DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0327
THE ROYAL MUMMIES OF DEIR-EL-BAHAEI. 303
June 1, 1886, proceeded to unroll them. On
the wooden case of one was an inscription in
black ink, the official record of the high
priest Pinotem L, which said that the sar-
cophagus contained the mummy of Rameses II.
First an outer wrapper was removed; then a
bandage about eight inches wide was found
wound around the body from head to foot;
under this was a second winding-sheet, sewed on
and kept in place by broad bands; then two
thicknesses of narrow bandages were unrolled,
and there appeared a piece of fine linen, extend-
ing the whole length of the body, on which,
drawn in red and black colors, was the image of
the goddess Nout, " the mother of the gods."
Like Hathor and Neith, this goddess personified
celestial space, but especially the arch of the
sky. She is often represented on the monu-
ments as a woman curved over the earth, her
feet in one horizon, her hands in the other.
Painted on the cover of the mummy-case, she
promises to the enclosed mummy her protecting
care. On a papyrus in the Louvre it is said to
the dead man : " Thy mother Nout has received
thee in peace. Every day she places her arms
beneath thy head. She protects thee in thy
June 1, 1886, proceeded to unroll them. On
the wooden case of one was an inscription in
black ink, the official record of the high
priest Pinotem L, which said that the sar-
cophagus contained the mummy of Rameses II.
First an outer wrapper was removed; then a
bandage about eight inches wide was found
wound around the body from head to foot;
under this was a second winding-sheet, sewed on
and kept in place by broad bands; then two
thicknesses of narrow bandages were unrolled,
and there appeared a piece of fine linen, extend-
ing the whole length of the body, on which,
drawn in red and black colors, was the image of
the goddess Nout, " the mother of the gods."
Like Hathor and Neith, this goddess personified
celestial space, but especially the arch of the
sky. She is often represented on the monu-
ments as a woman curved over the earth, her
feet in one horizon, her hands in the other.
Painted on the cover of the mummy-case, she
promises to the enclosed mummy her protecting
care. On a papyrus in the Louvre it is said to
the dead man : " Thy mother Nout has received
thee in peace. Every day she places her arms
beneath thy head. She protects thee in thy