The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-05-06
5000 B. c. WAS
GREATEST CENTURY
NEXT TO 18TH
Ancient Sources of CiviIiza-
ton Traced to Origin in
Lectures Before the Ma
tiOnaI Academy.

WASHINGTON, May 6.-The great
pyramid of Egypt is Indicative of an
advance Of civilization greater during
the thlrtieth century Il. c. than any
other century save the nineteenth. ac-
cording TO Prof, James II. Breasted. of
chicago, who delivered the second mart
OF The William Ellery Hale lecture on
the origin Of civilization, before the
National Academy of Sciences In Wash
ihgton, this afternoon. He also pointed
out That the American eagle. symbol OF
nberty, originated in Babylonia some
o,0UU years ago.
THE pyramids of Egypt are
~ pointed out to the ordinary traveller
a. The earliest monuments on the
ME- said DR.. Breasted. I'm yester-
day lecture | followed the long devel-
opment which lies behind these pyra-
mas ana leads up to them. They do
indeed mark the elimination Of a civil
ization advancing SO rapidly that the
snirt,elh century b.. G. saw n greater
development OF mans control over tho
FORCES OF nature than amy other CEN
Jury IN human history, except the nine
zenith century of our own era.
Inc cemetery Of Gixeh, especially
the great pymarid. Is the earliest and
most, impressive surviving witness to
the final emergence OF highly organized
ahu efficient government, Of which II Is
me product. Yet the g~reat-grand-
fathers of the men who built the great
pyramid laid the first examples OF stone
masonry, We find 1t difficult to UNDER
stand the rapidlty of an advance in
government, organization, mechanics,
engineering n craftsmanship, which
could lay out this vast building, cover
InH IN nnrAp vErttL So.
ING an error In the length OF the sides
OF less than a twelve thousandth OF the
length OF the side t7b5 feet), an error
or e"lo0 OF n foot, Neither can we com
prehend an efficiency In administration,
Whlch could quarry out, transport and
lay In position. 1890, 900 blocks OF lime
stone each weighing about two and a
half tons. This pyramid continued
Prof' Breasted, lis the greatest build
ing and engineering feat ever achieved
ny ancient man, and 1t was constructed
at the outset of his historic career,
lhe civilization of the pyramid age
(about 5000 to $500 h. C.) brought forth
the first great sculpture especially In
nortraiture. "A marvellous refinement In
the arts and crafts, and a school OF
architects who devised the clerastory,
and In the middle of the twenty elghth
century before Christ designed the
earliest columns and ~colonnades, In tho
iirst sea-going ships the diffusion OF
this culture to Europe was so intimate
and even in the scanty remains now
surviving is so evident, that Sir Arthur
Evans has ven affirmed that the nos.
siblity Of prehistoric ERyption migra-
TONS to the islands OF Southeastern
Europe Is not to be excluded.
Later an amazingly refined pre-
Greek civilization arose In the Aegean
lsiands, especially in Crete, as re-
vealed by the excavations of Sir Arthur
Evans and others. The Pharaohs then
extended Egyptian control over The
eastern Mediterranean. az the first
great naval power In history. This
Egynttan empire, which was at its cul-
In the fifteenth century r, G..
profoundly affected the Aegean %c1iviliya
ton Of Southeastern Europe. At ths
same time Babylonian influences were