The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17

been kept in mind. The results nav ueeu "
clearing OF some known buildings, while Others
were brought to light in the deprls, wheEe
they had been concealed for ages, among ne
three Apgunges, hicroslyphic. Latin, ana Sreek'
which Gives. historical. infoTmation ahu at ,i
would nave caused a cointnotlon TO the world OF
science bad IL not been for the ioreslRht OF
ghH%npS,l'9n,s een wsrt Th %,p noR Re eemtIRued at
philp until completed.
The Karnak excavations are the greatest
plans were prepared by Mr.. q. de Morgan
himself, and the execution began under bis
Of the entsirprise.. tx" clearing began in tho
hypostyle hail OF the templeo Of Ammon. owing
to inflltrntion OF water and to a slow chenlcaIi
action. these colossal buildings were In a sad
state, a mcnacing ruin, aud much IN noen ot re-
ccHmolo A,!~ WSs new S~'s to Nl n. Legr%in. he accom-
plished his task with energy and great sklll;
speaking Of. the nntiro workhen he employed
During l2i days these men faced real dan
gers, and when leaving Karnnk, II gave me
great satisfaction to be able to say That not 2
single casualty had occurred, and no man had
been even slightly injured
During the excavation, the avenue, OF ram
hrnd sphynxcs was cleared; many walls bearing
interesting sculptures were mere brought tn,lltint,
s Snl ' ,Sn 'n Of i'm Imn9 IiTdn sls sc ot Kor M%I "" Which.
in contradiction to certain expressed opinions.
gives the level of various floods OF IN" Nile: by
the inscriptions md dates on THIS nll9inctre,
notifications are made In the chronology. OF
some dynasues; the level of the Hoods and tn,
AT VI Nlt ItlEu. hllNlNI my bh.S
are documents " the highest historical impor-
tancc. A good deal ofthe Egyptian chronology
year OF the reign of King 0sorkon H This
food is men,ioned again on the harTnh AK
Importance 81 this discovery. viii fully appear
when tho dates inscribed on the nilOmetre have
been compared with other accented chronology
The French Oriental Institute Of Cairo has
collected during the year, through ths care on
number OF Greek and Roman Inscriptions In the
vicinity q ,Assnnn; ut qnmmbos, karnaki Den iIon
of the publication, the Catalogue des Monu:
ments ct Inscriptions dc fEgypte Antique OF
which the irtt volume appeared n lso4.
Bruvsch hey mentions among the new pur-
chascs OF the Gizeh Museum an admirable
statute from the Eayum, of natural size and
In II perfect state OF preservation. representing
King Amenemhnt Ill of the twelfth dynasty.
The most precious addition TO the museum Is q
represents an official ly the nam. OF PsametiE;
Meth, royal lntcndant of the silver and gold
century Is. q. In the perfection OF its execu-
ton this s~tatuette ranks with the best produc-
tions of Egyptian art.
PREHISTORIC MAN IN EGYPT.
In his lately published history of Egvpt, Mr..
Flinders Tetrie makes this remark: prehistoric
man having been SO far but little noticed in
s ESXei, s0s T6e i last e s scmmn r,SIe tpr sd maas at t te.
days meeting was by Mr.. q. de Morgan In ref
erence to the question, OF prehistoric man in the
Nile Valley. On this disputed subject geologlsts
and archpologists have not yet been able to
agree. Mr.. de Morgan first reviewed the traces
quaternnry period. They are hatchcts. clubs.
scrnpers. points rudely cut. picked W. by his
ing places: Toukh. near Negada: Abydos. in the
desert between Dashur and the Fayum; In the
HHaliey q me queens; near Lfe s IN Inc a nT' 81
These primitive implements are similar to those
found in Europe. Asia, in the north OF Africa.
they are found in the diluvium gravel beds.
The bones OF Egypi,s quaternary man ave not
implements prove his existence ut the time
when the Nil" was cutting through Its valley;
" hen Egypt after the cataciysm assumed the
shape 1t now possesses man was u witness 81 the
transformation OF the soil. His primitive home
must have been, according to certain theories.
snppo.ition, as the only two Geologists. schwein-
furth and Ethel, who have visited this territory
had no positive documentary evidence to support
1t. In order Il solve the problem Mr.. Il. de Nor
gan. accompanied by Mr.. GequIer, undertook
an exploration OF this region, from u geological
man. Mr.. de Morgan found nothing but num-
mulites, echinidn. and moliusks characterizing
nowhere quatcrnary implements nor traces or
deposits. Of any fresh water streams. The con
ence. The depression of Blhr -Bala-Mah does
not correspond to the bed OF n regular
the FIsoF' form mt Ma' of fF0s thu = Mil. IN" SalI t5%o but ut
this valley alone renamed suitable for the de-
S we, I'm in. OF luna hIuman n1ioi not IN IT'S ms m1e e.ey parts ;
Director-Genera believes that the use OF cut
flint implements belonged primitirely to the
autochthoncs of Egypt. Their use may have con
tinued, Jointly with that, OF metal brought by
the first Egyptians, in the Nile valley. but IT is
impossible to admit that flint implements. were
used up to. Roman times. The n%eolithic re-
mains of Abu- ioah are but n small distance
from the buildings OF the ancient empir-. yet
no flint implements are found between these
two sites. 1t is not possible to conceive any re.
lation OF time between the first dynast!es and
At Snggarah the hint implements found in the
excavations do not seem 10 prove more than
. ha NJ pat r,,nt Lot 90 n pasrNInltA nNnF N r.hil
toric site. At LIGHT numerous flint implements
have been found by Mr.. J. T.. Gauthier. but only
near the northern pyramid. lie discovered none
near the southern monuments. though both are
OF the same date twelfth dynasty. This Is evil
dencs OF q state OF things similar tothat of Sag
garah. The same remarks may be made in
reference to Dashur.
The ruins of monuments Of the ancient en-
pire are more conclusive than those OF the mid
die empires, If the workmen who built these
old seuultures had used stone implements, flint
objects wodld he found near these construc-
tiOns. hut such is not the case. At Dyneh. in
Tie fayum' where it was stated that evidence
found. even among the Roman ruins, NM. de
Morgan and Geequier explored a Roman tell
or mound without discovering the smallest
fragment Cf n cut flint; but three kilometres
further they. struck the area OF u distinctly
characterized n%eolithic station. so Dymeh
tlrely independent OF the Roman ruins which
are N its vicinity. Similar is the case at ON
the neoiithic stations OF Upper Egypt. associ-
ated with cut tlint implements. are found nuclei.
MANNERS, fragments OF vases, anu broken
bones. all characteristic Of an autochthonous
people.
At TOukh. in tho neOlithic stations. that Is to
saw in the desert, between the cultivated lands
and the mountain foot, are scpultures simply
dug in the soil, containing vases of a typical
style. flint im plementS. and figures OF animals
cut in schist. The bodies are deposited in the
graves, !yinE on The side; IN a cronCh,ng att,
way that Of the PharHonic times. Tie shapes
of the cut flint INDICTMENTS allow us to connect
the stations OF Upper Egypt with those OF the
Fayum and central Egypt and we may con-
cludc thar on "A spnce covering about loo Rllu-
metres the Nile Valley wns the residing place of
the primitive people. The implements in use
resemble those discovered In Europe. vet some
Of them have n form peculiar TO Egypt. The
arrow hcAds have this peculiarity, that they diff
fer entirely In shape from those IN use during
would he sufficient 10 distinguish the neolithic
stations from the historic ages,
Mr.. lie Morgan concluded rs follows: 1T
seems proved today that the lharnOnic Egyp-
tians, when tli"y came into the Nile Valley. met
with an RItOchthOuun> population yet confined
To the stone age. They conquered the country.