The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27

By NJ. dc Morgan In lower Egypt, Abou-Roach.
GuiSeh. saggarah, Abou-Sir. Dashur, Helouan,
| LIGHT. Meidoum. Kahoun. and Gourob; and
also In the Fayopm district at Dimeh, Kom:
Aohim, Om-el-Atl, Medinet oil Madhi. and
G~asr-KaroHp. He found them. too. In npper
ShSik- salsm. ebel: q .1erif, saghel.ei-EsGiio6,
Gebeiein, Ei Kab. AVID Cheiial.
1t ia unnecessary to follow the author in his
minute descriptions OF each locality, and II is
only necessary to say that somo of them were
PIGMENTS, as. for Instance. Abou- Roach; 9TH
ines, like Hoiouan. LIGHT. aud Dimeh. This
last locality Is described with a speciai care,
because from Its relative position to the Birkst;
any doubt. It's prehistoric character.
Tho neolithio station OF Dimeh Ia situated
three Kilometres south of the ruins OF q Ro-
man city, in u natural depression. the altitude
of which Is 100 metres above the present level
VI tse fsa@ tSe ksroq poa ,b pqr tn Sh sne l ss09e s sSS
the prehistoric station was located on ita shore,
covering q space OF about 500 acres. Tie I'M
plements found are numerous. but mostly bro
ken, as II thrown away after having been used.
DiverginR from this main station. always at
three Kilometres, are secondary stations. prob
bly, che residences of a few families only. Now,
since the prehistoric times the. water of. the
lake has gradually receded. If you go from
the site Of prohistoric stations down toward
the actual shore OF the lake, YOU find the imple-
ments until you reach tho altitude of ninety
metres. Then they disappear. Further down
are the Roman ruins. extending 10 IA level OF
pnts sWG level OF OF the fSeh iaE Es!ss Shore T.; while sV the tl int
implements are entirely wanting below the al
titude of ninety. THE shows conclusively that
did not occur during the Roman period. but
ante-dates IL by n long time. From the absence
OF good flint near Dimch. and also from the ma
ture OF tho implements generally found there
broken, this point must be Identified as . place
Of residence, and not as u point OF fabrication
So far no neolithic necropole has vet been
found associated, with the stations OF Lower
Egypt. No doubt further excavations will
exhume them. After. stating that he had no
sufficient time to explore the Nile valley be-
tanes us to the last mentioned neighborhood.
No less than twelve metropolis of the noolithio
period were disco cred there. while in some
toric man are clearly characterized by an album
dance OF debris. indicative of human Ire. simi:
Denmark. Generally the prehistoric tombs are
found intact. thus making Them indtsputable
This is due to their mode Of CON
etruction. At FL Amrah. for instance. they
all consist OF an oval cavity dug In the alluvial
gravel bed Mt a depth OF from, 10 TO 2 metres.
The body is laid on the left side. the legs,b mt up
ward. 30 that the knees reach the height OF the
sternum. the dead assuming the attitude of a
child before it's birth. Around the body arc
~eartlen vases, vessels. AMI the like. large urns
coarsely made. full OF ashes and animal bones;
nearer are smaller vases. cut stone or made OF
red clay. with black border: also, but rarely,
some decorated with painted red ornaments.
Here. too. are found slate figurines representing
usnts Ut QuhuTuUtuS. hiu hlDL. iullbtIhtHIs. dlu-
baster clubs, necklaces. and bracelets made Of
shells. Bronze Is seldom met with In these
sepulchres. and when found. the Implements
are very small. such rs needles, their exiguitY
sho wing the great value then attached to metal,
One of tho most striking facts about these
tombs Is the above-desCribed position OF the
skeletons. which is never observed during tho
pharnonlc times. In the oldest Egyptian
tonbs the dead is ALWAYS found with the body
stretched on the back. the hands crossed over
below the breast. This mode lasted as long
as the Egyptian religion stood. During the
plnrnpnic ttnnaa the bpai Of rho dead Iyna AL
ways turned to the north. while IN the prehis-
torlc toDbs no special orientatinn was adopted.
The differences are striking in n country so
conservative rs Egypt. and they show that
these peoples and the Egyptians were two diff
ferent races.
At Tnukh. NJ. de Morgan found the dwelling
place Of the prehistoric man., Under a bed of
desert driftcd sand il n large field covered with
the debris OF sun-dried brick buildings. In
these ruins are found in abundance nint tools.
broken vases. and bones. nl similar to those
exhumed from the neolithic tombs. On this
spot the explorer discovered nothing later than
the prehistoric period. Bronze is exceedingly
scarce. and when found the articles are very