 An ancient Egyptian mummy thought to be that of Pharaoh Ramses I has returned home after more than 140 years in North American museums.
The body was carried off the plane in Cairo in a box draped in Egypt's flag. The Michael Carlos Museum gave it back after tests showed it was probably that of the man who ruled 3,000 years ago. The US institution acquired it three years ago from a Canadian museum, which in turn is thought to have bought it from Egyptian grave robbers in 1860. The mummy was welcomed back home with songs and military band music during a ceremony at the national museum in Cairo. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, travelled from the US with the body and said it would be moved next year to the Luxor Museum in southern Egypt. "We are not 100% sure that the mummy is that of Ramses I," said Mr Hawass. "But we are 100% sure that it is of a king." Atlanta's Michael Carlos Museum acquired the mummy in 1999, but offered to return it after hi-tech scanning equipment indicated it was likely to be that of Ramses I. The museum website said it had been acquired from the Niagara Falls museum. It is thought a Canadian collector bought the mummy for the Niagara Falls institution around 1860 from an Egyptian family which had stumbled on a tomb filled with royal mummies at a site near Luxor. According to the Atlanta museum's website, the family sold treasures from the site until they were discovered and the tomb - with an empty coffin bearing the name Ramses I - officially revealed in 1881. Mr Hawass praised the handover as "a great, civilised gesture". And he appealed to other world museums to return Egypt's antiquities, particularly the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum and the bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum. Ramses I ruled for just two years but is renowned for founding the 19th Dynasty, which spawned many Ramses - including Ramses II who was on the throne for several decades. (Agencies)
| 一具被認為很可能是古埃及法老拉美西斯一世的木乃伊結束了在北美博物館“流浪”140多年的歷史，終于回家了。 飛機將裝有木乃伊的盒子運抵開羅，盒子上覆蓋著埃及國旗。 美國亞特蘭大邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館對木乃伊進行了檢測，發現這具木乃伊可能是3000年前統治埃及的拉美西斯一世后，將木乃伊歸還埃及。 三年前，美國亞特蘭大邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館從一家加拿大博物館那里得到了這具木乃伊，而這家加拿大博物館則被認為是1860年從埃及盜墓者手中購得這具木乃伊的。 埃及國家博物館舉行了盛大的歡迎儀式，人們用歌聲和軍樂來歡迎木乃伊回歸祖國。 埃及文物最高委員會秘書長扎哈·哈瓦斯親自護送木乃伊從美返回開羅，他說這具木乃伊明年將被送往埃及南部的盧克索博物館。 哈瓦斯先生說：“我們還不能100%確定這具木乃伊就是拉美西斯一世，但是我們100%肯定他是一位國王。” 美國亞特蘭大邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館1999年得到了這具木乃伊，經過高科技掃描設備的分析發現這很可能是拉美西斯一世的木乃伊，此后邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館提出將木乃伊送回埃及。 邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館的網站說木乃伊是該館從尼加拉瓜瀑布博物館那里購得的。 這具木乃伊可能是1860年左右，一個加拿大收藏家從一個埃及家族那里買來放在尼加拉瓜瀑布博物館的。這個埃及家族偶然間在盧克索附近發現了一個堆滿皇室木乃伊的墳墓。
據亞特蘭大邁克爾·卡洛斯博物館網站說，這個家族一直在將墳墓中發掘的寶物拿出來賣，直到他們被發現為止。1881年，埃及官方發現了這個墳墓，而此時墳墓中僅剩下一個空棺材，上面刻有拉美西斯一世的名字。 哈瓦斯先生盛贊這次移交是“偉大的、高尚的行為”。 同時他還呼吁其他國家的博物館將埃及文物歸還，特別是不列顛博物館中的羅塞塔石碑和柏林博物館中埃及皇后妮菲蒂蒂的半身像。 拉美西斯一世的統治僅僅維持了兩年，但是他在埃及的歷史上赫赫有名。他建立了埃及歷史上第19個王朝，是眾多拉美西斯族人的祖先，包括曾經在位幾十年的拉美西斯二世。 （中國日報網站譯）
注：妮菲蒂蒂是法老王圖坦卡蒙的繼母，被認為是埃及最美麗的王后和第一位女王。 |
Updated: 2003-10-29 01:00
