1.History of Egypt Chaldæa Syria Babylonia and Assyria in Th

8/12/2019 1.History of Egypt Chalda Syria Babylonia and Assyria in Th

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chalda, yria,Babylonia, !nd !ssyria "n The #ight Of $ecent %isco&ery, by #'(' )ing and H'$'Hall

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Title. History Of Egypt, Chalda, yria, Babylonia, !nd !ssyria "n The #ight Of$ecent %isco&ery

!uthor. #'(' )ing and H'$' Hall

$elease %ate. %ece+ber /0, 1223 4EBook 5/671/8

#anguage. English

Character set encoding. "O-993:-/

;;; T!$T O< TH" P$O=ECT G>TE?BE$G EBOO) H"TO$ O< EGPT;;;

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%epart+ent of Egyptian and !ssyrian !ntiAuities, British useu+


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Containing o&er /122 colored plates and illustrations'

Copyright /:20

4"llustration.

to the +ind of the reader the historical seAuence of e&ents'


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!t no period ha&e eca&ations been pursued *ith +ore energy andacti&ity, both in Egypt and (estern !sia, than at the present ti+e, ande&ery seasonDs *ork obliges us to +odify for+er theories, and etendsour kno*ledge of periods of history *hich e&en ten years ago *ereunkno*n to the historian'


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F"n the #ight of $ecent Eca&ation and $esearchF

CH!PTE$ "--THE %"CO@E$ O< P$EH"TO$"C EGPT

%uring the last ten years our conception of the beginnings of EgyptianantiAuity has profoundly altered' (hen Prof' aspero published thefirst &olu+e of his great FHistoire !ncienne des Peuples des lDOrientClassiAueF, in /9:3, Egyptian history, properly so called, still began*ith the Pyra+id-builders, ne-feru, )hufu, and )hafra ICheops andChephrenJ, and the legendary lists of earlier kings preser&ed at !bydosand akkara *ere still Auoted as the only source of kno*ledge of theti+e before the "@th %ynasty' Of a prehistoric Egypt nothing *as kno*n,

beyond a fe* flint flakes gathered here and there upon the desertplateaus, *hich +ight or +ight not tell of an age *hen the ancestorsof the Pyra+id-builders kne* only the stone tools and *eapons of the

pri+e&al sa&age'

?o*, ho*e&er, the &eil *hich has hidden the beginnings of Egyptianci&iliation fro+ us has been lifted, and *e see things, +ore or less,as they actually *ere, unobscured by the traditions of a later day'>ntil the last fe* years nothing of the real beginnings of history ineither Egypt or esopota+ia had been foundK legend supplied the only+aterial for the reconstruction of the earliest history of the oldestci&ilied nations of the globe' ?or *as it seriously supposed that anyrelics of prehistoric Egypt or esopota+ia e&er *ould be found' TheantiAuity of the kno*n history of these countries already appearedso great that nobody took into consideration the possibility of ourdisco&ering a prehistoric Egypt or esopota+iaK the idea *as too re+otefro+ practical *ork' !nd further, ci&iliation in these countries hadlasted so long that it see+ed +ore than probable that all tracesof their prehistoric age had long since been s*ept a*ay' et the

possibility, *hich see+ed hardly *orth a +o+entDs consideration in /9:3,is in /:23 an assured reality, at least as far as Egypt is concerned'

Prehistoric Babylonia has yet to be disco&ered' "t is true, for ea+ple,that at ukay-yar, the site of ancient >r of the Chaldees, burialsin earthen*are coffins, in *hich the skeletons lie in the doubled-up

position characteristic of ?eolithic inter+ents, ha&e been foundK butthere is no doubt *hate&er that these are burials of a +uch later date,

belonging, Auite possibly, to the Parthian period' ?othing that +ayrightfully be ter+ed prehistoric has yet been found in the Euphrates&alley, *hereas in Egypt prehistoric antiAuities are no* al+ost as *ellkno*n and as *ell represented in our +useu+s as are the prehistoricantiAuities of Europe and !+erica'

(ith the eception of a fe* palasoliths fro+ the surface of the yriandesert, near the Euphrates &alley, not a single i+ple+ent of the !ge


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*e kno* nothing, nor is anything further likely to be disco&ered'

But these desert ce+eteries, *ith their cro*ds of o&al shallo* gra&es,co&ered by only a fe* inches of surface soil, in *hich the ?eolithicEgyptians lie crouched up *ith their flint i+ple+ents and polished

pottery beside the+, are but +onu+ents of the later age of prehistoricEgypt' #ong before the ?eolithic Egyptian hunted his ga+e in the+arshes, and here and there essayed the *ork of recla+ation for the

purposes of an incipient agriculture, a far older race inhabited the&alley of the ?ile' The *ritten records of Egyptian ci&iliation go backfour thousand years before Christ, or earlier, and the ?eolithic !ge ofEgypt +ust go back to a period se&eral thousand years before that' But*e can no* go back +uch further still, to the Palaeolithic !ge of Egypt'!t a ti+e *hen Europe *as still co&ered by the ice and sno*s of theGlacial Period, and +an fought as an eAual, hardly yet as a superior,*ith ca&e-bear and +a++oth, the Palaeolithic Egyptians li&ed on the

banks of the ?ile' Their habitat *as doubtless the desert slopes, often,too, the plateaus the+sel&esK but that they li&ed entirely upon the

plateaus, high up abo&e the ?ile +arsh, is i+probable' There, it istrue, *e find their flint i+ple+ents, the great pear-shaped *eapons ofthe types of Chelles, t' !cheul, and #e oustier, types *ell kno*nto all *ho are acAuainted *ith the flint i+ple+ents of the L%riftL inEurope' !nd it is there that the theory, generally accepted hitherto,has placed the habitat of the +akers and users of these i+ple+ents'

The idea *as that in Palaeolithic days, conte+porary *ith the Glacial!ge of ?orthern Europe and !+erica, the cli+ate of Egypt *as entirelydifferent fro+ that of later ti+es and of to-day' "nstead of dry desert,the +ountain plateaus bordering the ?ile &alley *ere supposed to ha&e

been then co&ered *ith forest, through *hich flo*ed countless strea+sto feed the ri&er belo*' "t *as suggested that re+ains of these strea+s*ere to be seen in the side ra&ines, or *adis, of the ?ile &alley, *hichrun up fro+ the lo* desert on the ri&er le&el into the hills on eitherhand' These *adis undoubtedly sho* etensi&e traces of strong *ateractionK they cur&e and t*ist as the strea+s found their easiest *ayto the le&el through the softer strata, they are heaped up *ith great*ater-*orn boulders, they are hollo*ed out *here *aterfalls once fell'

They ha&e the appearance of dry *atercourses, eactly *hat any +ountainburns *ould be *ere the *ater-supply suddenly cut off for e&er, thecli+ate altered fro+ rainy to eternal sun-glare, and e&ery plant andtree blasted, ne&er to gro* again' !cting on the supposition that thisidea *as a correct one, +ost obser&ers ha&e concluded that the cli+ateof Egypt in re+ote periods *as &ery different fro+ the dry, rainless oneno* obtaining' To pro&ide the *ater for the *adi strea+s, hea&yrainfall and forests are desiderated' They *ere easily supplied, on thehypothesis'


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4"llustration. 226'jpg THE BE% O< !? !?C"E?T (!TE$CO>$E "? THE(!%"M?,THEBE'8

This is certainly a &ery *eak conclusion' "n fact, it seriously da+agesthe *hole argu+ent, the *ater-courses to the contrary not*ithstanding'The paloliths are there' They can be picked up by any &isitor' Therethey lie, great flints of the %rift types, just like those found in thegra&el-beds of England and Belgiu+, on the desert surface *here they*ere +ade' >ndoubtedly *here they *ere +ade, for the places *herethey lie are the actual ancient flint *orkshops, *here the flints *erechipped' E&ery*here around are innu+erable flint chips and perfect*eapons, burnt black and patinated by ages of sunlight' (e are takingone particular spot in the hills of (estern Thebes as an ea+ple, butthere are plenty of others, such as the (adi esh-hNkh on the right bank

of the ?ile opposite aghagha, *hence r' H' eton-)arr has broughtback speci+ens of flint tools of all ages fro+ the Palaeolithic to the?eolithic periods'

The Palolithic flint *orkshops on the Theban hills ha&e been &isited oflate years by r' eton-)arr, by Prof' ch*einfurth, r' !llen turge,and %r' Blanckenhorn, by r' Portch, r' !yrton, and r' Hall' The*eapons illustrated here *ere found by essrs' Hall and !yrton, and areno* preser&ed in the British useu+' !+ong these flints sho*n *e noticet*o fine speci+ens of the pear-shaped type of t' !cheul, *ith curiousade-shaped i+ple+ents of pri+iti&e type to left and right' Belo*, tothe right, is a &ery pri+iti&e instru+ent of Chellean type, being +erelya sharpened pebble' !bo&e, to left and right, are t*o speci+ens of thecurious half-+oon-shaped instru+ents *hich are characteristic ofthe Theban flint field and are hardly kno*n else*here' !ll ha&e the

beautiful bro*n patina, *hich only ages of sunburn can gi&e' TheLpoignardL type to the left, at the botto+ of the plate, is broken offshort'

4"llustration. 229'jpg Palaeolithic "+ple+ents of the uaternary Period'


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*eapons' The circular object is &ery re+arkable. it is the half of thering of a L+orpholith LIa round flinty accretion often found in theTheban li+estoneJ *hich has been split, and the split IflatJ sidecarefully be&elled' e&eral of these interesting objects ha&e beenfound in conjunction *ith Palolithic i+ple+ents at Thebes' ?o doubt the

flints lie on the actual surface *here they *ere +ade' ?o later *ateraction has s*ept the+ a*ay and co&ered the+ *ith gra&el, no later hu+anhabitation has hidden the+ *ith successi&e deposits of soil, no gradualdeposit of dust and rubbish has buried the+ deep' They lie as they *ereleft in the far-a*ay Palolithic !ge, and they ha&e lain there tilltaken a*ay by the +odern eplorer'

But this is not the case *ith all the Palolithic flints of Thebes' "nthe year /991 aj'-Gen' Pitt-$i&ers disco&ered Palolithic flints in thedeposit of dilu&ial detritus *hich lies bet*een the culti&ation and the+ountains on the *est bank of the ?ile opposite #uor' any of these are

of the sa+e type as those found on the surface of the +ountain plateau*hich lies at the head of the great F*adiF of the To+bs of the )ings,*hile the dilu&ial deposit is at its +outh' The stuff of *hich thedetritus is co+posed e&idently ca+e originally fro+ the high plateau,and *as *ashed do*n, *ith the flints, in ancient ti+es'

This is Auite concei&able, but ho* is it that the flints left behindon the plateau re+ain on the original ancient surface Ho* is itconcei&able that if Ion the old theoryJ these plateaus *ere inPalolithic days clothed *ith forest, the Palolithic flints could e&enin a single instance re+ain undisturbed fro+ Palolithic ti+es to the

present day, *hen the forest in *hich they *ere +ade and the forest soilon *hich they reposed ha&e entirely disappeared "f there *ere *oods andforests On the heights, it *ould see+ i+possible that *e should find,as *e do, Palolithic i+ple+ents lying in situ on the desert surface,around the actual +anufactories *here they *ere +ade' et if theconstant rainfall and the &egetation of the #ibyan desert area inPalolithic days is all a +yth Ias it +ost probably isJ, ho* ca+e thee+bedded palaeoliths, found by Gen' Pitt-$i&ers, in the bed of dilu&ialdetritus *hich is apparently FdQbrisF fro+ the plateau brought do*n bythe Palolithic F*adiF strea+s

(ater erosion has certainly for+ed the Theban F*adisF' But this *atererosion *as probably not that *hich *ould be the result of perennialstrea+s flo*ing do*n fro+ *ooded heights, but of torrents like thoseof to-day, *hich fill the F*adisF once in three years or so after hea&yrain, but repeated at +uch closer inter&als' (e +ay in fact suppose

just so +uch difference in +eteorological conditions as *ould +ake itpossible for sudden rain-stor+s to occur o&er the desert at far +orefreAuent inter&als than at present' That *ould account for the detritus

bed at the +outh of the F*adiF, and its e+bedded flints, and at thesa+e ti+e +aintain the general probability of the idea that the desert

plateaus *ere desert in Palolithic days as no*, and that early +an onlyknapped his flints up there because he found the flint there' He hi+self


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li&ed on the slopes and nearer the +arsh'

This ne* &ie* see+s to be +uch sounder and +ore probable than the oldone, +aintained by


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tone !ge' The ae heads, for instance, are in for+ i+itations ofthe copper and brone ae heads usual at that periodK they are stonei+itations of +etal, instead of the originals on *hose +odel the +etal*eapons *ere for+ed' The flint i+ple+ents of the ""th %ynasty *erea curious sur&i&al fro+ long past ages' !fter the ti+e of the ""th

%ynasty stone *as no longer used for tools or *eapons, ecept for thesacred rite of +aking the first incision in the dead bodies before

beginning the operations of e+bal+ingK for this purpose, as Herodotustells us, an LEthiopian stoneL *as used' This *as no doubt a knife offlint or chert, like those of the ?eolithic ancestors of the Egyptians,and the continued use of a stone knife for this one purpose only is a&ery interesting instance of a cere+onial sur&i&al' (e +ay co+pare the*igs of British judges'

4"llustration. 2/R'jpg


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artistically as *ell as historically' The potterDs *heel *as not yetin&ented, and all the &ases, e&en those of the +ost perfect shape, *ere

built up by hand' The perfection of for+ attained *ithout the aid of the*heel is truly +ar&ellous'

The co++onest type of this pottery is a red polished *are &ase *ithblack top, due to its ha&ing been baked +outh do*n*ard in a fire, theashes of *hich, according to Prof' Petrie, deoidied the h+atite

burnishing, and so turned the red colour to black' L"n good ea+plesthe h+atite has not only been reduced to black +agnetic oide, butthe black has the highest polish, as seen on fine Greek &ases' This is

probably due to the for+ation of carbonyl gas in the s+othered fire'This gas acts as a sol&ent of +agnetic oide, and hence allo*s it toassu+e a ne* surface, like the glassy surface of so+e +arbles subjectedto solution in *ater'L This black and red *are appears to be the +ostancient prehistoric Egyptian pottery kno*n' #ater in date are a red

*are and a black *are *ith rude geo+etrical incised designs, i+itatingbasket*ork, and *ith the incised lines filled in *ith *hite' #ater againis a buff *are, either plain or decorated *ith *a&y lines, concentriccircles, and elaborate dra*ings of boats sailing on the ?ile, ostriches,fish, +en and *o+en, and so on'

4"llustration. 2/6'jpg IrightJ B>


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at that ti+e, no doubt se&eral centuries before the beginning of thehistorical or dynastic age' trictly speaking, the Egyptians re+ainedin the LChalcolithicL period till the end of the ""th %ynasty, but in

practice it is best to speak of this period, *hen the *ord is used, asetending fro+ the ti+e of the finest flint *eapons and pottery of the

prehistoric age I*hen the L?eolithicL period +ay be said to closeJ tillabout the ""d or """d %ynasty' By that ti+e the LBrone,L or, rather,LCopper,L !ge of Egypt had *ell begun, and already stone *as not inco++on use'

The prehistoric pottery is of the greatest &alue to the archologist,for *ith its help so+e idea +ay be obtained of the succession of periods*ithin the late ?eolithic-Chalcolithic !ge' The enor+ous nu+ber of

prehistoric gra&es *hich ha&e been ea+ined enables us to +ake anehausti&e co+parison of the different kinds of pottery found inthe+, so that *e can arrange the+ in order according to pottery they

contained' By this +eans *e obtain an idea of the de&elop+ent ofdifferent types of pottery, and the seAuence of the types' Thus it isthat *e can say *ith so+e degree of confidence that the black and red*are is the +ost ancient for+, and that the buff *ith red designs is oneof the latest for+s of prehistoric pottery' Other objects found in thegra&es can be classified as they occur *ith different pottery types'

(ith the help of the pottery *e can thus gain a +ore or less reliableconspectus of the de&elop+ent of the late L?eolithicL culture of Egypt'This syste+ of LseAuence-datingL *as introduced by Prof' Petrie, and iscertainly &ery useful' "t +ust not, ho*e&er, be pressed too far or beregarded as an iron-bound syste+, *ith *hich all subseAuent disco&eries+ust be +ade to fit in by force' "t is not to be supposed that all

prehistoric pottery de&eloped its series of types in an absolutelyorderly +anner *ithout de&iations or thro*s-back' The *ork of +anDshands is &ariable and eccentric, and does not de&elop or e&ol&e in anunde&iating course as the *ork of nature does' "t is a +istake, &eryoften +ade by anthropologists and archologists, *ho forget thisele+entary fact, to assu+e Lcur&es of de&elop+ent,L and so forth, orse+i-sa&age culture, on absolutely e&en and regular lines' Hu+an culturehas not de&eloped either e&enly or regularly, as a +atter of fact'

Therefore *e cannot al*ays be sure that, because the Egyptian black andred pottery does not occur in gra&es *ith buff and red, it is forthis reason absolutely earlier in date than the latter' o+e of thede&elop+ent-seAuences +ay in reality be conte+porary *ith others insteadof earlier, and allo*ance +ust al*ays be +ade for aberrations andre&ersions to earlier types'

This ca&eat ha&ing been entered, ho*e&er, *e +ay pro&isionallyaccept Prof' PetrieDs syste+ of seAuence-dating as gi&ing the bestclassification of the prehistoric antiAuities according to de&elop+ent'o it +ay fairly be said that, as far as *e kno*, the black and red

pottery ILseAuence-date 72--LJ is the +ost ancient ?eolithic Egyptian*are kno*nK that the buff and red did not begin to be used till about


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LseAuence-date R3KL that bone and i&ory car&ings *ere co++onest in theearlier period ILseAuence-dates 72-32LJK that copper *as al+ost unkno*ntill LseAuence-date 32,L and so on' The arbitrary nu+bers used rangefro+ 72 to 92, in order to allo* for possible earlier and lateradditions, *hich +ay be rendered necessary by the progress of disco&ery'

The nu+bers are of course as purely arbitrary and relati&e as thoseof the different ther+o+etrical syste+s, but they afford a con&enientsyste+ of arrange+ent' The products of the prehistoric Egyptians are, soto speak, distributed on a con&entional plan o&er a scale nu+bered fro+72 to 92, 72 representing the beginning and 92 the close of the ter+,so far as its close has as yet been ascertained' "t is probable thatLseAuence-date 92L +ore or less accurately +arks the beginning of thedynastic or historical period'

This hypothetically chronological classification is, as has been said,due to Prof' Petrie, and has been adopted by r' $andall-acl&er and

other students of prehistoric Egypt in their *ork' 4;FEl !+ra and!bydosF, Egypt Eploration


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of the *orld' "n a shallo*, o&al gra&e, eca&ated often but a fe* inchesbelo* the surface of the soil, lay the body, cra+ped up *ith the kneesto the chin, so+eti+es in a rough bo of pottery, +ore often *ith onlya +at to co&er it' $eady to the hand of the dead +an *ere his flint*eapons and tools, and the usual red and black, or buff and red, pots

lay beside hi+K originally, no doubt, they had been filled *ith thefuneral +eats, to sustain the ghost in the net *orld' Occasionally asi+ple copper *eapon *as found' (ith the body *ere also buried slate

palettes for grinding the green eye-paint *hich the Egyptians lo&ed e&enat this early period' These are often car&ed to suggest the for+s ofani+als, such as birds, bats, tortoises, goats, etc'K on others arefantastic creatures *ith t*o heads' Co+bs of bone, too, are found,orna+ented in a si+ilar *ay *ith birdsD or goatsD heads, often double'!nd +ost interesting of all are the s+all bone and i&ory figures of +enand *o+en *hich are also found' These usually ha&e little blue beads foreyes, and are of the Auaintest and nai&est appearance concei&able' Here

*e ha&e an elderly +an *ith a long pointed beard, there t*o *o+en *ithinane s+iles upon their countenances, here another *o+an, of better *orkthis ti+e, *ith a child slung across her shoulder' This figure, *hichis in the British useu+, +ust be &ery late, as prehistoric EgyptianantiAuities go' "t is al+ost as good in style as the early "st %ynastyobjects' uch *ere the objects *hich the si+ple piety of the earlyEgyptian pro+pted hi+ to bury *ith the bodies of his dead, in order thatthey +ight find solace and content+ent in the other *orld'

!ll the prehistoric ce+eteries are of this type, *ith the gra&es pressedclosely together, so that they often i+pinge upon one another' Thenearness of the gra&es to the surface is due to the eposed positions,at the entrances to F*adisF, in *hich the pri+iti&e ce+eteries areusually found' The result is that they are al*ays s*ept by the *inds,*hich pre&ent the desert sand fro+ accu+ulating o&er the+, and so ha&e

preser&ed the original le&el of the ground'


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This conclusion *as pro&ed erroneous by ' de organ al+ost as soonas +ade, and the


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is perhaps the oldest Egyptian hieroglyph kno*n, a representation of thefetish-sign of the god in, in relief' !ll these are preser&ed in theBritish useu+' The skulls of the bodies found *ere carefully preser&edfor cranio+etric ea+ination'

"n /:2/ an etensi&e prehistoric ce+etery *as being eca&ated by essrs'$eisner and #ythgoe at ?agDed-%Nr, opposite Girga, and at el-!hai*a,further north, another prehistoric necropolis has been eca&ated bythese gentle+en, *orking for the >ni&ersity of California'

4"llustration. 216'jpg C!P O< THE EPE%"T"O? O< THE >?"@E$"T Onderthe /st %ynasty *e find the figure of +an or, to take other instances,that of a lion, or a ha*k, or a snake, often treated in a style &erydifferent fro+ that in *hich *e are accusto+ed to see a +an, a lion, aha*k, or a snake depicted in *orks of the later period' !nd the strikingthing is that these early representations, *hich differ so +uch fro+*hat *e find in later Egyptian art, curiously rese+ble the *orks ofearly Babylonian art, of the ti+e of the patesis of hirpurla or the)ings hargani-shar-ali and ?arV+-in' One of the best kno*n relicsof the early art of Babylonia is the fa+ous Ltele of @ulturesL no* inParis' On this *e see the ene+ies of Eannadu, one of the early rulersof hirpurla, cast out to be de&oured by the &ultures' On an Egyptianrelief of slate, e&idently originally dedicated in a te+ple record ofso+e historical e&ent, and dating fro+ the beginning of the "st %ynastyIpractically conte+porary, according to our latest kno*ledge, *ithEannaduJ, *e ha&e an al+ost eactly si+ilar scene of capti&es being castout into the desert, and de&oured by lions and &ultures' The t*o reliefsare curiously alike in their clu+sy, naX&e style of art' ! further

point is that the official represented on the stele, *ho appears to bethrusting one of the bound capti&es out to die, *ears a long fringed

gar+ent of Babylonish cut, Auite different fro+ the clothes of the laterEgyptians'

I7J There are e&idently t*o distinct and different +ain strata in thefabric of Egyptian religion' On the one hand *e find a +ass of +yth andreligious belief of &ery pri+iti&e, al+ost sa&age, cast, co+bininga *orship of the actual dead in their to+bs--*hich *ere supposedto co++unicate and thus for+ a &eritable Lunder*orld,L or, rather,Lunder-EgyptL--*ith &eneration of +agic ani+als, such as jackals, cats,ha*ks, and crocodiles' On the other hand, *e ha&e a sun and sky *orshipof a +ore ele&ated nature, *hich does not see+ to ha&e a+alga+ated *ith

the earlier fetishis+ and corpse-*orship until a co+parati&ely lateperiod' The +ain seats of the sun-*orship *ere at Heliopolis in the


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%elta and at Edfu in >pper Egypt' Heliopolis see+s al*ays to ha&e beena centre of light and leading in Egypt, and it is, as is *ell kno*n,the On of the Bible, at *hose uni&ersity the =e*ish la*gi&er oses isrelated to ha&e been educated Lin all the *isdo+ of the Egyptians'L The

philosophical theories of the priests of the un-gods, $V-Har+achis and

Turn, at Heliopolis see+ to ha&e been the source fro+ *hich sprang the+onotheistic heresy of the %isk-(orshippers Iin the ti+e of the @"""th%ynastyJ, *ho, under the guidance of the refor+ing )ing !khunaten,*orshipped only the disk of the sun as the source of all life, the doorin hea&en, so to speak, through *hich the hidden One %eity pouredforth heat and light, the origin of life upon the earth' @ery earlyin Egyptian history the Heliopolitans gained the upper hand, and the$V-*orship Iunder the @th %ynasty, the apogee of the Old )ingdo+J ca+eto the front, and for the first ti+e the kings took the after*ardsti+e-honoured royal title of Lon of the un'L "t appears then as a+ore or less foreign i+portation into the ?ile &alley, and bears +ost

undoubtedly a e+itic i+press' "ts t*o chief seats *ere situated, theone, Heliopolis, in the ?orth on the eastern edge of the %elta,--just*here an early e+itic settle+ent fro+ o&er the desert +ight be epectedto be found,--the other, Edfu, in the >pper Egyptian territory southof the ThebaXd, )optos, and the (adi Ha+-+a+at, and close to the chiefsettle+ent of the earliest kings and the +ost ancient capital of >pperEgypt'

IRJ The custo+ of burying at full length *as e&idently introduced intoEgypt by the second, or race' The ?eolithic Egyptians buried in thecra+ped position' The early Babylonians buried at full length, as faras *e kno*' On the sa+e Ltele of @ultures,L *hich has already been+entioned, *e see the burying at full length of dead *arriors' 4; eeillustration'8 There is no trace of any FearlyF burial in Babylonia inthe cra+ped position' The to+bs at (arka IErechJ *ith cra+ped bodiesin pottery coffins are of &ery late date' ! further point arises *ithregard to e+bal+ing' The ?eolithic Egyptians did not e+bal+ the dead'>sually their cra+ped bodies are found as skeletons' (hen they are+u++ified, it is +erely o*ing to the preser&ati&e action of the saltin the soil, not to any process of e+bal+ing' The second, or race,ho*e&er, e&idently introduced the custo+ of e+bal+ing as *ell as that

of burial at full length and the use of coffins' The ?eolithic Egyptianused no bo or coffin, the nearest approach to this being a pot, *hich*as in&erted o&er the coiled up body' >sually only a +at *as put o&erthe body'

4"llustration. 279'jpg Portion of the Ltele of @ulturesL


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deter+inati&e of a foreign country, thus sho*ing that the Egyptians didnot regard the Punites as foreigners' This certainly looks as if thePunites *ere a portion of the great +igration fro+ !rabia, left behindon the !frican shore *hen the rest of the *andering people pressed onnorth*ards to the (adi Ha++a+at and the ?ile' "t +ay be that the +odern

Gallas and !byssinians are descendants of these Punites'

?o* the ky-god of Edfu is in legend a conAuering hero *ho ad&ances do*nthe ?ile &alley, *ith his FesniuF, or L+iths,L to o&erthro* the peopleof the ?orth, *ho+ he defeats in a great battle near %endera' This +ay

be a re+iniscence of the first fights of the in&aders *ith the ?eolithicinhabitants' The other for+ of Horus, LHorus, son of "sis,L has also a

body of retainers, the Fhe+su-HeruF, or L


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the e+itic in&aders in ?orth and outh that the founding of the t*okingdo+s *as due' This +ay be true to so+e etent, but it is at the sa+eti+e &ery probable that the first de&elop+ent of political culture atHierakonpolis *as really of pre-e+itic origin' The kingdo+ of Buto,since its capital is situated so near to the seacoast, +ay ha&e o*ed

its origin to o&ersea editerranean connections' There is +uch inthe political constitution of later Egypt *hich see+s to ha&e been ofindigenous and pre-e+itic origin' Especially does this see+ to be so inthe case of the di&ision and organiation of the country into no+es' "tis ob&ious that so soon as agriculture began to be practised on a largescale, boundaries *ould be for+ed, and in the uniAue conditions ofEgypt, *here all boundaries disappear beneath the inundation e&eryyear, it is e&ident that the fiing of di&ision-lines as per+anently as

possible by +eans of land+arks *as early essayed' (e can therefore *ithconfidence assign the for+ation of the no+es to &ery early ti+es' ?o*the na+es of the no+es and the sy+bols or e+ble+s by *hich they *ere

distinguished are of &ery great interest in this connection' They arenearly all figures of the +agic ani+als of the pri+iti&e religion, andfetish-e+ble+s of the older deities' The na+es are, in fact, those ofthe territories of the ?eolithic Egyptian tribes, and their e+ble+s arethose of the protecting tribal de+ons' The political di&isions of thecountry see+, then, to be of etre+ely ancient origin, and if the no+esgo back to a ti+e before the e+itic in&asions, so +ay also the kingdo+sof the outh and ?orth'

Of these predynastic kingdo+s *e kno* &ery little, ecept fro+ legendarysources' The ?ortherners *ho *ere conAuered by !ha, ?ar+er, and)hVsekhehiui do not look &ery +uch like Egyptians, but rather rese+blee+ites or #ibyans' On the Ltele of Paler+o,L a chronicle of earlykings inscribed in the period of the @th %ynasty, *e ha&e a list ofearly kings of the ?orth,--eka, %esau, Tiu, Tesh, ?ihab, >atjVntj,ekhe' The na+es are pri+iti&e in for+' (e kno* nothing +ore about the+'#ast year r' C' T' Currelly atte+pted to eca&ate at Buto, in order tofind traces of the predynastic kingdo+, but o*ing to the infiltration of*ater his efforts *ere unsuccessful' "t is i+probable that anything isno* left of the +ost ancient period at that site, as the conditions inthe %elta are so &ery different fro+ those obtaining in >pper Egypt'

There, at Hierakonpolis, and at el-)ab on the opposite bank of the ?ile,the sites of the ancient cities ?ekhen and ?ekheb, the eca&ators ha&ebeen &ery successful' The *ork *as carried out by essrs' uibell andGreen, in the years /9:/-:' Prehistoric burials *ere found on the hillsnear by, but the larger portion of the antiAuities *ere reco&ered fro+the te+ple-ruins, and date back to the beginning of the /st %ynasty,eactly the ti+e *hen the kings of Hierakonpolis first conAuered thekingdo+ of Buto and founded the united Egyptian +onarchy'

The ancient te+ple, *hich *as probably one of the earliest seats ofEgyptian ci&iliation, *as situated on a +ound, no* kno*n as Fel-)o+

el-ah+arF, Lthe $ed Hill,L fro+ its colour' The chief feature of the+ost ancient te+ple see+s to ha&e been a circular +ound, re&etted by a


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*all of sandstone blocks, *hich *as apparently erected about the end ofthe predynastic period' >pon this a shrine *as probably erected' This*as the ancient shrine of ?ekhen, the cradle of the Egyptian +onarchy'Close by it *ere found so+e of the +ost &aluable relics of the earliestPharaonic age, the great cere+onial +ace-heads and &ases of ?ar+er and

Lthe corpion,L the shields or LpalettesL of the sa+e ?ar+er, the &asesand stelas of )hVsekhe+ui, and, of later date, the splendid coppercolossal group of )ing Pepi " and his son, *hich is no* at Cairo' ostof the /st %ynasty objects are preser&ed in the !sh+o-lean useu+ atOford, *hich is one of the best centres for the study of early EgyptianantiAuities' ?ar+er and )hVsekhe+ui are, as *e shall see, t*o of thefirst +onarchs of all Egypt' These sculptured and inscribed +ace-heads,shields, etc', are +onu+ents dedicated by the+ in the ancestral shrineat Hierakonpolis as records of their deeds' Both kings see+ to ha&e*aged *ar against the ?ortherners, the F!nuF of Heliopolis and the%elta, and on these &oti&e +onu+ents fro+ Hierakonpolis *e find

hieroglyphed records of the defeat of the F!nuF, *ho ha&e &erydefinitely e+itic physiogno+ies'

On one shield or palette *e see ?ar+er clubbing a +an of e+iticappearance, *ho is called the LOnly One of the arshL I%eltaJ, *hile

belo* t*o other e+ites fly, seeking Lfortress-protection'L !bo&e is afigure of a ha*k, sy+boliing the >pper Egyptian king, holding a rope*hich is passed through the nose of a e+itic head, *hile behind is asign *hich +ay be read as Lthe ?orth,L so that the *hole sy+bolies theleading a*ay of the ?orth into capti&ity by the king of the outh' "tis significant, in &ie* of *hat has been said abo&e *ith regard to the

probable e+itic origin of the Heliopolitan ?ortherners, to find thepeople typical of the ?orth-land represented by the outherners ase+ites' EAually e+itic is the o&erthro*n ?ortherner on the otherside of this *ell-kno*n +onu+ent *hich *e are describingK he is beingtra+pled under the hoofs and gored by the horns of a bull, *ho, like theha*k, sy+bolies the king' The royal bull has broken do*n the *all of afortified enclosure, in *hich is the hut or tent of the e+ite, and the

bricks lie about pro+iscuously'

"n connection *ith the e+itic origin of the ?ortherners, the for+ of

the fortified enclosures on both sides of this +onu+ent Ithat to *hoseprotection the t*o e+ites on one side fly, and that out of *hich thekingly bull has dragged the chief on the otherJ is noticeable' !s usualin Egyptian *riting, the hieroglyph of these buildings takes the for+ ofa plan' The plan sho*s a crenelated enclosure, rese+bling the *alls ofa great Babylonian palace or te+ple, such as ha&e been found at Telloh,(arka, or ukayyar' The sa+e design is found in Egypt at the hurete-Yebib, an Old )ingdo+ fortress at !bydos, in the to+b of )ing !ha at

?akVda, and in +any *alls of +astaba-to+bs of the early ti+e' This isanother argu+ent in fa&our of an early connection bet*een Egypt andBabylonia' (e illustrate a frag+ent of another &oti&e shield or palette

of the sa+e kind, no* in the +useu+ of the #ou&re, *hich probably ca+eoriginally fro+ Hierakonpolis' "t is of eactly si+ilar *ork+anship to


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that of ?ar+er, and is no doubt a frag+ent of another +onu+ent of thatking' On it *e see the sa+e subject of the o&erthro*ing of a ?orthernerIof e+itic aspectJ by the royal bull' On one side, belo*, is afortified enclosure *ith crenelated *alls of the type *e ha&e described,and *ithin it a lion and a &aseK belo* this another fort, and a bird

*ithin it' These signs +ay epress the na+es of the t*o forts, but,o*ing to the fact that at this early period Egyptian orthography *asnot yet fied, *e cannot read the+' On the other side *e see a ro* ofani+ated no+e-standards of >pper Egypt, *ith the sy+bols of the god inof )optos, the ha*k of Horus of Edfu, the ibis of Thot of Esh+unNn, andthe jackals of !nubis of !bydos, *hich drag a ropeK had *e the restof the +onu+ent, *e should see, bound at the end of the rope, so+e

prisoner, king, or ani+al sy+bolic of the ?orth' On another slateshield, *hich *e also reproduce, *e see a sy+bolical representation ofthe capture of se&en ?orthern cities, *hose na+es see+ to +ean the LT*oen,L the LHeron,L the LO*l,L the LPal+,L and the LGhostL Cities'

LGhost CityL is attacked by a lion, LO*l CityL by a ha*k, LPal+ CityL byt*o ha*k no+e-standards, and another, *hose na+e *e cannot guess at, is

being opened up by a scorpion'

4"llustration. 232'jpg IleftJ OB@E$E O< ! #!TE $E#"E


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to +ean Lgod,L and the title Lser&ant of a god,L and this supposition +ay be correct' FHen-neterF, LgodDs ser&ant,L *as the appellation of a peculiar kind of priest in later days, and *as then spelt *ith the ordinary sign for a god, the picture of an ae' But in the archaic period, *ith *hich

*e are dealing, a star like the Babylonian sign +ay &ery *ell ha&e been used for Lgod,L and the title of ?ar+erDs sandal-bearer +ay read FHen-neterF' He *as the sla&e of the li&ing god ?ar+er' !ll Egyptian kings *ere regarded as deities, +ore or less'

The +onu+ents )hVsekhe+ui, a king, sho* us that he conAuered the ?orthalso and sle* R6,12: L?orthern Ene+ies'L The contorted attitudes of thedead ?ortherners *ere greatly ad+ired and sketched at the ti+e, and *erereproduced on the pedestal of the kingDs statue found by r' uibell,*hich is no* at Oford' "t *as an age of cheerful sa&age energy, like

+ost ti+es *hen kingdo+s and peoples are in the +aking' !bout R222 B'C'is the date of these &arious +onu+ents'

4"llustration. 231'jpg OB@E$E OP ! #!TE $E#"E


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CH!PTE$ ""--!B%O !?% THE ntil the recent disco&eries had been +ade, *hich ha&e thro*n so +uchlight upon the early history of Egypt, the traditional order and na+esof the kings of the first three Egyptian dynasties *ere, in default of+ore accurate infor+ation, retained by all *riters on the history of the

period' The na+es *ere taken fro+ the official lists of kings at !bydosand else*here, and *ere di&ided into dynasties according to the syste+of anetho, *hose na+es agree +ore or less *ith those of the lists and*ere e&idently deri&ed fro+ the+ ulti+ately' (ith regard to the fourthand later dynasties it *as clear that the king-lists *ere correct, astheir e&idence agreed entirely *ith that of the conte+porary +onu+ents'But no +eans eisted of checking the lists of the first three dynasties,

as no conte+porary +onu+ents other than a "@th %ynasty +ention of a ""d%ynasty king, end, had been found' The lists dated fro+ the ti+e ofthe @"""th and "th %ynasties, so that it *as &ery possible that *ithregard to the earliest dynasties they +ight not be &ery correct' Thisconclusion gained additional *eight fro+ the fact that no +onu+ents ofthese earliest kings *ere e&er disco&eredK it therefore see+ed probablethat they *ere purely legendary figures, in *hose ti+e Iif they e&er dideistJ Egypt *as still a se+i-barbarous nation' The jejune stories toldabout the+ by anetho see+ed to confir+ this idea' ena, the reputedfounder of the +onarchy, *as generally regarded as a historical figure,o*ing to the persistence of his na+e in all ancient literary accountsof the beginnings of Egyptian historyK for it *as but natural to supposethat the na+e of the +an *ho unified Egypt and founded e+phis *ouldendure in the +ouths of the people' But *ith regard to his successorsno such supposition see+ed probable, until the ti+e of neferu and the

pyra+id-builders'

This *as the critical &ie*' !nother school of historians accepted allthe kings of the lists as historical Fen blocF, si+ply because theEgyptians had registered their na+es as kings' To the+ Teta, !teth, and!ta *ere as historical as ena'

odern disco&ery has altered our &ie*, and truth is seen to lie bet*eenthe opposing schools, as usual' The kings after ena do not see+ to besuch entirely unhistorical figures as the etre+e critics thoughtKthe na+es of se&eral of the+, e'g' erpeba, of the "st %ynasty, arecorrectly gi&en in the later lists, and those of others *ere si+ply+isread, e' g' that of e+ti of the sa+e dynasty, +isread LHeseptiL bythe list-+akers' On the other hand, ena hi+self has beco+e a so+e*hatdoubtful Auantity' The real na+es of +ost of the early +onarchs of Egyptha&e been reco&ered for us by the latest eca&ations, and *e can no* see*hen the list-+akers of the "th %ynasty *ere right and *hen they *ere

*rong, and can distinguish *hat is legendary in their *ork fro+ *hat isreally historical' "t is true that they &ery often appear to ha&e been


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*rong, but, on the other hand, they *ere so+eti+es unepectedly nearthe +ark, and the general nu+ber and arrange+ent of their kingssee+s correctK so that *e can still go to the+ for assistance in thearrange+ent of the na+es *hich are co++unicated to us by the ne*lydisco&ered +onu+ents' anethoDs help, too, need ne&er be despised

because he *as a copyist of copyistsK *e can still use hi+ to direct ourin&estigations, and his arrange+ent of dynasties +ust still re+ain thefra+e*ork of our chronological sche+e, though he does not see+ to ha&e

been al*ays correct as to the places in *hich the dynasties originated'

ore than the na+es of the kings ha&e the ne* disco&eries co++unicatedto us' They ha&e shed a flood of light on the beginnings of Egyptianci&iliation and art, supple+enting the recently ascertained factsconcerning the prehistoric age *hich ha&e been described in the

preceding chapter' The i+pulse to these disco&eries *as gi&en by the*ork of ' de organ, *ho eca&ated sites of the early dynastic as

*ell as of the predynastic age' !+ong these *as a great +astaba-to+b at?akVda, *hich pro&ed to be that of a &ery early king *ho bore the na+eof !ha, Lthe


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photographs of e&erything he has found'


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to be one of the least certain of his conclusions' (e cannot definitelystate that the na+es L$o,L L)a,L and L+aL Iif they are na+es at all,*hich is doubtfulJ belong to early kings of Hierakonpolis *ho *ere

buried at !bydos' "t +ay be so, but further confir+ation is desirablebefore *e accept it as a factK and as yet such confir+ation has not been

forthco+ing' The oldest kings, *ho *ere certainly buried at !bydos, see+to ha&e been the first rulers of the united kingdo+ of the ?orth andouth, !ha and his successors' ?Dar+er is not represented' "t +ay

be that he *as not buried at !bydos, but in the necropolis ofHierakonpolis' This *ould point to the kings of the outh not ha&ing

been buried at !bydos until after the unification of the kingdo+'

That !ha possessed a to+b at !bydos as *ell as another at ?akVda see+speculiar, but it is a pheno+enon not unkno*n in Egypt' e&eral kings,*hose bodies *ere actually buried else*here, had second to+bs at !bydos,in order that they +ight FpossessF last resting-places near the to+b

of Osiris, although they +ight not prefer to FuseF the+' >sertsen IorenusretJ """ is a case in point' He *as really buried in a pyra+id at"llahun, up in the ?orth, but he had a great rock to+b cut for hi+ inthe cliffs at !bydos, *hich he ne&er occupied, and probably had ne&erintended to occupy' (e find eactly the sa+e thing far back at the

beginning of Egyptian history, *hen !ha possessed not only a great+astaba-to+b at ?akVda, but also a to+b-cha+ber in the great necropolisof !bydos' "t +ay be that other kings of the earliest period also hadsecond sepulchres else*here' "t is note*orthy that in none of the earlyto+bs at !bydos *ere found any bodies *hich +ight be considered thoseof the kings the+sel&es' ' !+Qlineau disco&ered bodies of attendantsor sla&es I*ho *ere in all probability purposely strangled and buriedaround the royal cha+ber in order that they should attend the kingin the net *orldJ, but no royalties' Prof' Petrie found the ar+ of afe+ale +u++y, *ho +ay ha&e been of royal blood, though there is nothingto sho* that she *as' !nd the Auaint plait and fringe of false hair,*hich *ere also found, need not ha&e belonged to a royal +u++y' "t istherefore Auite possible that these to+bs at !bydos *ere not the actuallast resting-places of the earliest kings, *ho +ay really ha&e been

buried at Hierakonpolis or else*here, as !ha *as' essrs' ?e*berryand Gtarstang, in their Fhort History of EgyptF, suppose that !ha *as

actually buried at !bydos, and that the great to+b *ith objects bearinghis na+e, found by ' de organ at ?akVda, is really not his, butbelonged to a royal princess na+ed ?eit-hetep, *hose na+e is found inconjunction *ith his at !bydos and ?akVda' But the argu+ent is eAually&alid turned round the other *ay. the ?akVda to+b +ight just as *ell be!haDs and the !bydos one ?eit-hetepDs' ?eit-hetep, *ho is supposed byessrs' ?e*berry and Garstang to ha&e been ?ar+erDs daughter and !haDs*ife, *as e&idently closely connected *ith !ha, and she +ay ha&e been

buried *ith hi+ at ?akVda and co++e+orated *ith hi+ at !bydos'; "t isprobable that the "th %ynasty list-+akers and anetho considered the!bydos to+bs to ha&e been the real gra&es of the kings, but it is by no

+eans i+possible that they *ere *rong'


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; ! princess na+ed Bener-ab IL*eet-heartLJ, *ho +ay ha&e been !haDs daughter, *as actually buried beside his to+b at !bydos'

This &ie* of the royal to+bs at !bydos tallies to a great etent *ith

that of ' ?a&ille, *ho has energetically +aintained the &ie* that '!+Qlineau and Prof' Petrie ha&e not disco&ered the real to+bs of theearly kings, but only their conte+porary co++e+orati&e Lto+bsL at!bydos' The only real to+b of the "st %ynasty, therefore, as yetdisco&ered is that of !ha at ?akVda, found by ' de organ' The factthat attendant sla&es *ere buried around the !bydos to+bs is no bar tothe &ie* that the to+bs *ere only the +onu+ents, not the real gra&es,of the kings' The royal ghosts *ould naturally &isit their co++e+orati&echa+bers at !bydos, in order to be in the co+pany of the great Osiris,and ghostly ser&ants *ould be as necessary to their ajesties at !bydosas else*here'

"t +ust not be thought that this re&ised opinion of the !bydos to+bsdetracts in the slightest degree fro+ the i+portance of the disco&ery of' !+Qlineau and its subseAuent and +ore detailed in&estigation by Prof'Petrie' These +onu+ents are as &aluable for historical purposes asthe real to+bs the+sel&es' The actual bodies of these pri+e&al kingsthe+sel&es *e are ne&er likely to find' The to+b of !ha at ?akVda had

been co+pletely rifled in ancient ti+es'

The co++e+orati&e to+bs of the kings of the "st and ""d %ynasties at!bydos lie south*est of the great necropolis, far *ithin the bay in thehills' Their present aspect is that of a *ilderness of sand hillocks,co&ered *ith +asses of frag+ents of red pottery, fro+ *hich the site hasobtained the +odern !rab na+e of F>++ el-GaDabF, Lother of Pots'L "tis i+possible to +o&e a step in any direction *ithout crushing so+eof these potsherds under the heel' They are chiefly the re+ains of thecountless little &ases of rough red pottery, *hich *ere dedicated hereas Fe-&otosF by the pious, bet*een the "th and @"th %ynasties, tothe +e+ory of the ancient kings and of the great god Osiris, *hose to+b,as *e shall see, *as supposed to ha&e been situated here also'

4"llustration. 203'jpg IrightJ THE TOB O< )"?G %E? !T !B%O' !boutR222 B'C'8

"nter+ingled *ith these later frag+ents are pieces of the original"st %ynasty &ases, *hich *ere filled *ith *ine and pro&isions and *ere

placed in the to+bs, for the refresh+ent and delectation of the royalghosts *hen they should &isit their houses at !bydos' These *ere thro*nout and broken *hen the to+bs *ere &iolated' Here and there one sees adip in the sand, out of *hich rise four *alls of great bricks, for+inga rectangular cha+ber, half-filled *ith sand' This is one of the royalto+b-cha+bers of the "st %ynasty' That of )ing %en is illustrated abo&e'

! straight staircase descends into it fro+ the ground-le&el abo&e' "nse&eral of the to+bs the original flooring of *ooden bea+s is still


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preser&ed' %enDs is the +ost +agnificent of all, for it has a floor ofgranite blocksK *e kno* of no other instance of stone being used for

building in this early age' !l+ost e&ery to+b has been burnt at so+eperiod unkno*n' The brick *alls are burnt red, and +any of the alabaster&ases are al+ost calcined' This *as probably the *ork of so+e unkno*n

ene+y'

The *ide co+plicated to+bs ha&e around the +ain cha+ber a series ofs+aller roo+s, *hich *ere used to store *hat *as considered necessaryfor the use of the royal ghost' Of these necessaries the +ostinteresting to us are the sla&es, *ho *ere, as there is little reason todoubt, purposely killed and buried round the royal cha+ber so that theirspirits should be on the spot *hen the dead king ca+e to !bydosK thusthey *ould be al*ays ready to ser&e hi+ *ith the food and other things*hich had been stored in the to+b *ith the+ and placed under theircharge' There *ere stacks of great &ases of *ine, corn, and other foodK

these *ere co&ered up *ith +asses of fat to preser&e the contents,and they *ere corked *ith a pottery stopper, *hich *as protected bya conical clay sealing, sta+ped *ith the i+press of the royalcylinder-seal' There *ere bins of corn, joints of oen, pottery dishes,copper pans, and other things *hich +ight be useful for the ghostlycuisine of the to+b' There *ere nu+berless s+all objects, used, nodoubt, by the dead +onarch during life, *hich he *ould be pleased to seeagain in the net *orld,--car&ed i&ory boes, little slabs for grindingeye-paint, golden buttons, +odel tools, +odel &ases *ith gold tops,i&ory and pottery figurines, and other Fobjets dDartFK the golden royalseal of judg+ent of )ing %en in its i&ory casket, and so forth' There*ere +e+orials of the royal &ictories in peace and *ar, little i&ory

plaAues *ith inscriptions co++e+orating the founding of ne* buildings,the institution of ne* religious festi&als in honour of the gods, the

bringing of the capti&es of the royal bo* and spear to the palace, thedisco+fiture of the peoples of the ?orth-land'

4"llustration. 206'jpg CO?"C!# @!E-TOPPE$'


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should this inner +an still li&e on but in the to+b to *hich the outer+an *as consigned !nd here, doubtless it *as belie&ed, in the house to*hich the body *as consigned, the ghost li&ed on' !nd as each ghost hadhis house *ith the body, so no doubt all ghosts could co++unicate *ithone another fro+ to+b to to+bK and so there gre* up the belief in a

to+b-*orld, a subterranean Egypt of to+bs, in *hich the dead Egyptiansstill li&ed and had their being' #ater on the boat of the sun, in *hichthe god of light crossed the hea&ens by day, *as thought to pass throughthis dead *orld bet*een his setting and his rising, acco+panied by thesouls of the righteous' But of this belief *e find no trace yet in theideas of the "st %ynasty' !ll *e can see is that the FsahusF, or bodiesof the dead, *ere supposed to reside in a*ful +ajesty in the to+b,*hile the ghosts could pass fro+ to+b to to+b through the +aes ofthe under*orld' O&er this dread real+ of dead +en presided a dead god,Osiris of !bydosK and so the necropolis of !bydos *as the necropolis ofthe under*orld, to *hich all ghosts *ho *ere not its rightful citiens

*ould co+e fro+ afar to pay their court to their ruler' Thus the +anof substance *ould ha&e a +onu+ental tablet put up to hi+self in thisnecropolis as a sort of Fpied-[-terreF, e&en if he could not be buriedthereK for the king, *ho, for reasons chiefly connected *ith local

patriotis+, *as buried near the city of his earthly abode, a second to+b*ould be erected, a stately +ansion in the city of Osiris, in *hich hisghost could reside *hen it pleased hi+ to co+e to !bydos'

?o* none could li&e *ithout food, and +en li&ing under the earth neededit as +uch as +en li&ing on the earth' The royal to+b *as thus pro&ided*ith an enor+ous a+ount of earthly food for the use of the royal ghost,and *ith other things as *ell, as *e ha&e seen' The sa+e pro&ision hadalso to be +ade for the royal resting-place at !bydos' !nd in both casesroyal sla&es *ere needed to take care of all this pro&ision, and toser&e the ghost of the king, *hether in his real to+b at ?akVda, orelse*here, or in his second to+b at !bydos' Ghosts only could ser&eghosts, so that of the sla&es ghosts had to be +ade' That *as easilydoneK they died *hen their +aster died and follo*ed hi+ to the to+b'

?o doubt it see+ed perfectly natural to all concerned, to the sla&es as+uch as to anybody else' But it sho*s the childDs idea of the &alue oflife' !n ani+ate thing *as hardly distinguished at this period fro+ an

inani+ate thing' The +ost ancient Egyptians buried sla&es *ith theirkings as naturally as they buried jars of *ine and bins of corn *iththe+' Both *ere buried *ith a definite object' The sla&es had to die

before they *ere buried, but then so had the king hi+self' They all hadto die so+eti+e or other' !nd the actual killing of the+ *as no *orsethan killing a dog, no *orse e&en than LkillingL golden buttons andi&ory boes'


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on these points, and in the later ages of the ancient *orld they *ereprobably the +ost hu+ane of the peoples, far +ore so than the Greeks,in fact' The cultured Hellenes +urdered their prisoners of *ar *ithouthesitation' (ho has not been troubled in +ind by the eecution of kiasand %e+osthenes after the surrender of the !thenian ar+y at yracuse

(hen *e co+pare this *ith GrantDs refusal e&en to take #eeDs s*ordat !ppo+atto, *e see ho* *e ha&e progressed in these +attersK *hileGylippus and the yracusans *ere as +uch children as the "st %ynastyEgyptians' But the Egyptians of GylippusDs ti+e had probably ad&anced+uch further than the Greeks in the direction of rational +anhood' (hen!+asis had his ri&al !pries in his po*er, he did not put hi+ to death,

but kept hi+ as his coadjutor on the throne' !pries fled fro+ hi+,allied hi+self *ith Greek pirates, and ad&anced against his generousri&al' !fter his defeat and +urder at o+e+phis, !+asis ga&e hi+ asplendid burial' (hen *e co+pare this generosity to a beaten foe *iththe sa&agery of the !ssyrians, for instance, *e see ho* far the later

Egyptians had progressed in the paths of hu+anity'

The ancient custo+ of killing sla&es *as first discontinued at the deathof the lesser chieftains, but *e find a possible sur&i&al of it in thecase of a king, e&en as late as the ti+e of the "th %ynastyK for atThebes, in the precinct of the funerary te+ple of )ing ?eb-hapet-$Ventuhetep and round the central pyra+id *hich co++e+orated his +e+ory,*ere buried a nu+ber of the ladies of his FharZ+F' They *ere all buriedat one and the sa+e ti+e, and there can be little doubt that they *ereall killed and buried round the king, in order to be *ith hi+ in thenet *orld' ?o* *ith each of these ladies, *ho had been turned intoghosts, *as buried a little *aen hu+an figure placed in a little +odelcoffin' This *as to replace her o*n sla&e' he *ho *ent to acco+panythe king in the net *orld had to ha&e her o*n attendant also' But, not

being royal, a real sla&e *as not killed for herK she only took *ith hera *aen figure, *hich by +eans of char+s and incantations *ould, *henshe called upon it, turn into a real sla&e, and say, LHere a+ ",L and do*hate&er *ork +ight be reAuired of her' The actual killing and burialof the sla&es had in all cases ecept that of the king been longLco++uted,L so to speak, into a burial *ith the dead person of

FushabtisF, or L!ns*erers,L little figures like those described abo&e,

+ade +ore usually of stone, and inscribed *ith the na+e of the deceased'They *ere called L!ns*erersL because they ans*ered the call of theirdead +aster or +istress, and by +agic po*er beca+e ghostly ser&ants'#ater on they *ere +ade of *ood and glaed FfaXenceF, as *ell as stone'By this +eans the greater hu+anity of a later age sought a relief fro+the pri+iti&e disregard of the death of others'

!nthropologically interesting as are the results of the eca&ations at>++ el-GraDab, they are no less historically i+portant' There is no needhere to *eary the reader *ith the details of scientific contro&ersyK it*ill suffice to set before hi+ as succinctly and clearly as possible the

net results of the *ork *hich has been done'


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essrs' !+Qlineau and Petrie ha&e found the secondary to+bs and ha&eidentified the na+es of the follo*ing pri+e&al kings of Egypt' (earrange the+ in their apparent historical order'

/' !ha en IJ'

1' ?ar+er Ior Betju+erJ +a IJ'

7' Tjer Ior )hentJ' Besh'

R' Tja !ti'

3' %en e+ti'

0' !tjab erpeba'

6' e+erkha ?ekht'

9' V en'

:' )hVsekhe+ I)hVsekhe+uiJ

/2' Hetepsekhe+ui'

//' $\neb'

/1' ?eneter'

/7' ekhe+ab Perabsen'

T*o or three other na+es are ascribed by Prof' Petrie to theHierakonpolite dynasty of >pper Egypt, *hich, as it occurs before theti+e of ena and the "st %ynasty, he calls L%ynasty 2'L %ynasty 2,ho*e&er, is no dynasty, and in any case *e should prefer to call theLpredynasticL dynasty L%ynasty "'L The na+es of L%ynasty +inus One,Lho*e&er, re+ain proble+atical, and for the present it *ould see+ safer

to suspend judg+ent as to the place of the supposed royal na+es L$oL andL)aLIen-kafJ, *hich Prof' Petrie supposes to ha&e been those of t*oof the kings of >pper Egypt *ho reigned before ena' The kingL+aLIL>niterLJ is possibly identical *ith !ha or ?ar+er, +ore

probably the latter' "t is not necessary to detail the process by *hichEgyptologists ha&e sought to identify these thirteen kings *ith thesuccessors of ena in the lists of kings and the "st and ""d %ynastiesof anetho' The *ork has been &ery successful, though not perhaps Auiteso co+pletely acco+plished as Prof' Petrie hi+self inclines to belie&e'The first identification *as +ade by Prof' ethe, of Gottingen, *ho

pointed out that the na+es e+ti and erpeba on a &ase-frag+ent found

by ' !+Qlineau *ere in reality those of the kings Hesepti and erbapof the lists, the OusaphaXs and iebis of anetho' The perfectly certain


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identifications are these.--

3' %en e+ti ] Hesepti, FOusaphaXsF, "st %ynasty'

0' !tjab erpeba ] erbap, FiebisF, "st %ynasty'

6' e+erkha ?ekht] he+su or e+se+ IJ, Fe+e+presF, "st %ynasty'

9' V en ] ebh, FBienehhesF, "st %ynasty'

:' )hVsekhe+ui Besh ] Betju-+er IJ, FBoethosF, ""d %ynasty'

/2' ?eneter ] Bineneter, FBinothrisF, ""d %ynasty'

i of the !bydos kings ha&e thus been identified *ith na+es in the

lists and in anethoK that is to say, *e no* kno* the real na+es of siof the earliest Egyptian +onarchs, *hose appellations are gi&en usunder +utilated for+s by the later list-+akers' Prof' Petrie furtheridentifies IRJ Tja !ti *ith !teth, I7J Tjer *ith Teta, and I/J !ha *ithena' ena, Teta, !teth, !ta, Hesepti, erbap, he+su IJ, and ebh arethe na+es of the /st %ynasty as gi&en in the lists' The eAui&alent of!ta Prof' Petrie finds in the na+e Lerneit,L *hich is found at >++el-GaDab' But there is no proof *hate&er that erneit *as a kingK he*as +uch +ore probably a prince or other great personage of the reignof %en, *ho *as buried *ith the kings' Prof' Petrie accepts theidentification of the personal na+e of !ha as Len,L and so +akes hi+the only eAui&alent of ena' But this reading of the na+e is stilldoubtful' !rguing that !ha +ust be ena, and ha&ing all the rest of thekings of the "st %ynasty identified *ith the na+es in the lists, Prof'Petrie is co+pelled to eclude ?ar+er fro+ the dynasty, and to relegatehi+ to L%ynasty 2,L before the ti+e of ena' "t is Auite possible,ho*e&er, that ?ar+er *as the successor, not the predecessor, of ena'He *as certainly either the one or the other, as the style of art in histi+e *as eactly the sa+e as that in the ti+e of !ha' The Lcorpion,Ltoo, *hose na+e is found at Hierakonpolis, certainly dates to the sa+eti+e as ?ar+er and !ha, for the style of his *ork is the sa+e' !nd it

+ay *ell be that he is not to be counted as a separate king, belongingto L%ynasty 2 LIor L%ynasty -"LJ at all, but as identical *ith ?ar+er,just as L+aL +ay also be' (e thus find that the t*o kings *ho left the+ost de&eloped re+ains at Hierakonpolis are the t*o *hose +onu+ents at!bydos are the oldest of all on that site' That is to say, the kings*hose +onu+ents record the conAuest of the ?orth belong to the periodof transition fro+ the old Hierakonpolite do+inion of >pper Egypt to thene* kingdo+ of all Egypt' They, in fact, represent the LenaL or enQsof tradition' "t +ay be that !ha bore the personal na+e of FenF, *hich*ould thus be the original of ena, but this is uncertain' "n any case

both !ha and ?ar+er +ust be assigned to the "st %ynasty, *ith the result

that *e kno* of +ore kings belonging to the dynasty than appear in thelists'


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?or is this i+probable' anethoDs list is e&idently based upon oldEgyptian lists deri&ed fro+ the authorities upon *hich the king-lists of!bydos and akkVra *ere based' These old lists *ere +ade under the"th %ynasty, *hen an interest in the oldest kings see+s to ha&e been

a*akened, and the ruling +onarchs erected te+ples at !bydos in theirhonour' This pheno+enon can only ha&e been due to a disco&ery of >++el-GaDab and its treasures, the to+bs of *hich *ere recognied asthe burial-places Ireal or secondaryJ of the kings before the

pyra+id-builders' eti "' and his son $a+ses then *orshipped the kingsof >++ el-GaDab, *ith their na+es set before the+ in the order, nu+ber,and spelling in *hich the scribes considered they ought to be inscribed'"t is highly probable that the nu+ber kno*n at that ti+e *as not Auitecorrect' (e kno* that the spelling of the na+es *as &ery +uch garbledIto take one ea+ple only, the signs for FenF *ere read as one sign

FebhFJ, so that one or t*o kings +ay ha&e been o+itted or displaced'

This +ay be the case *ith ?ar+er, or, as his na+e ought possibly to beread, FBetju+erF' His +onu+ents sho* by their style that he belongs tothe &ery beginning of the "st %ynasty' ?o na+e in the "st %ynasty listcorresponds to his' But one of the lists gi&es for the first king of the""d %ynasty Ithe successor of LebhL ] enJ a na+e *hich +ay also be readBetju+er, spelt syllabically this ti+e, not ideographically' On thisaccount Prof' ?a&ille *ishes to regard the Hierakonpolite +onu+ents of

?ar+er as belonging to the ""d %ynasty, but, as *e ha&e seen, they area+ong the +ost archaic kno*n, and certainly +ust belong to the beginningof the "st %ynasty' "t is therefore probable that )hasekhe+ui Beshand ?ar+er IBetju+erJ *ere confused by this list-+aker, and thena+e Betju+er *as gi&en to the first king of the ""d %ynasty, *ho *as

probably in reality )hasekhe+ui' The rese+blance of FBetjuF to FBeshF+ay ha&e contributed to this confusion'

o ?ar+er Ior Betju+erJ found his *ay out of his proper place at thebeginning of the /st %ynasty' (hether !ha *as also called LenL or not,it see+s e&ident that he and ?ar+er *ere jointly the originals of thelegendary ena' ?ar+er, *ho possibly also bore the na+e of +a, Lthe>niter,L conAuered the ?orth' !ha, Lthe


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there is no proof' "t is +ost probable that the na+es LTeta,L L!teth,Land L!taL are all founded on !ti, the personal na+e of Tja' The kingTjer is then not represented in the lists, and LenaL is a co+pound ofthe t*o oldest !bydos kings, ?ar+er IBetju+erJ +a IJ and !ha en IJ'

These are the bare historical results that ha&e been attained *ithregard to the na+es, identity, and order of the kings' The s+aller+e+orials that ha&e been found *ith the+, especially the i&ory plaAues,ha&e told us of e&ents that took place during their reignsK but, *iththe eception of the constantly recurring references to the conAuest ofthe ?orth, there is little that can be considered of historical interestor i+portance' (e *ill take one as an ea+ple' This is the tablet ?o'71,032 of the British useu+, illustrated by Prof' Petrie, F$oyal To+bsFi IEgypt Eploration pper and #o*erEgypt' On it *e see a picture of a king perfor+ing a religious dance

before the god Osiris, *ho is seated in a shrine placed on a dais' Thisreligious dance *as perfor+ed by all the kings in later ti+es' Belo* *efind hieroglyphic IideographicJ records of a ri&er epedition to fightthe ?ortherners and of the capture of a fortified to*n called !n' Thecapture of the to*n is indicated by a broken line of fortification,half-encircling the na+e, and the hoe *ith *hich the e+ble+atic ha*kson the slate reliefs already described are ar+edK this signifies theopening and breaking do*n of the *all'

On the other half of the tablet *e find the &iceroy of #o*er Egypt,He+aka, +entionedK also Lthe Ha*k Ii' e' the kingJ seies the seat ofthe #ibyans,L and so+e unintelligible record of a je*eller of the palaceand a kingDs carpenter' On a si+ilar tablet Iof enJ *e find the *ordsLthe kingDs carpenter +ade this record'L !ll these little tablets arethen the records of single years of a kingDs life, and others like the+,

preser&ed no doubt in royal archi&es, for+ed the base of regular annals,*hich *ere occasionally car&ed upon stone' (e ha&e an ea+ple of one ofthese in the Ltele of Paler+o,L a frag+ent of black granite, inscribed*ith the annals of the kings up to the ti+e of the @th %ynasty, *henthe +onu+ent itself *as +ade' "t is a +atter for intense regret that thegreater portion of this priceless historical +onu+ent has disappeared,

lea&ing us but a piece out of the centre, *ith part of the recordsof only si kings before nefru' Of these si the na+e of only one,?eneter, of the lid %ynasty, *hose na+e is also found at !bydos, is+entioned' The only i+portant historical e&ent of ?eneterDs reign see+sto ha&e occurred in his thirteenth year, *hen the to*ns or palaces of

FHaF IL?orthLJ and he+-$V ILThe un proceedsLJ *ere founded' ?othingbut the institution and celebration of religious festi&als is recordedin the siteen yearly entries preser&ed to us out of a reign ofthirty-fi&e years' The annual height of the ?ile is gi&en, and theoccasions of nu+bering the people are recorded Ie&ery second yearJ.nothing else' anetho tells us that in the reign of Binothris, *ho

is ?eneter, it *as decreed that *o+en could hold royal honours andpri&ileges' This first concession of *o+enDs rights is not +entioned on


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the strictly official LPaler+o tele'L

ore regrettable than aught else is the absence fro+ the LPaler+o teleLof that part of the original +onu+ent *hich ga&e the annals of theearliest kings' !t any rate, in the lines of annals *hich still eist

abo&e that *hich contains the chronicle of the reign of ?eneter noentry can be definitely identified as belonging to the reigns of !haor ?ar+er' "n a line belo* there is a +ention of the Lbirth of)hVsekhe+ui,L apparently a festi&al in honour of the birth of that kingcelebrated in the sa+e *ay as the reputed birthday of a god' This sho*sthe great honour in *hich )hVsekhe+ui *as held, and perhaps it *as he*ho really finally settled the Auestion of the unification of ?orth andouth and consolidated the *ork of the earlier kings'

!s far as *e can tell, then, !ha and ?ar+er *ere the first conAuerorsof the ?orth, the unifiers of the kingdo+, and the originals of the

legendary ena' "n their ti+e the kingdo+Ds centre of gra&ity *as stillin the outh, and ?ar+er I*ho is probably identical *ith Lthe corpionLJdedicated the +e+orials of his deeds in the te+ple of Hierakonpolis' "t+ay be that the legend of the founding of e+phis in the ti+e of LenQsLis nearly correct Ias *e shall see, historically, the foundation +ayha&e been due to erpebaJ, but *e ha&e the authority of anetho forthe fact that the first t*o dynasties *ere LThiniteL Ithat is, >pperEgyptianJ, and that e+phis did not beco+e the capital till the ti+e ofthe Hid %ynasty' (ith this state+ent the e&idence of the +onu+ents fullyagrees' The earliest royal to+bs in the pyra+id-field of e+phis datefro+ the ti+e of the Hid %ynasty, so that it is e&ident that the kingshad then taken up their abode in the ?orthern capital' (e find that soonafter the ti+e of )hVsekhe+ui the king Perabsen *as especially connected*ith #o*er Egypt' His personal na+e is unkno*n to us Ithough he +ay

be the L>atjnesL of the listsJ, but *e do kno* that he had t*obanner-na+es, ekhe+-ab and Perabsen' The first is his ha*k orHorus-na+e, the second his et-na+eK that is to say, *hile he bore thefirst na+e as )ing of >pper Egypt under the special patronage of Horus,the ha*k-god of the >pper Country, he bore the second as )ing of #o*erEgypt, under the patronage of et, the deity of the %elta, *hose fetishani+al appears abo&e this na+e instead of the ha*k' This sho*s ho*

definitely Perabsen *ished to appear as legiti+ate )ing of #o*er as *ellas >pper Egypt' "n later ti+es the Theban kings of the ""th %ynasty,*hen they de&oted the+sel&es to *inning the allegiance of the

?ortherners by li&ing near e+phis rather than at Thebes, see+ to ha&ebeen i+itating the successors of )hVsekhe+ui'

oreo&er, *e no* find &arious e&idences of increasing connection *iththe ?orth' ! princess na+ed ?e-+aat-hap, *ho see+s to ha&e been the+other of a-nekht, the first king of the Hid %ynasty, bears the na+e ofthe sacred !pis of e+phis, her na+e signifying LPossessing the right of!pis'L !ccording to anetho, the kings of the Hid %ynasty are the first

e+phites, and this see+s to be Auite correct' (ith ?e-+aat-hap theroyal right see+s to ha&e been transferred to a e+phite house' But the


42/223

e+phites still had associations *ith >pper Egypt. t*o of the+, Tjeser)het-neter and a-nekht, *ere buried near !bydos, in the desert at BNt)hallVf, *here their to+bs *ere disco&ered and eca&ated by r' Garstangin /:22' The to+b of Tjeser is a great brick-built +astaba, forty feethigh and +easuring 722 feet by /32 feet' The actual to+b-cha+bers are

eca&ated in the rock, t*enty feet belo* the ground-le&el and sity feetbelo* the top of the +astaba' They had been &iolated in ancient ti+es,but a nu+ber of clay jar-sealings, alabaster &ases, and bo*ls belongingto the to+b furniture *ere found by the disco&erer' a-nekhtDs to+b issi+ilar' "n it *as found the preser&ed skeleton of its o*ner, *ho *as agiant se&en feet high'

4"llustration. 291'jpg THE TOB O< )"?G T=EE$ !T BMT )H!##U


43/223

"n /:2R Prof' Petrie *as despatched to inai by the Egypt Eploration


44/223

through the passages of the to+b' The tep-Pyra+id at akkVra is, so tospeak, a series of +astabas of stone, i+posed one abo&e the otherK itne&er had the continuous casing of stone *hich is the +ark of a true

pyra+id' The pyra+id of nefru at NdW+ is +ore de&eloped' "t alsooriginated in a +astaba, enlarged, and *ith another +astaba-like

erection on the top of itK but it *as gi&en a continuous sloping casingof fine li+estone fro+ botto+ to top, and so is a true pyra+id' !discussion of recent theories as to the building of the later pyra+idsof the "@th %ynasty *ill be found in the net chapter'

"n the ti+e of the "st %ynasty the royal to+b *as kno*n by the na+e ofLProtection-around-the-Ha*k, i'e' the kingLIFa-ha-heruFJK but underthe Hid and "@th %ynasties regular na+es, such as Lthe


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deri&ed fro+ to+bs and has to do *ith the resting-places of the kings*hen dead, rather than *ith their palaces or te+ples *hen li&ing' Ofte+ples at this early period *e ha&e no trace' The oldest te+ple inEgypt is perhaps the little chapel in front of the pyra+id of nefru atNdW+' (e first hear of te+ples to the gods under the "@th %ynasty, but

of the actual buildings of that period *e ha&e reco&ered nothing but oneor t*o inscribed blocks of stone' Prof' Petrie has traced out the planof the oldest te+ple of Osiris at !bydos, *hich +ay be of the ti+e of)hufu, fro+ scanty e&idences *hich gi&e us but little infor+ation' "t iscertain, ho*e&er, that this te+ple, *hich is clearly one of the oldestin Egypt, goes back at least to his ti+e' "ts site is the +oundcalled )o+ es-ultan, LThe ound of the )ing,L close to the &illage ofel-)herba, and on the borders of the culti&ation northeast of the royalto+bs at >++ el-OaDab'

Of royal palaces *e ha&e +ore definite infor+ation' ?orth of the )o+

es-ultan are t*o great fortress-enclosures of brick. the one is kno*nas FWnet es-YebZbF, Lthe torehouse of %ried OrapesKL the other isoccupied by the Coptic +onastery of %Nr !nba usVs' Both are certainlyfortress-palaces of the earliest period of the Egyptian +onarchy' (ekno* fro+ the s+all record-plaAues of this period that the kings *ereconstantly founding or repairing places of this kind, *hich *ere al*aysgreat rectangular enclosures *ith crenelated brick *alls like those ofearly Babylonian buildings'

(e ha&e seen that the ?orthern Egyptian possessed si+ilarfortress-cities *hich *ere captured by ?ar+er' These *ere the seats ofthe royal residence in &arious parts of the country' Behind their *alls*as the kingDs house, and no doubt also a to*n of nobles and retainers,*hile the peasants li&ed on the arable land *ithout'

4"llustration. 29:'jpg THE H>?ET EY-YEB"B. THE


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of this early period'

"t *ill ha&e been seen fro+ the foregoing description of *hatfar-reaching i+portance the disco&eries at !bydos ha&e been' ! ne*chapter of the history of the hu+an race has been opened, *hich contains

infor+ation pre&iously undrea+t of, infor+ation *hich Egyptologistshad ne&er dared to hope *ould be reco&ered' The sand of Egypt indeedconceals inehaustible treasures, and no one kno*s *hat the +orro*Ds*ork +ay bring forth'

FE !frica se+per aliAuid no&i^F

CH!PTE$ """--EPH" !?% THE P$!"%

e+phis, the Lbeautiful abode,L the LCity of the (hite (all,L is saidto ha&e been founded by the legendary enQs, *ho in order to build itdi&erted the strea+ of the ?ile by +eans of a great dyke constructednear the +odern &illage of )oshNsh, south of the &illage of itrahNna,*hich +arks the central point of the ancient +etropolis of ?orthernEgypt' "t +ay be that the city *as founded by !ha or ?ar+er, thehistorical originals of ena or enQsK but *e ha&e another theory *ithregard to its foundation, that it *as originally built by )ing erpeba!tjab, *hose to+b *as also disco&ered at !bydos near those of !ha and

?ar+er' erpeba is the oldest king *hose na+e is absolutely identified*ith one occurring in the "th %ynasty king-lists and in anetho' Heis certainly the LerbapL or LerbepaL ILerbapenLJ of the lists and the

FiebisF of anetho' "n both the lists and in anetho he stands fifth inorder fro+ ena, and he *as therefore the sith king of the "st %ynasty'The lists, anetho, and the s+all +onu+ents in his o*n to+b agree in+aking hi+ the i++ediate successor of e+ti %en IOusaphaXsJ, and fro+the style of these latter it is e&ident that he co+es after Tja, Tjer,

?ar+er, and !ha' That is to say, the conte+porary e&idence +akes hi+ thefifth king fro+ !ha, the first original of LenQs'L

?o* after the piety of eti " had led hi+ to erect a great te+ple at!bydos in +e+ory of the ancient kings, *hose sepulchres had probably

been brought to light shortly before, and to co+pile and set up in thete+ple a list of his predecessors, a certain pious snobbery or snobbish

piety i+pelled a *orthy na+ed Tunure, *ho li&ed at e+phis, to put up inhis o*n to+b at akkVra a tablet of kings like the royal one at !bydos'"f Osiris-)henta+enti at !bydos had his tablet of kings, so shouldOsiris-eker at akkVra' But Tunure does not begin his list *ith enaKhis initial king is erpeba'


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the reign of erpeba, not in that of !ha or ?ar+er, that e+phis *asfounded'

The "th %ynasty lists of course say nothing about ena or erpebaha&ing founded e+phisK they only gi&e the na+es of the kings, nothing

+ore' The earliest authority for the ascription of e+phis to LenQsL,is Herodotus, *ho *as follo*ed in this ascription, as in +any other+atters, by anethoK but it +ust be re+e+bered that anetho *as *ritingfor the edification of a Greek king IPtole+y PhiladelphusJ and his Greekcourt at !leandria, and had therefore to e&ince a respect for the greatGreek classic *hich he +ay not al*ays ha&e really felt' Herodotus isnot, of course, accused of any *ilful +isstate+ent in this or in anyother +atter in *hich his accuracy is suspected' He +erely *rotedo*n *hat he *as told by the Egyptians the+sel&es, and erpeba *assufficiently near in ti+e to !ha to be easily confounded *ith hi+ bythe scribes of the Persian period, *ho no doubt ascribed e&erything

to LenaL that *as done by the kings of the "st and ""d %ynasties'Therefore it +ay be considered Auite probable that the LenQsL *hofounded e+phis *as erpeba, the fifth or sith king of the "st %ynasty,*ho+ Tunure, a thousand years before the ti+e of Herodotus and hisinfor+ants, placed at the head of the e+phite L#ist of akkVra'L

The reconAuest of the ?orth by )hVsekhe+ui doubtless led to a furtherstrengthening of e+phisK and it is Auite possible that the deeds ofthis king also contributed to +ake up the su+ total of those ascribed tothe Herodotean and anethonian enQs'

"t +ay be that a to*n of the ?ortherners eisted here before the ti+e ofthe outhern ConAuest, for Phtah, the local god of e+phis, has a &ery+arked character of his o*n, Auite different fro+ that of )hen-ta+enti,the Osiris of !bydos' He is al*ays represented as a little bo*-leggedhydrocephalous d*arf &ery like the Phoenician F)abeiroiF' "t +ay bethat here is another connection bet*een the ?orthern Egyptians and thee+ites' The na+e LPhtah,L the LOpener,L is definitely e+itic' (e +aythen regard the d*arf Phtah as originally a non-Egyptian god of the

?ortherners, probably e+itic in origin, and his to*n also as antedatingthe conAuest' But it e&idently *as to the outherners that e+phis o*ed

its i+portance and its e&entual pro+otion to the position of capital ofthe united kingdo+' Then the d*arf Phtah sa* hi+self ri&alled by anotherPhtah of outhern Egyptian origin, *ho had been installed at e+phis bythe outherners' This Phtah *as a sort of +odified edition of Osiris, in+u++y-for+ and holding crook and *hip, but *ith a refined edition ofthe )abeiric head of the indigenous Phtah' The actual god of Lthe (hite(allL *as undoubtedly confused &ith the dead god of the necropolis,*hose na+e *as eker or ekri IokariJ, Lthe Coffined'L The originalfor+ of this deity *as a +u++ied ha*k upon a coffin, and it is &ery

probable that he *as i+ported fro+ the outh, like the second Phtah, atthe ti+e of the conAuest, *hen the great ?orthern necropolis began

to gro* up as a duplicate of that at !bydos' #ater on *e find ekerconfused *ith the ancient d*arf-god, and it is the latter *ho *as


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after*ards chiefly re&ered as Phtah-ocharis-Osiris, the protector ofthe necropolis, the +u++ied Phtah being the generally recognied rulerof the City of the (hite (all'

"t is fro+ the na+e of eker that the +odern ak-kVra takes its title'

akkVra +arks the central point of the great e+phite necropolis, as itis the nearest point of the *estern desert to e+phis' ?orth*ards thenecropolis etended to Gria and !bu $oVsh, south*ards, to %asl+rKe&en the nQcropoles of #isht and NdW+ +ay be regarded as appanages ofakkVra' !t akkVra itself Tjeser of the """d %ynasty had a pyra+id,*hich, as *e ha&e seen, *as probably not his real to+b I*hich *asthe great +astaba at BNt )hallVfJ, but a secondary or sha+ to+bcorresponding to the Lto+bsL of the earliest kings at >++ el-GaDab inthe necropolis of !bydos' any later kings, ho*e&er, especially of the@ith %ynasty, *ere actually buried at akkVra' Their to+bs ha&e all beenthoroughly described by their disco&erer, Prof' aspero, in his history'

The last king of the Hid %ynasty, nefru, *as buried a*ay do*n south atNdW+, in splendid isolation, but he +ay also ha&e had a second pyra+idat akkVra or !bu $oash'

The kings of the "@th %ynasty *ere the greatest of the pyra+id builders,and to the+ belong the huge edifices of Gria' The @th %ynasty fa&oured!busZr, bet*een CZa and akkVraK the @ith, as *e ha&e said, preferredakkVra itself' (ith the+ the end of the Old )ingdo+ and of e+phitedo+inion *as reachedK the sceptre fell fro+ the hands of the e+phitekings and *as taken up by the princes of Herakleopolis I!hnasyetel-edina, near BQni uNf, south of the EayyW+J and Thebes' (here theHerakleopolite kings *ere buried *e do not kno*K probably so+e*here inthe local necropolis of the Gebel es-ed+ent, bet*een !hnasya and the


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the neighbourhood of e+phis, !bydos, and Thebes' The sepulchres of theLiddle E+pireL--the "th to """th %ynasties--in the neighbourhoodof the


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in the little figure fro+ !bydos, and ?e-user-$[ on the greatrelief fro+ !busZr' There are one or t*o eceptions, such as therepresentations of the original genius !khunaten at Tell el-!+arna andthe beautiful statue of $a+ses "" at Turin, in *hich *e see these kings*earing the real costu+e of their ti+e, but such eceptions are &ery

rare'

The art of !busZr is therefore of great interest, since it +arks the endof the de&elop+ent of the priestly art' ecular art +ight de&elop as itliked, though the crystalliing influence of the ecclesiastical canon isal*ays e&ident here also' But hencefor*ard it *as an i+piety, *hich onlyan !khunaten could co++it, to depict a king or a god on the *alls of ate+ple other*ise Iecept so far as, the portrait *as concernedJ than ashe had been depicted in the ti+e of the @th %ynasty'

Other buildings ha&e been eca&ated by the Ger+ans at !busZr, notably

the usual to*n of +astaba-to+bs belonging to the chief dignitaries ofthe reign, *hich is al*ays found at the foot of a royal pyra+id of this

period' !nother building of the highest interest, belonging to the sa+eage, *as also eca&ated, and its true character *as deter+ined' This isa building at a place called er-$Zgha or !bW Ghuraib, L


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se&eral feet across, on *hich slain oen *ere offered to the un, andbehind this, at the eastern end of the court, are si great basins ofthe sa+e stone, o&er *hich the beasts *ere slain, *ith drains runningout of the+ by *hich their blood *as carried a*ay' This te+ple is a +ostinteresting +onu+ent of the ci&iliation of the LOld )ingdo+L at the ti+e

of the @th %ynasty'

!t akkVra itself, *hich lies a short distance south of !busir, no ne*royal to+bs ha&e, as has been said, been disco&ered of late years' But agreat deal of *ork has been done a+ong the pri&ate +astaba-to+bs by theofficers of the Fer&ice des !ntiAuitQsF, *hich reser&es to itself theright of eca&ation here and at %ashWr' The +astaba of the sage and*riter )agernna Ior rather Ge+nika, L"-ha&e-found-a-ghost,L *hichsounds &ery like an !+erican "ndian appellationJ is &ery fine'L"-ha&e-found-a-ghostL li&ed in the reign of the king TatkarV !ssa, theLTancheresL of anetho, and he *rote +ai+s like his great conte+porary

Phtahhetep ILOffered to PhtahLJ, *ho *as also buried at akkVra' Theofficials of the Fer&ice des !ntiAuitQsF *ho cleaned the to+b unluckily+isread his na+e )a-bi-n Ian i+possible for+ *hich could only +ean,literally translated, LGhost-soul-ofL or LGhost-soul-to-+eLJ, and theyha&e placed it in this for+ o&er the entrance to his to+b' This +astaba,like those, already kno*n, of ereruka Iso+eti+es +isna+ed LeraLJand the fa+ous Ti, both also at

Documents

1.History of Egypt Chaldæa Syria Babylonia and Assyria in Th