The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-08

W NNA -~f~
lively interest TO raise the curtain and peer
beyond into the ages which bequeathed our
forefathers a precious legacy. There is,
moreover, a third, and possibly a still
more numerous class Of persons desiring
an acquaintance with the history Of Egypt
namely, the students Of the Old Testament.
All the varying interests Of these three
classes of readers have been remembered
In the composition Of this book.
A preliminary word should be said as
to ths plan followed In the production
Of this history. We should bear in mind
that the sources from which we derive
our knowledge Of the earliest career Of
the Nile valley peoples-the career pre-
ceding the foundation Of the old kingdom
by Menes in, say, 300 B. Care Of very
meagre extent, and otherwise inadequate.
They are discussed in pages 1918 Of the
present volume. AS used in the historical
workshop of the contemporary scholar,
the materials are accessible chiefly In pub
hshed form. Now, as 1t happens, these
publications were In the vast majority
of cases edited before the attainment
Of such geographic accuracy as Is now
deemed Indispensable. To copy, indeed,
an inscription Of any kind with exactness
Is no easy task. Our author recalls that
so close and fine ar observer Of material
documents as was Rushn was betrayed
into surprising inaccuracies when copying
q short Latin inscription. In his Morn
ings In Florence he reproduces a brief
inscription on the marble slab covering
the tomb which he admired In the Church
of Santa Crooe, and 1t appears that in his
copy Of eight short lines, which Prof.
Breasted has compared with the original,
he misspelt one word and omitted two
words Of the medieval Latin. Such over
sights are not ~infrequently committed
even by trained and careful photographers.
For instance, the best known Of the Politaroh
inscriptions appeared In eight different
publications, every one OF which diverged
In some more or less important respect
from all the rest, before a correct copy
was obtained. The Greek and Latin in
scriptions on the bronze crab at the base
Of the New York obelisk were long in
correctly read, and the mistake In the date
led Mommsen to a false theory Of the early
Roman period in Egypt. In the early
days of Egyptology, indeed, when a read
ing hIOWleNBo Vi eTOBIypulCS was Slkll
necessarily elementary, it required a copyist
of exceptional ability to produce a copy
upon which much reliance can be placed
at the present day. Had the science Of
Egyptology rapidly outgrown this early
iusufficiency, all would now be well; but
such defective methods Of transcription
nave continued down to the present day,
and although many exhaustively accurate
publications OF ~hieroglyphic documents
now appear with every year, it is neverthe-
less true that a large majority OF the stand
ard Egyptian documents accessible in
publications exhibit a degree of inoom-
pleteness and inaccuracy not, In our
authors judgment, to be found in any
other branch OF geographic science.
Under the circumstances Prof, Breasted's
first obligation has been to go behind the
publications to the original monuments
themselves wherever this vas possible.
The task has consumed years, and demanded
protracted sojourns among the great Egyp-
toloeioal collections Of Europe. In this
work a related enterprise has been Of the
greatest assistance. A mission to the
museums of Europe to collect their Egyp-
tan memorials for a commission Of the
four Royal Academies Of Germany Berlin,
Ieipsic, Gottingen and MUNICH, In order
to make these documents available for a
great Egyptian Dictionary endowed by the
German Emperor, enabled the author to
COPY from the originals practically all the
historical monuments Of Egypt in Europe.
For those still in the Nile Valley Prof.
Breasted has been able to employ the copies
made by himself Of many, especially at
Thebes and Amarna, where he copied all
the historical inscriptions in the tombs;
and in the museum at Gizeh NOV at Cairo
OF monument in Egypt not included in
the authors copies, squeezee were in most
instances found in the enormous collections
made by Lepsius. and now in the Berlin
Museum. For otherst the author had access
70 the extensive oollations made for the
dictionary above mentioned, and where
all other sources failed, he was able in i'm
portant Gases to secure large scale photo
OF the originals. In general, there
fore, It may be claimed that this account
of the historical career Of the Egyptians
rests upon the surviving original records
themselves.
We should add that the immense progress
In our knowledge OF the ancient Egyptian
language which has beer achieved during
the last two decades cannot be said to nave
been previously applied to the oomprehen-
siv study Of the historical documents as a
whole, In order, therefore, to utilize his
torically the materials thus carefully col
lected, Prof. Breasted considered 1t essen
tial, In view Of our improved pathological
as well as archaeological equipment, to
begin the study OF the documents db orc,
i1espectvely Of earlier studies and results;
and II has been In almost all Gases, he tells
Us, only after such unbiased scrutiny that