FUNERAL RITES AND CEREMONIES IN EGYPT. There has always appeared to us something solemnly interesting in the anxiety expressed in the ancient mythology regard ing the burial of the dead and the sad fate said to await those on whom this last rite had not been properly performed. A somewhat similar fear seems to have out lived time if we may so say, and most extraordinarily still to exist among the modern Egyptians. Whenever a Moslim undertakes a long journey especially in the desert, or goes upon a military expedition, his anxiety for this last and closing scene, is clearly evinced by his invariably carrying his grave linen with him. As he feels that he is about to die, he performs his ordinary ablution, that he may depart from life in a state of bodily purity and not unfrequently does it happen that a traveller has even to make his own grave. Abandoned by his companions and completely overcome by fatigue or privation or sinking under some fatal disease, he sits down with resignation, rouses all his efforts to make a trench in the sand as his grave! lies down in it wrapped in his grave clothes and covers himself with the exception of his face, with the sand taken up in making the trench, then muttering faintly Allah kebir! Allah karim! God is great! God is merciful! he waits thus for death to relieve him, and trusts to the wind to complete his burial. The ceremonies attendant upon death and burial in Egypt are nearly the same in the cases of men and women. When a man is at the point of death, an attendant most frequently his wife, turns him round to place his head in the direction of Mecca and closes his eyes; while before the spirit has departed, or immediately after, the other attendants exclaim "There is no strength nor power but in God, to God we belong, to him we must return." The women of the neighbourhood come to unite in this melancholy task and not unfrequently the family of the deceased send for two or more heddabehs, or (public wailing women,) who carry on the loud lamentation and wailing for many an hour. If the death took place in the morning, the corpse is buried the same day, as the Egyptians have a supertitious objection to keep a corpse in the house during the night after death. If it happened in the afternoon or at night, the deceased is not buried till the following day; in this case the heddabehs remain all night and continue the lamentation with the other women. A fickee or schoolmaster is also brought to the house to recite chapters of the Koran during the night. The kefen or grave clothing of a poor man consists of a piece or two of cotton, or is merely a kind of bag. It is generally sprinkled with water from the well of Zemsem in the temple of Mecca. The corpse of a man of wealth is generally wrapped first in muslin; then, in cotton cloth of thicker texture and next in a piece of stripped stuff of silk and cotton intermixed; over these is wrapped a kashmere shawl. The colours most approved for the grave clothes are white and green, but any colour is used, excepting blue or what approaches to blue. The bier is usually covered over with a kashmere shawl, and the funeral processions are more commonly conducted as we shall presently describe, referring our readers in the mean time to the accompanying illustration. The first persons are about six or more poor men, called yemeneeyeh mostly blind who proceed two and two, or three and three, together. As they walk slowly on, they chant the usual profession of faith in a melancholy tone. They are followed by some male relations and friends of the deceased, and in many cases by two or more persors of some sect of derweeshes bearing the flag of their order. Next follow three or four school boys, one of whom carries a copy of the Koran, generally covered over with an embroidered kerchief, and in a higher and livelier voice than the old blind men, they chant some words of a poem descriptive of the events of the last day, the judgment &c. The school boys immediately precede the bier which is usually borne head foremost. Three or four friends of the deceased usually carry it for a short distance, then others bear it a little further, and these are afterwards in a like manner relieved. Behind the bier walk direction and a strange anecdote was current in Egypt some years ago, of a very ingenious mode of puzzling a dead saint which had actually been adopted. On arriving at one of the gates leading to the church yard, the bearers of the corpse found themselves unable to proceed further. Retreat the female mourners, sometimes a group of more than a dozen or twenty, with their hair dishevelled though generally concealed by the head veil, crying and shrieking and accompanied by the hired mourners who with a loud voice celebrate the praises of the deceased.* Among the women, the relations and domestics of the deceased are each dising a few steps and then advancing with a tinguished by a strip of linen or cotton stuff, general, blue, bound round the head and tied in a single knot behind. Each also carries a handkerchief usually dyed blue, which she sometimes twirls with both hands over her head or before her face. The cries of the women, the lively chanting of the youths, and the deep tones uttered by the blind men, compose a strange and somewhat ridiculous discord. The funeral of a man of wealth is sometimes preceded by three or more camels bearing bread and water to give to the poor at the tomb. On the other hand a buffalo to be sacrificed at the tomb where its flesh is also to be distributed to the poor, sometimes closes the procession in such cases. At the funeral of every devout sheikh, the women who follow the bier, instead of wailing as they would after the corpse of an ordinary mortal, rend the air with the shrill and quavering cries of joy called zughereet; and if these cries are discontinued but for a minute, the bearers of the bier protest that they cannot proceed, and that a supernatural power rivets them to the spot on which they stand. Sometimes the spirit compels them to move in one particular * In the neighbouring island of Gozo, as soon as the body is laid out, the friends and family of the deceased assemble together in the same room, and amidst loud cries and lamentations, celebrate the virtues of the deceased in the most hyperbolical terms. Several hours are spent in this way, then at the proposal of some one of the company the rosary is repeated over and over again, interrupted merely by sobs, groans and loud wailing every time the death hell is heard. At the funeral, the bier is followed by the male friends and relations each with a black cloth or hood thrown over his head and shoulders, and as they go along at a slow pace, they keep muttering the virtues of the deceased in the strain above mentioned, "Oh what an excellent father, what a fond brother, what a friend of my heart," &c. very quick step, they thought by such an impetus to force the corpse through the gate; this they repeated several times, but their efforts were unsuccessful, the saint was still obstinate. They then placed the bier on the ground to rest and consult, and one of them beckoning away his comrades to a distance beyond the hearing of the dead saint, said to them, "let us take up the bier again and turn it round quickly several times till the sheikh becomes giddy; he then will not know in what direction we are going, and we may easily take him through the gate.' This they did, the saint was puzzled as they expected, and was quietly buried in the place first chosen for him. Bee TIME. TIME speeds away-away-away: Time speeds away-away-away, Time speeds away-away-away: DEATH OF FRENCH INFIDELS. None of all the victims of the reign of ter ror felt its dread influence so completely as the despot Robespierre, who had so long directed its sway. The Hotel de Ville (where he and his companions had assembled) was surrounded by about 1500 men, and cannon turned upon the doors. The deserted group of terrorists within conducted themselves like scorpions, which, when surrounded by fire, are said to turn their stings on each other, and on themselves. Mutual and ferocious upbraiding took place among these miserable men. "Wretch, were these the means your promised to furnish ?" said Payan to Henriot, whom he found intoxicated and incapable of resolution or exertion: and seizing on him as he spoke, he precipitated the revolutionary general from a window. Henriot survived the fall only to drag himself into a drain, in which he was afterwards discovered, and brought out to execution. The younger Robespierre threw himself from the window, but did not perish on the spot. Las Basas despatched himself with a pistol shot. St. Just, after imploring his comrades to kill him, attempted his own life with an irresolute hand, and failed. Couthon lay beneath the table brandishing a knife, with which he repeatedly wounded his bosom, without daring to add force enough to reach his heart. Robespierre, in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot himself, had only inflicted a horrible fracture on his under-jaw. In this situation they were found like wolves in their lair, foul with blood, mutilated, despairing, and yet not able to die. Robespierre lay on a table in an ante-room, his head supported by a deal box, and his hideous countenance half hidden by a bloody and dirty cloth bound round the shattered chin. The captives were carried in triumph to the Convention, who, without admitting them to the bar, ordered them as outlaws, for instant execution. As the fatal cars passed to the guillotine, those who filled them, but especially Robespierre, were overwhelmed with execrations from the friends and relatives of victims whom he had sent on the same melancholy road. The nature of his previous wound, from which the cloth had never been removed, till the executioner tore it off, added to the torture of the sufferer. The shattered jaw dropped, and the wretch yelled aloud, to the horror of the spectators. Verily, "the triumphing of the wicked is short;""there is a God that judgeth in the earth;" "the righteous hath hope in his death, but the wicked is driven away in his wickedness." ON TIME'S CONTINUAL SPEED. As In all the actions which a man performs, some part of his life passes. Nay, though we do nothing, time keeps its constant pace, and flies as fast in idleness as in employment. Whether we play or sleep, or labour, or dance, or study, the sun posts on, and the sand runs. An hour of vice is as long as an hour of virtue. But the difference between good and bad actions is infinite. Good actions, though they diminish our time here as well as bad actions, yet they lay up for us a happiness in eternity; and will recompense what they take away, by a plentiful return at last. When we trade with virtue, we do but buy pleasure with the expense of time. So it is not so much a consuming of time as an exchange. a man sows his corn, he is content to want it awhile, that he may, at the harvest, receive it with advantage. But the bad deeds that we do here, not only rob us of much time, but also bespeak a torment for hereafter; and that, in such a life, the greatest pleasure we could there be crowned with, would be the very act of dying. one treasures up pleasure in everlasting life, the other provides torture in a death eternal. Why should I wish to pass away this life ill, which, to those that are ill, is the best? If I must daily lessen it, it shall be by that which shall joy me with a future income. Time is like a ship which never anchors: while I am on board, I had better do those things that may profit me at my landing, than practice such as shall cause my commitment when I come ashore. Whatsoever I do, I would think what will become of it when it is done. If good, I will go on to finish it; if bad, I will either lease off where I am, or not undertake it at all. Vice, like an unthrift, sells away the inheritance, while things well, is a purchaser. it is but in reversion: but virtue, husbanding all -FELTHAM. The The MALTA PENNY MAGAZINE is published and sent to subscribers, in Valletta, every Saturday. Subscriptions at 1s. per quarter received at No. 97 Str. Forni. No. 96. Saturday, July 10th. 1841. PHENICIAN SARCOPHAGI FOUND IN Few places in the island of Malta are more worthy of notice than the small grotto, Ghar Barca, (grotto of Barca) situated at a very short distance from the old town. The most interesting monuments have been found there at different times; some of which were of so rare and unique a kind as to rouse the attention and call forth the deepest researches of the greater part of the best antiquarians in Europe. The grotto is described by Abela in his "Descrittione di Malta," as cut out in the solid rock about seven feet under the level of the adjoining ground; a few steps lead to its opening which looks to the East, and is about three feet wide. The interior of the cavity is large enough to admit one's sitting in it conveniently; its breadth moreover being about six feet and its length nine feet. Three sarcophagi were found in it placed with the head towards the east, and the feet to the west after the manner of the Phonicians. The first (Fig. 1.) was discovered in 1624 and a full description of it may be read in Abela's work which we have quoted above.. The other two (Fig. 2. 3.) were discovered in 1797 and remained till lately in the hands of a private Maltese family when they were purchased by the government and placed in the Public library. We have much pleasure in being the first to publish them, and we are indebted to a friend for the following notice in explanation of the accompanying designs. Both are of the same material, a very compact clay, have the same polish, and are of a reddish colour, most probably produced by the action of fire. The sarcophagus, (Fig.2.) is five feet five inches in length; its breadth decreases from the shoulders where it measures two feet three inches, to the lower extremity where it only measures ten inches. [Price 1d. The greatest depth is one foot and a half. In the cover are modelled a face at one end, and the toes or extremities of the feet at the other, and there is a severe beauty and chaste precision about the work which give a very high opinion of the plastic art among the Phoenicians. The face is that of a female, and the prominent breasts seem to indicate one still in the prime of life and youth. The sarcophagus was opened immediately after its discovery, but the body was already reduced to dust and scarcely any vestige of bone could be traced. An iron ring with some letters engraved upon it was also found within the case; but no one at the time seems to have thought it worth while to preserve an ornament of such metal, and it was consequently lost. The sarcophagus (Fig. 3.) presents a totally different appearance. It is formed of slabs or stripes joined in such a way that some are depressed while others are raised. It contained some vessels of terra cotta, and some fragments of bones, which latter on exposure, immediately crumbled into dust. Its length is five feet nine inches, its height two feet eight inches and a half. The cover is formed of three separate stripes of the same material which fit into the the lip or border of the under part. In each corner of the cavity there is a deep hollow extending midway down the adjoining leg, which probably may have served for holding the perfumes buried with the body. Besides these sarcophagi, a much more remarkable monument was found in Ghar Barca in 1694, a plate of gold covered with hieroglyphics, and enclosed in a sheath of gold. It greatly resembled the tablet of Isis of the Cavaliere Bembo, and was unfortunately sent from this island as a present to a Cardinal from one of the canons of the cathedral. It has been published, and republished; still we are not aware, that it has as yet been interpreted. Till this is the case, |