Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-08-09
THE EGYPTIANS.
The Search After the Aryan of this An
c1ent Race-The Chain of History Still


The Search After the Aryan Of this An:
Incomplete. $40
DIR. Rirch, of the British Museum,
thinks the origin of she Egyptian race is
enveloped in mystery The Egyptians
at the earliest periods represented them
selves as "men," and mythically were
supposed to be created by the gods, or
to proceed from the eye or mouth of
the demiurgos. AS early as the third
dynasty their type has been recently
recognized as European, distinct from
the Nigritic and Semitic races. IinIolo-
gically considered, the ancient Egyptian
language belongs to the Semitic, and
not the Aryan family of speech, and fa-
vors the hypothesis of an early Semitic
wave by emigration which flowed into
Egypt; but the only solution that re-
mains is the consideration that the
Egyptian was type produced by fus-
ion of different races after period of
miscegenation and climatic influences,
and varying afterward with the politi--
cal relations. Nor is there any indicat-
ion of an aboriginal race subjected to a
more powerful one, or reduced to servi-
tude, and the existence of a stone per.
iod, as it has been called, in the Valley
of the Nile. during which an unculti-
waited race rose gradually to higher
developement. Geological considera-
tons, do not aid to any great extent in
determining the highest chronological
limit of inhabited Egypt. The Egyptian
belongs, after all, to the more recent
race of men, and has nothing to distin-
guish his first appearance on the earth's
crust from races actually existing.
There is no trace of evolution or deve-
lopment. Even the earliest monu-
ments exhibit some of the finest art,
and there is no evidence of primeval
savage race inhabiting the banks of the
Nile and plains of the Delta gradually
ascending in the scale Of civilization.
In the Investigations made into this
history nothing has been too insignif-
can't for notice. It is not history COM
piled from papyri or literary doc
uments alone. A portion of it is In
scribed on the walls of the courts of
Egyptian temples, Or on the sides of the
propyle, the gates or doors Of which
were the triumphal arches Of Egypt.
Here the hieroglyphic details of war
are blended with sculptures represent
ing the incidents of Egyptian cam
paigns, the list of vanquished countries
and conquered cities. The eldest of all
treaties copied on the walls of the court
at Karnak remains long after the origi-
nal, engraved on a plate of silver, has
forever disappeared in the crucible of
time. Yet even these are secondary in
| I'M, orto f0 hot NH oh hoc
opened every tomb, and joined the
broken clew of history from contem-
poraneous monument, inaccessible to
the Egyptian, and unintelligible to the
Greek historians of the country. Crit
icism in this respect has supplanted
tradition. Not only rocks and metals,
however, but the most fragile of all
materials, papyrus, has handed down
details of Egyptian history. About
1000 rolls and fragments have been
discovered and preserved. Unfortunate
ly, the Turin papyrus, the conon of his
tory, Or list of all the Kings, with their
succession, years, months, and days of
reign, and, In some instances, the dura
ton Of their life, has only escaped the
ravages of time in tatters, and it Is I'M
possible to patch them together. 1t is
supposed to be a system compiled from
all extant and contemporaneous
sources, representing the idea of the
date of the world as known to the
Egyptians. Much difficulty exists of
reconciling these data with synchronis-
tic history. Still, it is wonderful how
many Of the important outlines of
Egyptian history have been discovered.
A great deal still remains to be done to
fill up defective portions, for the sub
ject is by no means exhausted Fresh
and younger students would find new.
and attractive inquiry Of novel kind
to reward the efforts of research.