Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-10-08
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES
BY EGYPTIAN EXPEDITION
Material Bearing on Whole Period
between 1000 r.. G.. and
100 a. ID. Found.
STATUES OF KINGS RECOVERED
Prospects Are That Further Excava-
ton VIII Bring to Light Objects
Of Greatest Valuc-Dr. Rcisner
Tells OF Finds.

CAIRO. EGYPT. October 7.-Impor-
tant discoveries which arc said to have
supplied much of the hitherto obscure
history OF ancient Ethiopia were made
recently by the Egyptian expedition
sent by Harvard University and the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, under
the dictatorship of Dr. George A. REFS
ner, well-known rs an Psychologist
In an Interview wifi representative
of the Associated Press. DR.. Relsner
said that during excavations at Gcbel
Barkal. material bearing on the whole
period between 1900 Il. G. and 100 A. ID.
had been found. and that prospects
were that further excavation would
bring TO light objects of still greater
Importance.
Among the more important finds
have been ten large statutes Of Kings
Of Ethiopia. Five OF these were nearly
complete, and five were lacking the
heads. but it is believed these will be
found. The expedition has also un-
covered the foundations of temples
built by Egyptian Kings of the eigh-
tecnth dynasty and shown that the
sphinNes of Amenophis III. and other
monuments of that period found at
Barkal belong to these temples and
were not brought here in later times
as some historians have assumed. De-
scribing the work, DIR. Rcisner said:
"Gebel Rarkal, which is in the dis
trict of Napata, lies $50 miles up The
Nile from Kcrma, in the Province Of
Donsola. Napata was the capital Of
that kingdom of Ethiopia whose
armies are mentioned In the Old Testa-
meht as the opponents OF Assyria in
the latter part of the eighth century
before Christ. Gebel Barkal is an up
standing table mountain OF sandstone,
visible for II great distance From the
moment 1t appears In the Egyptian in
scriptionS II is marked as the Holy
Mountain Its selection was no doubt
due to its proX unity to Napata, the
great city which must have lain on
both sides of the Nile. The site OF
Napata was peculiarly fitted for
great role in the political and CONNER
cial activities of ancient times. 1t lies
at the head of the navigablc stretch OF
river between the third and fourth
cataracts, at the end OF tho relatively
rich agricultural area of the province.
and at the junction of five caravan
roads through tho desert.
ENTENT or CITY HAS NOT
YET BEEN DETERMINED
The extent of the city has not yet
been determined. but there are traces
of ruined buildings on both sides OF
the river. There are at least four
groups OF pyramids--that is. royal
cemcterieS-in the ncighborhood. and
the two most distant groups are nearly
twenty miles apart. In this long
stretch, which may be assumed to con-
tain the city of Napata, it is Gebel
Barlial and it's immediate neighbour
hood which has always drawn the at
tcntion OF modern scholars. Beside the
mountain stand two groups OF pyra-
midS. and under the perpendicular face
of the rock on the river side six or
seven temples have been traccablc one
Of which was very large. These tenn
pies have in past times yielded n re-
markablc series of sculptures and in
scriptons. which have gone to enrich
the museums of Cairo, London, Paris
and Berlin and form the greatest
source OF our knowledge OF tho his
tory OF Ethiopia
| Our expedition reached Gebel
Rarkal from Cairo vn January "a last
We worked there three months. en-
ploying a force OF about 800 local
workmen, and left just in time to es-
cape tho hot weather. Many people
J Continued on Ninth Page)