The times., 1899-12-24
IN EGYPT's ANCIENT TONES.
Reccrt Researches shed Light ON
the Early Civilization.

the Early Civilization.
drom the 81 Psui Dispat,hl
How long has man been on EARTH The
answer 10 this question is being modified
ar 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 HEbrecht its
assyriologist, set the date of COCO or 1000.
X. c. on some of the monuments disCov-
cred. Now comes N. E. Amelineau to re-
enforce these dates Ly discoveries in pre-
historic Egypt. The full report OF his dis
coYerles has not yet been published but
TINS investigator has prepared the way 10
IL by issuing the first volume of his account
OF the excavations at Abydos. the sacred
residence Of Osiris Here he has found
prehistoric tombs some $50 feet in number.
the contents Of which go back at least s O0o
years. Fortunately for US who feel Gu
mostly as 10 the doings of those distant
ages and the men who lived in them, the
Egyptians had the notion that death was
but The bridge from this life to the next.
which would resemble this one so closely
that the very food and furniture used here
WoIld be useful there On this account
they furnished the tombs as they would
furnish homes Therefore in them have
been found the very food and utensils
which the men and women Of that time
used while alive II is TO this fortunate
accident that is due the exactuess with
which nineteenth century excavator can
say precisely how those who died 5000
years B. c. lived, what they ate. how they
dressed, and what was the range and civ
lllzatlon In that ancient time.
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 ex-
cellent evidence that the date palm was
even then appreciated for food products
Nor We're these prehistoric people vege-
tarlans, for If they were why should there
be the bones of oxen and The horns or the
gazelle in their tombs? Amelin au has ac-
tually take nus back to the stone age and
the beginning of the use of metals in
Egypt for he has found iunumerable arrow
heads cunningiy chipped out of flint. and
knives. scrapers, and saws made of the
same hard material. The decorative in
suHct was already alive, or why should
these old workmen have spent days on
polishing and chipping stone bracelets?
II IS almost possible to trace the deyei
opment 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 inven-
uons 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 UP ard. The following evolution OF
inventive genius shows itself in the more
elaborate pottery. and the use of metals
for making rude tools Hard stone was
now cut and shaped diorite. onyx. aud rock
crystal jars and vases were madeA with
so much art that their highly polished Sur
faces asJonish the modern discoverer It
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 cutting
implements. II was found that some of the
tombs We're paved with a kind Of rose
ored marble. net native 10 Egypt, and,
therefore, 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.
From stage to stage the perfection Of the
workmanship and the care displayed in or
Eamentati0n increase constantly. The
primitive geometrical designs on the ear
lest pottery give way 10 drawings from
life, and there are representations of os-
Jriches so lifelike as to be easily recog-
nized; a carving of a ducks head in hard
schist in which the shading of the plumage
is brought out, and a carving of a human
hand in the same hard material. where the
lines Of the finger nails are well defined.
AS 10 wood carving these old artists were
experts. They took the ebony which they
had to export and carved perfect stat
uettes of lions or Of Nubian women, which
can be Identified as such by the low fore
head, angular face, small eyes. prominent
cheek bones, large mouth, thick lips and
hair parted in a number of tressas. Here
is q frog carved out Of diorite as unmis-
taxable as if it had been done by a modern
artist
The men and women were alike fond
OF personal adornment. for beads Of clay.
covered with blue enamel of coruelian
amethyst emerald, and rock crystal all
pierced for stTinEing, the strings having
long since rotted away, were found in
large numbers. Here. too, were ivory and
wooden instruments with which the eye
lids aud br0ws were colored red or black
10 make the eyes appear larger. Vanity
IS then al least 5000 years old.
The furniture was only found in bits.
for the woodwork had generally rotted
away. and al that remained was the ivory
legs of sOfas-the most remarkable fiEds
certain they must have been made of the
tusks Of the hippopOtamus That this ami
NAL was hunted by the early Egyptians is
wei established by wall paintings but the
proof furnished by the finding of their
tusks is far more conclusive. carrying the
custom back several centuries. The man
ner In which these legs are carved to rep
resent the legs of oxen is one OF the
marvels Of all who have had the good
fortune 10 see them.