The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-11-28
vALUAsLE DISCOVERIES.
What Is Learned BY the Recent ExtaRal io|
nj NRutratiss

~ Nnaixratias
The historical interest Of NaukFatis ID
very great but Its archaeological inter-
est, especially in all that relates to the
ceramic arts. is greater STILL Favored
BY its charter and constitution above
other commercial cities OF the delta,
Naukratis was not only the meeting
place and mart of all the seafarihg
traders OF the Mediterranean basin, but
it was also the headquarters of local
trade Of the highest Importance. Nau-
kratis was city of potters, and her
wares, according to the testimony Of
Athen@us and others, enjoyed great
reputation. This being so, we are not
surprised to learn that the mound of
Nebireh is one vast Monte Testaccio--a
hill of potsherds, deposits in strata as
well defined and as strictly capable of
chronological classification as the
strata in a geological diagram. Mr..
Petrie has trenched through and cleared
away these strata, going sometimes
to a depth of six feet below the hard
mud at the bottom. Each layer has
thus in turn rendered up its story, and
the story of each layer proves to be
chapter in the history of Greek art.
Now, for the first time, every link in
the chain which connects the pottery
of Egypt is brought to light. That
connection is not one of partnership,
but of descent. We have long known
that early Greek, when gradually
emerging from prehistoric barbarism.
must have gone to school to the delta
and valley of the Nile. The excava-
ton of Naukratis not only confirms
this view, but shows us the actual pro-
cess of teaching on the part Of the
elder nation and of learning on the
part of the younger. To be convinced
of this initial fact in the chron-
icle of Hellenic art it is only necessary
to visit the. small collection of repre-
sentative objects lately forwarded from
Nebireh by Mr.. Petrie, and still on ex-
hibiton in the first bronze room at the
British museum. We here see grouped
together. much as they might erewhile
have been seen grouped together for
sale or barter in the market-place of
Naukratis, such wares as found pur-
chasers among the people of both
nationalities Whereabouts -searabs, am
ulets and fantastic gods in colored
and glazed pottery for Egyptians from
the neighboring villages; figured and
painted cups, bowls and vases, terra
Gotta statuettes and the like. for Greek
folk of the city, and for expectation to
the trading ports of Asia Minor and
the islands of the Egean. These
alabaster deities of the Old Nile, this
quaint dwarf god in green faience,
whose native name was Bes, these pee
toral ornaments and sacred emblems
of the eyes of Horus, might have been
sold by dealers from Tema-en- Hor, the
''Cjty of Horus" (modern Damanhur),
and paid for with yonder archaic silver
tetradrachms. then fresh from the Athen-
ian Mint Among those figured wares
designed by local Milesian potter, we
| find the earliest example vet discovered
of the pattern commonly known as
''Grcek honeysuckle. But. curious
to relate. this ornament, as shown in
its most archaic stage, turns out to be
no honeysuckle at all, but new and
fanciful rendering of the time-honored
Egyptian lotus-pattern, remodeled and
| transformed by the light hand and in
ventive genius of the alien artist
| London Times.