The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-12

er's spade 1t was formerly considered
certain that the world could not have
been a habitable planet for more than
5000 years. Geology had shown thar
millions of years must have been con-
sumed in building it up before 1t be-
came ft for human life But during
the past few years some OF the most
orthodox believers in this theory have
been engaged upon excavations in AS
syria and Egypt, and what they nave
actually seen has forced them to set
the date of human habitation Of the
earth back several thousand years The
expedition sent out by the University
of Pennsylvania, which has been at
work at Nuffer has, through Professor
Hilprecht. its Assyriologist, set the date
of 5000 or 1000 b. c. on some CT the
monuments discovered
Now comes NJ. Z. Amelineau to rein
force these dates by similarly startling
discoveries in prehistoric Egypt IL
should not be forgotten that the evil
dences from which the early history
of Egypt has been deduced are very
fragmentary, and for long it has been
questioned whether MeneS, the earnest
of the pharaohs mentioned by Manetho.
had ever existed. The discovery of his
tomb has set that doubt at rest. But
NJ. Amelineau has added oil to the nams
of sensational discoveries by finding
what he claims are the tombs OF osiris,
Isis and other Egyptian deities. THESE
were supposed to have been mere mag
mary personificationS of nature. Inc
full report of these discoveries has not
yet been published, but this revolution
airy investigator has prepared the way
to it by issuing the first volume OF MS
account of the excavations at Apydos,
the sacred residence of Osiris Here ne
has found prehistoric tonfbs. some 100
in number. the contents of which are
more astonishing, when it is considered
that they go back at least S,0O0 years.
Fortunately for us who are animated
by an intense curiosity as TO the doings
of those distant ages and the men VINO
lived then, the Egyptians had the Pc
culiar notion that death was out the
bridge from this life to the next, winch
would resemble this one so closely that
the very food and furniture used here
would be useful there. On this account
they furnished the tombs more as they
would furnish their homes than as one
would expect to find resting places Tor
the dead TO be furnished. Therefore, In
them have been found the very food
and the utensils. which the men ana
women of that time used while alve.
1t is to this fortunate accident that IS
due the exactness with which a nine
tenth century excayator can say pre-
ClScly uQN lntSc WIN QiC0 u,Voo y SeAA -
C. lived, what they ate, how they dress
ed and what was the range of mind and
civilization in that ancient time.
Found Their Food.
In the jars and vases of these old
tombs Amelineau has found various
cereals, like wheat and rye, proving
the agricultural tastes of those people.
Date stones are excellent evidence that
h. OF a1n1
ciated for it's food products. Nor were
these prehistoric people vegetarians, Tor
if they were, why should there be the
bones of oxen and the horns OF the ga
zelle in their tOmbS?
Amelineau has actually taken US
back to the stone age and the begin
ming of the use OF metals in Egypt,
for he has found innumeralse arrow
heads cunningiy Clipped out of Mint,
and knives. scrapers and saws made OF
the same hard material. The decora-
tive instinct was already alive, or why
should thesesold workmen have spent
days on polishing and chipping stone
bracelets?
1t is almost possible to trace the de-
velopment of civilization step by step
through these remains, for here are
earthen plates SO rudely shaped as to
prove that the potter's wheel, one OF
the first inventions of primitive man
the world over. was not yet known
Then come other plates and pots and
Jugs Just as surely turned on that very
useful machine. showing the next step
upward. The following evolution of in
ventive genius shows itself in the more
elaborate pottery, and the use of met
ais for making rude tools Hard stone
was now cut and shaped. diorite, onyx
and rock-cryStal jars and vases were
made with so much art that their high
ly polished surfaces astonish the mod
ern discoverer 1t seems as If the use
of the diamond or some other hard
substance must have been known by
the people who followed out some OF
these vases on the inside of which are
still to be seen the marks of the cut
ting implements. Remember this was
s. 900 years ago, and few would believe
that the artistic instincts of man had
been so early developed were not the
ocular proof forthcoming in the artistic
creations of these ancient artisans. 1t
was found that some of the ton1bs
were paved with a kind of rose colored
marble. not native to Egypt, and there
fore this must have been imported from
some distant country. showing that the
men of that time Travelled and believed
in imported goods much as We do.
Carvings and Furniture.
From stage to stage the perfection of
the workmanship and the care display
ed in characterization increases constant
ly. The primitive geometrical designs
on the earliest pottery give way TO
drawings from life, and there are rep
of ostricheS so life-like as
to be easily recognized: a carving of
a ducks head in hard schist in which
the shading of the plumage is brought
out, and carving of a human hand in
the same hard material. where the lines
of the finger-nails are we'll defined. AS
to wood-carving these old artists were
experts. They took the ebony which
they had to import and carved perfect
statuettes of lions or of Nubian women.
which can be identified as such by the
low forehead, angular face. small eyes,
prominent cheek bones, large mouth,
thick lips. and hair parted into a num-
Der of treSses. Here is frog carved
out of diorite, as perfect and unmistak-
able as if il had been done yesterday
by the best mdern artist.
The men and women were alike fond
of personal adornmert. for beads of
clay covered with blue enamel, of cor
nelian. amethyst, emerald and rock
crystal, all pierced for stringing, the
strings having long since rotted away.
We're found in large numbers. Here,
too, were ivory and wooden Instruments
with which the eye-iids and brows were
colored red or black to make the eyes
appear larger. Vanity is then at least
s 600 years old.
The furniture was only found in bits,
for the woodwork had generally rot
ted away and all that remained was the
ivory legs of sofas-the most remark
able finds made. These were so large
that it is certain they must have been
made of the tusks of the hippopetamus.
That this animal was hunted by the
early Egyptians is well established by