The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1904-01-02
ANCIENT EGYPT.
Much History Gathered from a Single
Site, AbYdos.

~ ~ NHHE N-HHN "
er view Of the early civilization,
of which the general lines had
been fixed 10y the previous work on
the royal tombs of the town, writes
Prof. Flinders Petrie, TO the Lon
don Times. The clearance OF
the old temple site over several
acres has brought to light, in a
depth OF about20 feet, no less than
ten successive temples ranging in
age nom 5000 to 500B.C. For the
first time we can see on one spOt
the changes from age to age
through the whole of Egyptian
history. To separate these build
ings was an affair of anatomy
rather than spade work. The walls
of mud brick were so cOmmingled
with the soil that %incessant sec
ton cutting with a sharp knife
was the only way to discriminate
the brick work. Often only a sin
gle course of bricks or a thin bed
of foundation sand was all that
told of the great buildings which
and existed there for centuries.
Over 5000 measurements were
taken for the plans and levels.
The main result as regards the
religion is that Osiris was not the
original god of AbydOs; the jackal
god, Upuaut, and then the god Of
the west, Khentamenti, were hon
Ored here down to the twelfth
dynasty. The most striking
chance is seen abOut the fourth
dynasty, when the temple was
abolished. and only a great hearth
) of burned offerings is found, full
Of yotiye clay substitutes for sac
+, rifces. This exactly agrees with
r the account Of HerodOtus thar
Cheops had closed the temples and
] forbidden sacrifices. This mate
S rializing of history is made the
more real 10y finding an ivory
statuette of Cheops Of the finest
2 work, which shows for the first
/. time the face and character Of the
. great builder and organizer who
made the Egyptian government
Q and civilization what it was for
! thousands Of years after. This
/, carving il now in the Cairo mu-
u scum.
The discoveries of the ciyiliza.
ton of the first dynasty, the be.
! ginning Of the kingdom, expand
: what we already had from my
y work in the royal tombs. OF
n Menes, the founder, we have part
of a large globular vase of green
glaze with his name inlaid in pur-
pie; thus pOlychrome glazing is
a taken back thousands of years be-
fore it was previously known to
t exist. The free s of great tiles
n of glaze for wall coverings shows
v how usual the art was then. In
the highest art of delicate ivory
t carving there are several pieces
of this age; especially the figure
of an aged king, for its subtlety
and character stands in the front
rank of such work, comparable to
the finest carvings of Greece or
Italy. We must now reckon the
earliest monarchy as the equal of
. any later age in such technical and
Q fine art.
Il Pottery of forms and material
e quite unknown in Egypt also be-
long to this remote age; and it
proves to be identical with that in
Crete of the late neolithic age.
4 This fresh connection illustrates
O the trade and the chronology of
a that period. A head of a camel
/ modelled in pottery takes back its
relation to Egypt some 1000
wears; hitherto no trace of it had
8 appeared before Greek times. An
n ivory carving of a bear extends
e also the fauna of early Egypt.
IS The great fort long known as
the
< ed with the remains Of another
t. fort, which vas discovered be.
" tween that and the Coptic DER.
which is in a third fort. These
n buildings prove now to have been
N the fortified residences of tho
kings of the second dynasty
\ whose sealings we have found in
m dwelling rooms.