The Savannah morning news., 1901-04-01

OF the vases and crystal cups bore in
scriptions which made 1t possible to trace
them to some of the royal owners. Ivory
was found in considerable quantity, eth
err in tablets or in small pieces used for
inlaying, showing that this delicate art
was practiced then. The ivory carvings
of boats and the legs of animals are re-
markable for their realism and faithful
ness to nature. 1t was the custom 40
deposit jars containing food and drink in
the tombs, and each jar was sealed with
a clay stopper bearing the stamp of the
King for whose tomb the jar was intend
ed. An examina ton OF these clay stop
pers has helped greatly in the reading
of the names of the monarchs. On the
base of a dish of brown pottery is a frag-
ment OF accounts. the oldest known. 1t
Is evidently a scribe's tally of some sort
of article. The number twenty occurs
often and 100 and 200 are several times
repeated On another series of seals
measures for water or wine and for corn
or other dry produce are found, showing
that so early a distinction was made be-
tween measures for liquids and dry meas
ure The remarkable ivory carvings of
heads from an inlaid cabinet date from
the earliest period and are unique in
stances of the advance of art in that
time The ivory tablets are easy to ac-
count for being made of tusks easily Sc
cured in Egypt or from surrounding
countries, but the large amount of ebony
used on other tablets points to a wide
commerce, even at this date, for ebony
did not grow anywhere in the neighbour
hood of Egypt and must have been
brought from distant parts of Asia
The most perfect stele OF a private per-
son found was discovered near the tomb
OF King GA, and belonged to Sabef The
block OF stone was ground all over with
rounded edges, and the Inscription was
sketched on 1t In red ink, and then drawn
in black ink This ground was roughly
hammered out, bat the final dressing and
scrapng of the stone was omitted. 1t is
plain from the inscription that Sabef was
keeper of the tombs, companion IN the
royal palace, and overseer OF the Sed fes-
tival; titles which appear in the age
when the pyramids were built, proving
the existence of a thorough political or
ganization even In these early days.
Games were played by the royal hands,
and probably by the people, for a reed
used In a game of chance has been found
in the tomb Of Ga. Small objects In gold,
bronze. copper, Ivory and stone were
found in great number. An ivory toilet
dish, carved In two halves out of a sin
gle block of ivory. each in the form OF
half duck must have stood upon the
toilet table of the consort of one of these
early monarchs, while her maidens dec
GRATED her face with the colors beflttlng
her rank. This was found In one Of the
earliest tombs with pottery OF the most
primitive form. Another toilet institution
" hich receives the stamp Of ancient line
age from these discoveries, is the hair
pin. One of these utensils of beautifully
carved ivory was found in the same tomb.
a pair of copper pinchers is a remark
able tool for so early time. The pot
terry ranges all the way from the coarse.
Uniformed bowls and jugs, made simply
by putting lump of mud into a hole
scooped out on the ground and trimming
and wiping the vessel with the hand, up
to those formed with the art of the pot
ter's wheel, the earliest invention made
by man. The art of the potter made rapid
strides and was succeeded by that OF the
sculptor who cut crystal vases and hard
marble into artistic shapes Alabaster
bowls and jars of almost classic shane
produced at very early period, were
found. One of the most astonishing facts
In connection with the Inscription found
at Abydos. dating from the first dynasty
Is that. differing as they do from the
later script. the principles and many of
the characters seem to be already gener-
ally established. This is additional proof
that with the civilization even of the re-
mote first dynasty. we have not vet
reached the dawn of civilization, although
we have come nearer to IL by a few
thousand years.
That Mr.. Petrie could come after the |
French excavator and find so much az
value, reading many OF the inscriptions |
which baffied the earlier investigator, and
finding places for all the kings in lists
which have been known but never corrob-
GRATED is a great triumph for English
scholarship. Instead OF number OF
tombs of unknown persons, we have now
a new chapter In early history extracted |
from the sands of ancient Egypt.
G. III. Levy.