The times., 1898-10-16
BEFORE HISTORY DAYS
Egypt as It Was Under the
First Three Dynasties.
WHEN TIME WAS YOUNG
Discoveries in the Past Five Years
That Have Revealed the Begin
nings of Egyptian Civilization.
We Can Now Trace Things Back
to Five Thousand Years Il. C.

Prof. Flinders Petrie read a very inter-
esting paper on Egypt Under the First
Three Dynasties" before the British AS
soeiation the other day. His object, he
said. according 10 the London Times
report. was to give a summary of the
principal discoveries during the last five
years that has revealed the rise of Egypt
ian civilization. II had been said that
the beginning OF the fourth Egyptian
dynasty-the age of the pyramids. about
1000 b. C.-was the furthest back that we
could go. The puzzle was that there had
been no trace OF this high civilization.
But now entirely new discoveries during
the last three years at Koptos. Nagada,
Abydos, and Hieracoupolis, and various
excavations had discovered remains be-
longing to the ages before 1000 B. c.,
which had hitherto been the starting
point of known history.
beginning with the Libyan stock, with
some negro mixture, which occupied
Egypt in its earliest civilization, he show
ed some of the objects he had found at
Nagada-statuettes, games, slate palettes
for grinding paint, beautifully ribbed~fiint
knives of extreme delicacy, forked lances
and arrows, carved spoons of ivory and
bone, harpoons, bracelets, and combs
These We're at first temporarily assigned
10 new race, as we knew nothing more
about them; but now they could be safely
assigned to the predynastic stock about
5000 b. c., and even earlier. In the graves
of this aboriginal race were found bowls
OF black clay with patterns imprinted
upon them. They were OF great import
ance in considering the relation of this
civilization to that of others in the Medi-
terranean. In each of the countries where
this had been found-Spain, Bosnia, Egypt.
and Hissarlik-it was contemporary with
the Introduction of metals. Metals had
just been introduced, and therefore in all
cases this pottery was associated with
the same state of civilization. The proxi-
mate date of this was the close of the
Neolithic period and the Introduction of
metals-viz. 5000 B. C.-and that accorded
well with the time necessary for arriving
| al the rich culture attained by 1900 B. e.
Therefore these discoveries were OF
| great value In giving the relative state
! of Egyptian civilization to that of the rest
! of the world at the introduction of dy-
| nastic rule. There was a wide difference
| between the people of 500 b. c..
and those of 1000 B. c., but no
difference between those of the
| latter period and modern times.
| This showed that different race enter
| tn tHe country aDpul lildl -NtAt
| came the earliest dynastic remains of the
! presumed tomb Of King Mena, the foUn-
der of the dynastic history of about the
date of 4700 3. c., then the remains of
! other royal tombs found at Abydos be-
! longing TO the first three dynasties. The
skill of flint working had undoubtedly
gone down and was fast dying out. The
gradual decay of flint working between
800 B. c.. and 1900 B. c.. as metals came
into use, and copper was gradually hard
ened into bronze. had no parallel in the
world. Prof. Petrie showed diagrams OF
cylindrical seals as used by the kings Of
the first three dynasties, and impressions
| of such cylinders which were vastly
more frequently found than the seal:
themselves. He then showed a vase ex.
hibiting the earliest representation OF
Egyptian mythology and other vases