The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
LIFE IN THE YEAR 5000 B. G..
FACTS FROM VERY ANCIENT TONES
OPENED ~ EGIPT.


| How long has man been on earth? The answer
! TO this question is beieg mndiGcd by every turn
| Of the explorers spade The expedition sent
| out by the University Of Pennsylvania which
has been at work at Nufer. has through Prof
Hilprccht its Assyriologist, set the date OF Gpro
| or 1000 Il. C. on some Of the monuments an.
covered Now comes NJ T.. Amelincau to n,
| enforce these dates by discoveries in prehistoric
| Egypt The full report Of his discoveries h,,
not yet been published, but this investigate,
has prepared the way TO IL by issuing the frs,
volume Of his account Of the excavations At
| Abydos, the sacred residence ot osiris Her,
he has found pre- historic tpmbs some $50 in
number. the contents Of which 20 back at least
| 5000 years Fortunately for us who feel curl.
osity as to the doings Of those distant ages and
the men who lived then. the Egyptians had the
notion that death was but the bridge from thi,
| life to the next, which would resemble this on,
40 closely that the very food and furniture used
| here would he useful there On this account
| they furnished the tombs as they would furnish
! homes Therefore in them have been found
| the very food and the utensils which the men
and women Of that time used while alive Its
10 this fortunate accident that Is due the exact.
! ness with which nineteenth century excavntor
can say precisely how those who died Q, 900 years
| y. C. lived. what they ate how they dressed and
what was the range Of mind and civilization in
| that ancient time
In the jars and vases Of these old tombs Amo-
| iinenu has found various cereals, like wheat and
rye proving the agricultural tastes Of those PEG
| pie. Date stones excellent evidence tina,
the date palm even then appreciated for its
food products Nor were these pre- historic peo-
pie vegetarians, for II they were why shouId
there he the bones Of and the horns Of tho
gazclle in their ,ombs' Ameiincau has actually
taL M har %, q he s.np .nl al.
ming Of tho use Of metals in Egypt for be ha,
found nnumereble arrow heads cunningly chip
ped out Of flint. and knives scrapers and saws
made 81 the same hard material The deco
rauve instinct was already alive, or why should
these old workmen have spent days on polish
ing and chipping stone bracelets
II is almost possible 10 trace the development
Of civilization step by step through these remains.
for here are earthen plates rudely shaped as
10 prove that the potter's wheel. one Of the irst
Inventions Of primitive man the world over was
not yet known Then come other plates and
pots and Jugs Just surely turned on that very
useful machine showing the next step upward
The following evolution Of inventive genius shows
Itself in the more elaborate pottery and the use
Of metals for making rude tools. Hard stone wa,
nov cut and shaped. dionte, onyx and rock crystal
Jars and made with 80 much art that
Their highly polished surfaces astonish the mod.
EN- ulsCONtfcF. IL seems as VI the oil the dIh-
mond or some other hard substance must have
bccn known by the people who followed out somo
Of 'hesc VASES on the inside Of which are stll 20
bc seen the marks of the cutting implements
IL was found that some Of the tJmibs paved
with kind Of ose-coloted marble. no, native IN
Egypt and therefore this must have been i'm
ported from some distant country showing that
the men Of that time travelled and believed in
imported goods much We do
From stage 10 stage the perfection of the work
mnnship and III" care displayed in ornamentGtion
Increase constantly; The primitive geome,rcai
- ar "a to 10.
ings from life, and there are representations Of
os,rches So li,clikc Is 10 be easily recognized:
the sh aiding OF the plumagc is brought out and
carving Of a human hand in the same hard
we'll defined As to wood ca rving these cid artists
were experts. They took the ebony which thev
had 10 import and carved perfect statuet,es ~
lions or Of Nuban women, which can be Identified
as such by the low forehead, angular face, small
eyes, prominent check bones, large mouth thick
Here frog carved out Of dioriic as unnstak abs
as II had been done by a modern arust
The men and women were alike fond uf personal
adornnent for beads Of clay covered With blue
enamel, Of comedian. amethyst emerald and
rocl, crystal all picrced for st;ininr the strings
numbers Here ton were ivory and Wooden In.
struments with which the cyelids and bows veto
Cnlo'cd red or black u make the eyes appear larger
Vanity is then at least 5000 years Old
The furniture was Only found IN bits; fer ,hs
remark able finds made. I he's were 80 large that
li'N HluSN nhNf Dfn maze OF lhf tSs~
Of tie hirpopotamus That this animal was hunt,
I'd by, The early Egyptians is well established
finding Of ,hcir ,usks is far more conclusive car.
ryinS TIC custom back several centuries Tho
manner in which these legs are carved Ia lcprescr,
the legs Of oxen Is ono Of the mnryels Of all Who
have had the god fortune to 500 them
he work Of the jewellers Of this carly aSe is bv
no means primitive for there are bronze brace.
lets. cunninrly TUNED into scrpcnrs alloys e
silver and gold copper and brass and other tools
q the ear'ic' stage when pure copper was use
To illustrate how near akin mankind has ttcn
through these myriaGs Of yca-s IL L. only nrrrs.
sary 10 mention The discovery in one Of the i"nh-
bottle ~ the long ago. II was an oa,thcn VAss
mH be- s"T IN ae fSe h m, bS SS' msb S %
milk from the vase Is there anything new under
the sun
Dcsiics the common pots for kitchen use and
the fine vases for the IA 'lor Thee were discovered
pieces Of wood wonderfully nlad with rieccs
featuring glass was Known even then Ills
seems 70 indicate long Ieiicd Of rrrrnnron
when they We're crude and uncivyed '" In Fac ac'
the discoveries at .Nbyd"S open 50 wide vista
Of Possibilities that We aye scarcely SURPRISE 10
hen actually found But, before ms s,ar,ins
that he had found the names Of sixteen roNal
Ecrsonages hitherto unknown, He knew that
they wee royal. for Their names were writ,cn in
peculiar device, and it was just as II the sculr.
t9T had engraved King So aud s" II is from
OF rathcr the device signifies Pharaoh from tho
egyptian Pcr.aa, Great House. that ia the raj,
ace or the court
When NJ Amencau opened some Of these
graves he found them 10 be the tomhs of thcss
great unknown kings; already Acknowledged
as kings Of Upper and Lower Egypt hgt not yet
known as Sons of the Sun. the title ~ later Fgyp.
uan n,onarchS Among these was one whoss
name he reads Den. another called Ca and four.
teen besides, sor'e Of whose titles could not hs
read as they We're entirely new. For instance.
one was indicated by the sculpture Of n serpent,
hut how this is In he pronounced or what IL means
no Psychologist has yet found ont On compar
ing lhc names just found with all the long list Il
EGYPTIAN Pharaohs, not one like anv ~ them
could be found, and il was very logically con.
cludcd that these antcdate Mcncs. and that plly
now are we reaching the ca ricst history If FvNpL
The tomhs are pTmitiyely constructed Soms
Of the walls being So Irregular that it is a. Ia
doubted whcihcr the plumb line was then known
But, nevertheless the interiors Of the tomhs Ncr,
most interesting Some Of them were So short
that II was evident that no human body could
have been laid here at full length and the ~
plHnntion WAS forthcoming when AT last in tomb
which no vandal Arab had reached y body Was
found all cur"i IN and surrounded with earthcn-
ware pots containing food ontmrntS. &c ~
course, there was no thought then Of emhelming,