The sun., 1903-02-08
SOME NEW hooks.
A History Of Egypt.

= Euupt from the end Of the Neoihhic Period 10
. nc DounfuH OF the Pioiemdic Dyndsfy.
bv DR.. L. A. WALLIS BUDoE, keeper Of
=, Egyptian and Syrian antiquities IN the
British Museum Henry Frowde. Oxford
University Prcss) The facts set forth in
this comprehensive narrative are mainly
derived from ancient Egyptian monuments
and papyri. and tho reader who wishes TO
,study at first hand the original documents
will find scattered through the eight volumes
numerous references to published works IN
English. French and German. which give
the Egyptian texts and often add transla-
tons and elaborate commentaries. Inc
volumes are illustrated by n series OF re-
productions made from the pre-dynas-
., tic and dvnas,i' antiquities preserved In
the British Museum and elsewhere;
from photographs of Egyptian tenn
plcs and pyramids and other mon uments
and OF Nile scenery, and from out
line drawings aud tracings made chiefly
from published works. A word should be
raid about the authors method Of narration.
Each volume describes a certain period OF
Egyptian history, and is divided into chap
ters. each of which treats Of a dynasty or
Qroup of dynasties, or contains q summary
az the principal characteristics that dis
tnguished the period with which the volume
:. n concerned The reign OF each king E
described in number OF paragraphs which
q contain not only an enumeration OF the bare
.facts OF history, but also extracts from
papyri and stella and other Egyptian docu-
ments, which serve to indicate the condition
,-of the country, both civil and military
during the period Of his rule. BY the side
OF such extracts from native authorities,
DIR. Bulge has inserted a number OF passages
from the works of Herodotus. Diodorus and
y other classical writer's, which supplement
the bald statements OF the hieroglyphio
inscriptions, and supply interesting, and
,.often important, information about Egypt
ID and the Egyptians, not only while they were
3 ruled by their native Pharaohs, but also
while the country was under the domina-
ton of the Assyrians. Persians, Macedon-
ians and other conquerors.
In a modern work on the history OF Egypt
Il is obviously necessary TO have some sys-
tenn of chronology. Many systems OF
Egyptian chronology have been con-
r. structed by Egyptologists and others. but
' only few of them have been framed with
N due regard to the facts and the proba-
..bilities of the history OF Egypt. The sys-
tens of Archbishop Usher and Sir Gardner
! Wilkinson must be discarded. FOR the former
scholar made his figures mt his preconceived
Views and theories about Bible history, ana
the latter never realized the great antiquity
of the civiliz ition Of the country in which
- he toiled for many years. Discarded
,also as already obsolete u the plan foi-
lowed by Eduard Meyer, the well-known
German historian. who introduced system
of so-called approximate dates. which
are always the latest dates that can be given
-knn AL haf
King Mcnes. or Mena, the first King OF the
first dynasty, ruled about 800 b. u. that
King Snefru. the founder Of the fourth
dvnas,v. ruled about 1880 B. c.. and Pepi l..
,tbe great monarch OF the sixth dynasty.
about 25sO B. c., he did not by any means
assert that these dates are absolute by cor
rect but merely that these sov reigns
could not have ruled after the dates given.
though he deemed It impossible to say how
long before these dates they did live. From
the date Of the overthrow Of the Hyksos
and the accession Of Aahames l. to the
throne, about 1880 B. c.. Meyers dates have
been generally accounted approximately
correct. We knov. for instance. that King
Necho ruled oOs-595 B. c., that Sheshong
or Shashang l. lived about $50 B. c.. that
Ramses H. lived in the thirteenth and Thut-
nosis ILL.,, in the fifteenth century B. c.
Meyer's earlier dates. as we have said, are
set aside even as approximations, In the
book before US.
= Of all the chronological systems hitherto
: propounded, DR.. Budge regards that Of the
b, ate DR.. Brugsch as having most to recon-
mended it for practical purposes, on the
ground that It agrees exceedingly well on
the whole with the evidence derived from
various sources and considerations, which
indicate that the duration Of the dynastic
period beginning with Manes and ending
:. with the close Of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
was about 4 500 years. Brugsch. like
d, .Herodotus, allowed three generations to
: a century, and he postulated one great
. cap Of 500 years between the twelfth and
the eighteenth dynasties, that is to say,
--between the Middle and the New Empires.
There was another great gap from the end
,pf the sixth TO the beginning of the eleventh
) dynasty; or, in ether words. between the
Middle Empire and the Old Empire. DIR.
Bulge holds that. although the average 81
!, three generations per century IL too low, and
r'the years conceded to the gap between
= the twelfth and the eighteenth dynasties
are too many, still the forty-four hundred
or forty-four hundred fifty five years, which
. Brug sch believed to be the length Of the
dyna.tic period as whole, arc not ex-
y ccs.ive. 1t is admitted that to assign spe-
ciHc dates TO the reigns OF the kings Of the
.earlier dynasty is impracticable. We do
3not possess chronological data sufficient
for the purpose, and no amount OF shutting
!. Of figures. or guehses. or emendations can
supply satisfactory equivalents for facts.
Still less can any trustworthy estimate In
. wears be made for the duration Of the pre-
: dynastic period in Egyptian history. even II
we deny the existence Of a Pal@olithic age
in Egypt. Neither can any calculations
- concerning it which are based upon the
rate OF the deposit of mud in the Nile Valley
be regarded AZ final, because the condi-
49, tions under which the deposits were made
.,:in all parts Of the valley at remote epochs
are unknown. We may here mention as a
matter of interest that, in the reign of
Amenemhat Ill. tabout 2sOo B. CA, the
great Pharaoh Of the Twelfth Dynasty.
who built the so-cailed Labyrinth and the
: vast reservoir in the Fsyoum District, some
- notes regarding the rise OF the Nile were
;nscriIoi on tho rocks at Samneh and