The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-06-18

nologleal table of thirty dynastles, begin
ming with Menes, and terminating wit
the invasion of Egypt by the Persians
This table gives the names of the king
and the length of their reigns; and the sun
total Is so immense, carrying the duration
of the Egyptian Empire to such remote
point in the past. that most scholars hav,
shrunk from accepting it, preferring t.
suppose that q number of the dynastiei
were ecotemporaneous (that is, existing side
by side In Upper and Lower Egypt, and
not successiVe.
For the sake of convenience / will take
Mariette's division of the dynasties into
historic periods, together with the dates
conjeeturally given for the commencement
Of each, by the older scholars, by Bunsen
and finally by Manstho and Mariette:
Ancient carbohydrates I. 20 X. 200 B. C.
WIlkinson, Pool, etc; Ss23 B. c., Bunson; 5OOi D
Middle Empire-pynasties N. to XVII. 29Ot
2. O.. Wilkinson, Poole, etc; 2S25 B. G., BEnson
Later Erapire1DynasEies XVII. to XXxI152s
3; C. Wiikinson, Booie, etc; 1875 B. c, Bunson
Greek REle1Dynasties XxxIL to kXXIII
1872 BIC. Wilkinson. Poole, etc; 332 B. G., Bun
Roman R1ie-pynasty i ss.St xxxIy.. 40 b. G., VII.
kkfnson, Poole, etci 80 B. O. Bunsoni 80 B, G.
Edict Of Thsodosius, introdu cling Christianity
/ SSl A. d.
It will be noticed that the discrepancy
which is only los years at the beginning
Of the XVIIlth dynasty THAT Of the The
ban, Amosis, who expelled the HykSOS or
Shepherd Kings increases to 2, 500 years
on reaching the first historical king, Menes.
But it is precisely upon this earlier perioa
+ that Marette's discoveries throw the most
light, The names of the kings, their order
ofsuccessiou, and the length Of their reigns,
correspond with Manetho's table, and
there is no evidence that any two dynas-
ties, among those recorded, having existed
side by side. Although fully aware of the
difficulties which may be created by this
! extension of Egyptian chronology, and by
means To accept IL as exact, Mariette frank
| ly acknowledges himself unable to dispute
it. The character of the monuments, now
for the first time properly ,contrasted, in
dicates great changes, even within the
right boundaries Of Egyptian art; and
these are so clearly marked that the age of
statue or sareophagus may often be ap-
proximately estimated before reading the
inscription upon it. In short, the same
process Of study and critical knowledge of
details, heretofore so successfully applied
to Greek and Roman antiquities, now
opens q way for US into the shadows of the
mysterious ''forty centuries" which passed
over Ancient Egypt before our synchro-
nous history begins.
Enough by way Of prelude. On reach
ing the Museum at Boolak, which is free
to all visitors except on Fridays, you first
enter dusty garden-eourt, on the high,
orumbling bank of the Nile, with glimpse
of the opposite shore, and the dim, over
tapping triangles of the Pyramids. On
the left is an ordinary Turkish dwelling,
the residence of Mariette Bey; on the right
is the Museum, very plain, cheap struc-
ture, but so admirably arranged that lis
treasures can at once be discovered and
proftably studied. / saw large square
granite boxes on both sides of the entrance,
and was about pass them without special
notice, when Herr Brugsch, brother of the
Viee-Director, said: "These are the old
est sarcophagi yet found" They were of
the lVth dynasty (Gheops), and imposing
from their very simplicity-each mass of
followed granite, with a fat lid having
two projections at each end, as if two men
might be expected to take them in their
hands ana thus lift off the cover. One
contained the words in hieroglypics, on
each of the four sides. "The Kings Son."
Mariette's collections (that is, so much
Of them as there Is room to exhibit) are
arranged In seven vestibules and halls.
There ia no such attempt at effect as in
the Museum at Berlin, where the freseoes
Of Theban tomhs are initiated on the YaliG,
and beautiful doorway, violently torn
from its original place by Lepsius, is stuck
together again. The relics are simply ar
ranged according to their civil or religious
character, those of the earlier dynasties
having the most conspicuous places, and
these latter, by their higher artistic char
acter, are the first objects which attract
the eye on entering. There are plenty of
statues of the gods, collins and sarcophagi,
as IN other museums: yet, towering over
them, instinct with lie and character, are
those marvellous forms of carved wood or
painted limestone, belonging to the Hid
and 1Vth dynasties: which fash upon us
new revelation of the Oldest civilization of
Egypt. No other statues like these have
yet been recovered: they give the Museum
a distinct and separate value.
In the court there are three statues be-
longing to an age, from which no other
have been found-that of the
HyksOs, or Shepherd Kings, whose inya-
sion of Egypt about the year 2200 B. c.
( (Manetho), and usurpation of the govern
ment for nearly five centuries, are sufi-
ciently attested by other records. 1t has
been matter of conjecture who these
Shepherds were, and few archaologists
could have been prepared for the marked
Turanian or Tartar type, which is so dis
tlnctly given in their statues. The eyes
are long and narrow, the brows prominent.
the cheek-bones projecting, the mouth
large and wide, and the beard thick upon
the jaws and chin. They are certainly
neither Egyptian nor Semitic: have seen
Just such faces among the Calmucks in
Russia. Two of them are found at Tanis
(the Zoa7a of the Old Testament) in the
Delta, and the third in the Fyoom, which
shows the Hyksos possessed at least ali
Lower Egypt. They have been savagely
battered and mutilated, probably during
the dynasty which overthrow the rule OF
their originals; but the hard dark granite
still holds the type Of the race. If the
pre- Trojan city discovered by DR.. Schlie-
man sheuld prove also to have had Tura-
nian inhabitants, here would be a new
link, OF the highest Importance, in the
chain of the earliest migrations.
In the main vestibule, crowded with
precious relics, can only notice those or
O4 tue OtO6SB ERYDlldQ
Art, which are to be seen nowhere else in
the world The eye is at once drawn to
Gwo life sized statues Of painted limestone,
which, from their pedestals, seem to over
look and guard the later remains They
are nude, save a cloth in front like an
apron, which falls from the hip to the
knees. The arms and legs are rather stifly
modelled, but quite free from the conven-
tional rigidity of Egyptian statues. In
deed, the hands, feet, and joints show a
careful study not only of nature, but also
of the individual The trdnks are excel
lently rendered, IN their main masses, like
the half-fnished clay model of a modern
sculptor. But the heads are simply amaz-
ing, in their correct embodiment of life
and character, In them there is no pre-
seribed soiemnity Of expression, in closed
lips, steadfast eyes, and hands resting fat
ly on the knees, as in the statues ehiseled
two thousand years later. They beam
with frank, free, naive apprehension of
Nature, and exhibit the activity of an Art
which is just about to overcome the last
stubborn resistance Of the material There
is no representation of motion, as in the
crowning days of Greek sculpture; the fig
ures stand or sit, but you feel that slight
effort would enable them TO rise or walk.
One of the statues represents a priest
named RG-NefeT, another a civil official,