Dows Dunham Recollections of an Egyptologist

We used to get a number of callers whom we referred to as “Pyramid
Cranks.” To certain people there seems to be something mystical about
ancient Egypt. Its fabulous antiquity and the rather exaggerated notions
of some classical writers about the vast wisdom of the Egyptians, together
with the fact that until the beginning of the nineteenth century
their writing had remained undeciphered - all add to the sense of
mystery that stirs the imagination. Further stimulus to this kind of
fascination has been concentrated on the Great Pyramid by such books
as Piazzi Smyth’s Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, published in
1864, in which the claim is made that this famous monument is filled
with hidden significance.
The “Pyramid Cranks” were not easy to deal with. They were quite
sincere in their belief in the mystical significance of the pyramid and
quite impervious to the arguments of scholarship, which seeks concrete
evidence to support its statements. I remember one such visitor to
whom I tried for some time to demonstrate that there was no basis in
fact for his allegations. All in vain. Finally I said to him “We archaeologists
seek factual evidence to back up such pronouncements as you
are making before we can accept them. You might as well tell me that
the moon is made of green cheese. I should reply ’Perhaps it is, but I
cannot accept such an assertion as fact unless you can produce a sample
of the moon that can be analyzed, so that we can prove whether you are
right or wrong.’ ” The visitor looked at me in some surprise. “That is an
interesting idea,” he said. “You know, perhaps it is!” He had entirely
missed the point I was trying to make, and I finally realized that we had
no common basis for argument. There was no point in continuing the
discussion.
On the theme of mysticism, I remember another case that I found quite
pathetic. A middle-aged woman came to see me and asked if I could
read ancient Egyptian. When I said that I had some knowledge of it, she
told me that she had a daughter about whose mental condition she was
greatly troubled. The girl was subject occasionally to strange hallucinations
in which she was convinced that she was the reincarnation of an
ancient Egyptian princess. She would go into trances during which she
would make strange marks on paper with a pencil, which she claimed
were Egyptian writing. Since neither the woman nor her daughter’s
friends could make anything of the marks, she had brought the papers to
me. She hoped that I could tell her whether her daughter was really
writing something intelligible to an Egyptologist.
When I examined the papers, I found that the marks were nothing but
meandering scrawlings quite without meaning. I was obliged to tell the
woman that they had no relation to anything Egyptian, and the poor
lady was much upset. She had obviously been hoping that her daughter
was as she claimed, a reincarnated Egyptian princess.
Visitors frequently show us textile hangings that they think must be
ancient Egyptian, for these often depict figures reminiscent of Egyptian
scenes and sometimes include hieroglyphic signs that appear to the layman
to be legible inscriptions. These textiles are, in fact, quite modern,
made within the last century, and are produced for the tourist trade,
where they have a popular sale. The designs are in colored felt appliqued
on a base of coarse cotton cloth and are usually crude approximations
of ancient Egyptian scenes. The technique is well known in
the Arab tradition of decorative hangings, the genuine ones bearing
abstract designs and inscriptions in that language; the best of these are
often quite handsome.
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