New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-02
THE RACES OF EGYPT.
PROFESSOR PETRIE SHOWS THAT THEME
WERE THREE IN OLD TIMES.

HISTORY OF EGYPT From the Earliest ST., TINES
To- st the SVi'h kkaWafis Esypo
oTy in University College London With nnms h,
Charles Scribner's Sons 49,
MANUAL OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY; n. A for
Guide to the s s5uay Of ans qTaSers
Maspcro. d. C. L.. Oxon, Member OF C lne de
France iTse ex-DIrec,or Of Egyptian Nv
seums Translated by Amelia D. H., E NV nn.
tSoT With 500 illustrations PIP xiii. 500. O.
p. Putnams Sons.
Two points are prominent In PROFESSOR re'rie y
history OF the first sixteen dynasties OF Ancient
Egypt One is his preliminary study of the prop
able geological vicsstudes of the country before
man and his works became its principal FEATURE
the other his views on the subject of chronology.
The book is in fact one long argument to prove
what the author stated recently in sentence;
$50 far as am aware there is not single ele-
ment Of the chronology Of Manetho that Is con-
trad,cted by the monuments" AS to the first point
most writer's have been satisfied with conJectures
rs TO the condition and appearance at the time
when man began his life there. But Professor
Petrie collates such observations as have been
made Of the rocks to show what happened 10
make the country what it is. The Nile flows Tor
tic last five hundred miles over q bed OF limestone
similar TO that seen Fat Gibraltar Marseilles,
Malta Athens and in Palestine. The dry, sunny
climate Of Egypt has preserved to the outcrop-
nings of this stone a warm, brown color, replaced
elsewhere under the effect of moisture. by gray,
weather bea ten, lichen-covered surfaces. AS the
sea receded it left this ancient limestone In the
form of long, low tabeland extending soutn-
ward the sandstone of Nubia In the
midst Of which rise the granite hills OF
Aswan From the time Of this elevation
the general course of the drainage now rep
resented by the Nile has been the same. The
mountains 70 the eastward made 1t Impossible Tor
rivers to flow toward the Red Sea. But this an
Gent Egyptian tableland was mere shelf which
as it rose further and further from its bed must
break somewhere The valley of the Nile is SIM
ply the filing up Of cleft formed by the fall OF
the western side of the plateau. which is now in
places two hundred feet below the level of the
Nile. and yet retains in it's exposed strata the
marks Of its former connection with the far high
er mountainous country to the eastward. Layers
Of gravel high UP show where the Nile flowed be-
fore this geologic CONFUSION. Subsequently sea
and river worked together to fill up the mighty
chasm
Meanwhile other changes took place In the
broken shelf Of limestone. The bed upon which
II fell was uneven 10 begin with or else 1t he
came so, with the result that the mass above
broke down, forming the hollows Of the GASES
and the Fayoum. while the collapse Of smaller
caverns shows what happened TO the uptilted
strata at the edge of the gorge through which
I, the Nile flowed. In those times rain must nave
been copious in Egypt. Doubtless the country
was overgrown with forest, for only narrow
ridge on the west separated the valley from
wide shallow bay that covered what Is now
desert down almost to historic times Here Pro-
fessor Petr:es inference as t. the wooded ma
no az
other warm, wet countries. But the proof of
heavy rainfall in ancient times is obvious in the
denudation TO which the hills have been sub
tected. Under a climate like that Of Egypt since
the dawn Of history this denudation would be i'm
possible. Still, it is only ancient and popular
error that rain never falls in Egypt. 1t rains
there heavily at times. But the storm Is one OF
a peculiar kind. coming In cyclonic FASHION from
the Mediterranean originally. but apparently
sweeping UP from the desert to the southwest
Such storms. comparatively nfrequent, could not
have done the work which is evident on the
rocky TANKS of the Egyptian valley.
Man appears 20 have inhabited the region ever
since the times OF heavy rain and deep forest
The sea then covered portions Of the valley now
dry to a depth OF five hundred feet. The pale
othic savages We're therefore. confined to por-
tons Of the country which are now far above
by them have been found in the hills behind
Esneh But worked fnts have also been found
at lower levels. the inference being that man ex
tended his realm as the waters receded. Back
in the desert he has left heaps Of flint flakes and
scrapers, though these may be the relies OF his
toric man. For flnts continued TO be used for
sickles at a period later thar that covered BY
this volume while flint knives were used by
priests for certain purposes as long as the Egyp-
tian religion lasted. In the uncertain light Of the
earliest tradition signs deserted Of invasion by
races superior in intelligence and in the arts OF
life 10 the earliest inhabitants OF the valley. On
the most antique monuments Professor Petre
finds traces of at least three classes OF people,
probably OF diverse origin an aquiline race.
exemplihed by the statue OF Khafra. king Of the
Fourth Dynasty, large-eyed race. represented
by the statue Of Mertilefs, queen Of the Fourth
DYNASTY and by the famous statue Of the scribe
IN the Louvre and "a snouty race" depicted
often as forming the lowest class OF the people
Differences Of burial customs also point to run
damental differences Of race. and dim memories
of religious revolution, the substitution of Ra
for Hor as the ancestor Of the kings. for example
seem to point to changes due to the coming or
new peope with conquering arms and new IDEAS
IN religion and new names for their gods. But
history 50 far It can be learly made out
shows all these races dWelhhg tosethei' 'he
aquilne race In possession OF the throne the
large-eyed people filling the lower grades OF
official life and even aspiring to be represented
by Queens in the royal series. and the snub-nosed
popuace.
As to the region whence the ruling race passed
into Egypt Professor Petrle has decided views
The ancients called them Ethopians. and among
all the nations to which that name has been APP
piled there was only the members OF which
were portrayed Egyptian monuments with
features like those Of hgh-class Egyptians. This