Evening star., 1919-12-19
ancient EGYPTIAN
SKILL WAS MARKED
Geographic Society Terms
Country a Perennial Rip
Van WinkIe."

Egypt is termed "a perennial Rip
Van Wrinkle of history in a bulletin
from the National Geographic Society,
which makes the present Egyptian
home rule agitation the occasion of a
review of that country's glorious past.
Quoting from a communication to
the society by James Baikie, the bull
letin says:
We owe the framework into which
we try to fit the facts of Egyptian
history to the ancient historian.
Manetho. scattered fragments of
whose history of Egypt. dating from
down to us in the works of various
ancient authors. He recognized thir-
ty dynasties of Egyptian monarchs.
Attninments of Race.
"Manetho's assertion that one Of the
early kings was slain by hippopoIa-
mus and that in the reign of another
the Nile flowed with honey may be
mere fables, but the men were there.
and their loyalty was very real and
tangible thing. Since the early nine-
ties Investigations have been carried
out which have resulted in the dis-
covery of the tombs of many of these
ancient royalties and the accumu'a-
ton of a most interesting mass OF
information with regard to the civil
zation of their time. the organfZatlph
of their courts and the attainmeiitS
of the race over which they ruled
The kings of the earliest dynas-
ties reared no pyramids. Their tnmnS
ground. That of Aba (who is posS.oiT
Mena. the first King of EgyptI
Waoada- measures l15 by ~ feet :.
contains twenty-one chambers 1h-;
were built sometimes OF brlck' W -"
lining of wood and sometimes no"i-
cd With stone, as in the case OF n"
tomh of King Den at Abydos, whoS-
eranite floor furnishes the ca
Known example of the use OF sIon
III The furniture of the tomhs reNe1
an amazing proficiency in the
and crafts Ebony chests nlaio
;xnrv. stools. with ivory feet car
in the shape of bulls legs N"Ss
cut and ground to transluc Ia .
ness. not only out of SOFT ana Pas
but out of an iron-hard stone IKE "
or;te and finely wrought COPY
owers. all tell US that the f-,N'ltL.H
the earliest dynastic period was
rnde barbarian, but highly ciVih4'
craftsman.
Evidence Of Skill
.perhaps the daintiest and -"
,on,incinp evidence of his skill ''
,ivan nv the bracelets which W.
found encircling the skeleton arm
the queen of King Zer OF the mrs -
nasty. which, alike for the grace
their des gn and TO- the skin w
Whfcn the kOi'A II
dered are admirable
THE civilization of the Nile van,
no longer challenges as Win
great pyramid as the hrst essay OF ~
development or seems TO sPrine ns
syrown like Athene from the mead OF
2ens pe,rie places the beginn ngs
of the first dynasty at $50 BIC. whlle
another school brings them down 10
~ ike MANY of these ancient kings.
with single
tomb. He had another at Saqqara,
near Memphis. where the chambers OF
the interior were lined with nne piue
and green glazed tiles.
"A king who could rear such a
structure had evidently at command
the resources of a very well organ
lied state and capable architects
Accuracy equal to opticians work:
but on a scale Of acres instead OF
inches is scarcely what one expects
in buildings reared nearly 5000 years
ago. But the huge blocks of the
great pyramid, 100000 of them.
we Ching, on an average, two ana %
half tons apiece, while some run -
forty and fifty tons. are squared. MT
and leveled with an accuracy which
puts to shame our best modern work,
and compels our respect not only Tor
the strength, but also for the SIX II ~
these mighty builders before thu Lord.
THE question OF how the Is !la'f
cised archeologists. No representa- t.,1
of the process existed on the laouu-
ments, nor does the nation appea~ I'D
have attached any religious sign.acauce
to the origin OF fire. The question was
settled by the discovery at kahun ~ d
regular bow drill for making nrc. To-
gether with several sticks showing the
burnt holes caused by fire drilling.
In February, 1905. an American q
plorer I. NJ. Davis. discovered the tomb
of Yuaa and Thuaa. father and mother
Of that Queen Tyi whose influence
played so great a part in Akhenaten :
religious information.
THE tomb WAS intact and the OBJ
jects it contained were as perfectly
preserved as il they had been shut up
only a few weeks. one Of the archeoi-
ogists described his sensations on enter
ing the place as being very much like
those of a man who enters a town mousse
which has been shut UP for the summer
Armchairs stood about, beautuuny
carved and decorated with gold. the
cushions on one Of them stuffed with
down, and covered with linen 50 per
fectly preserved that they might have
been sat upon or tossed ABOUT w1tnout
injury. Two beds of fine design deco
rated with gold occupied another part
of the chamber, while light chariot in
perfect preservation stood in corner.
Most startling of all was the dis
coyery of a jar of honey. still liquid and
SIN preserving its characteristic scent