The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-05

autochthoncs, simply in a relative sense, Of the
frst race Of men SO far discovered in Egypt, to
distinguish It from the later race that in.
hablted the country under the several dynas-
ties Of history, which he calls the Egyptians or
the invaders. lie leaves open, owing to tho
lack Of evidence at present, the question rs to
whether these aborlgines were really tho first
Inhabitants Of the land bordering upon the Nile.
Tho results Of the Negadah excavations
Joined to NJ. Amelineau's discoveries at Ably.
dos, and NJ. do Morgan's own observations Of
prehistoric remains in the Nile Valley, from
Cairo to Luxor, have enabled him to give a
pretty exact description of the state of civil.
cation of this fiint-using people, and have con.
Grmed him in his recently expressed opinions
with regard to tho antiquity of the race and
the Asiatio origin Of the people which con.
quered and supplantcd 1t, the Egyptians. that
Is, OF the Pharaohs and the hieroglyphs.
In March. 1897, NJ. de Morgan was in Upper
VI, he writes, Prof. Flinders Petrie had.
district GitR my ba au'hoT tneM fh explored is ;b part of this
had been only carried to the Toukh and Ballas
metropolis, and that although he had called one
English archuologist had left untouched the
ground located south OF Toukh. So 1 estab-
company with Messrs. a. Wiedemann, q. Je.
quier. and q. L.ampre, who gave mt assistance
gan at two metropolis; one, to the south. be- e
longing to the aborigines, and the other, a few
n the arit E igTIhGr north R,b GiSEnts ,ha graves of
GslshSq%Fhood,' isspsstins the :kj seEtSaS% sRc
flint instruments. and observing every Indication
could; 1t was then that l noticed. in a small
some remains Of II sun.dried brick building,
which from the technique of its construction
m seSmed r ;s0 mS at era a ti or FEl sySf,t to belong siYiizs to the
While digging in this tell, to get sebakh,
very strange appearance. The outside wall
was made in the shape Of chapels of an indent.
Cd pattern. like the stelcs of the ancient en-.
burned bricks and fragments of pottery, every
thing, bSaring witness to an intense confiagra.
Amslipeag at Abydo;. and he wrongly attrib.
uted this destruction by fire to Christian fanati.
hi herto unknown in Egypt. AS soon as exca.
yatlon began, this was proved BY the fact that
In the upper part of the mound. above the re:
the Roman, Greek, and Itamcsside ages.
some OF the graves contain painted mummy
cases IKE those discovered by Mr.. Grepault Mt
Deir-el-Bahri; There can be no doubt that tho
nre was made at the time of the funeral, and
In some Of the rooms large vases containing
the offerings were left untouched, and still
funeral custom. Tho habit OF breaking objects
s ISSh t MefG ih used Won once 81, 1S IT the So dead: In order to
belonged TO a dead person, can be traced in The
tuhernry. inscription, OF King Ra-fou-Ab, and
others of the twelfth dynasty. In the curious
hicroglyphics there were birds, snakes, and other
animals all deprived OF their heads, in order to
show that they were dead or belonged tOtho dead
Very likely the DESTRUCTION by fire in the tomb
OF Negadah was intended to render the objects
lmhiateriai. AT any rate. we must remember
that this mode of burning was not peculiar to
the hrst Kings Of Egypt, but was employed also
weTe Inc Ass'y r monarch; whose bodies
their belongings. Thu tomb of Negadah con,
sist ,net ro sw nH one rooms, covering an area OF
The whole monument was made Of sun-dried
tion recalls the most ancient bmildings Of
lover Chaldea, OF the upper part and ROOT
lneau found at Abydos II tomb Of similar STYLE,
IN which NJ de Morgan observed remains of d
beams. The bod body s OF tis Saad iy ma larS was T b%%isa
IN INC central room Of the building. but The
cremation ,Nin was so complete tina, only a few
uncovered were found in the central row OF
fooms. a; b g D., +. IN room A were eighty
per bearing the royal seal.
r,NfSnn immense guNnility, OF objects was found
cylindrical, made OF turllicnware, gray, yellow
9feGli rcd; o. lard stone. alabpster. porphyry
S%6sidian; ivory and rock crystal figures OF AMI
Deads and bracelet, fragments of burned cloth
tive i"V ART arg rGc bulk lnIHl'@ 81 ihc OF im a ysTy pri anil
vases arc made Of stone, but worked with
fhs Frea!@st reG.ect!on; The only metal,
and some threads OF copper. Inscription.
were numerous, although with hut little varie
". They occur engraved on stone vases and or
Ivory objects, but the most characteristic ar,
those Stamped from cylinders to seal The offer
inss. These inscriptions are hicroglyphic, AM
the oldest known in the world. Tie King,
name Appears IN the form called the "banIel
name, or within q square, the most arChni,
form. Thanks to these discoveries made with,
tho last two years in upper Egypt in the roya
tolnOs OF Abydos and Ncgadah, and also In Ia,
contemporary graves Of tho poorer pOpula
uon' u correct classification can be made OF tht
ceramics OF the first ages. and we are able n
restore TO that period what had been wronpi,
aitribuied 10 much later dates. For instance
N. Maspero nscTibes this pottery to he ThcbaI
dynnstieS. and as Contemporary with TN
artists Who decorated the caves of BGni.Hsssan,
when they properly belong to u time anterin
To SneirOu, u discrepancy OF thousands OF years
Vases cut out of stone were plentiful In In
Ncghdab royal grave. A great variety OF Tn
hardest materials were used, some Of them
like ~obsidiRn, entirely foreign 10 Fgypt. nm,
coming post likely from tho Asintic noun
tains. Dhring the early ages of Egypt ohsidiaI
~ AaEE llLrhIN n.IAAlAnl- nnl EMn. I-L--L-