NECKLACE OF 4000 RUBIES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17236, 16 April 1930, Page 18

NECKLACE OF 4000 RUBIES

HIGH PRIEST'S TOMB FRAGRANCE OF CENTURIES AGO CAIRO, Feb. 19. Details are now available of further finds in the tomb discovered recently near the Sphinx, including 19 more serdabs (places lor the erection of statues of the dead) of surprising beauty, separated by thin alabaster partitions. , The serdabs ail contain objects, in particular a superb statue of Ra Wer, an Egyptian high priest who died iu 2730 15.0., and other statues of gods, priests, and a panther’s head, t Ra Wer’s statue is surrounded by ! several alabaster vases, probably for flowers, for on entering the tomb the' ■ visitor iis surprised by the delicious scent of flowers, as if sweet smelling bouquets had only recently been placed there. It might he thought that the alabaster itself had been impregnated with some unknown substance, capable of preserving the perfume for centuries. In a chamber cut out of the rock about 15vds. square is a commemorative stela giving biographical details of Ra Wer, and also another large stela representing Ra AVer's funeral ceremonies, with his family surrounding the corpse in weeping attitudes. One can read the funerary prayer, in an angle of the stela, composed by the members of the family. Over 100 alabaster offerings representing the high priest's attitudes have been found. One of the most beautiful of the objects discovered is a large gold vase containing flowers that are also made of gold, and which are believed to have adorned Ra Wer’s dining room Many necklaces have been found, one heing composed of 4<XT) rubies mounted on a magnificent gold chain, belonging io the high priest’s mother. When Ra Wer married, she presented the necklace to his wife The papyri record how and in what circumstances the necklace was worked.