a very hearty and well-deserved vote of thanks to Mr Aldridge.