A represents the early Osiris and Isis worshippers; B the first dominance of Set; C the second irruption of Set; D and E the allied Osiris and Isis worshippers of the Delta and coast who helped to expel Set; and F the hawk Horus worshippers, who took the lead in driving out B and C by alliance with A, D and E.
A represents the early Osiris and Isis worshippers; B the first dominance of Set; C the second irruption of Set; D and E the allied Osiris and Isis worshippers of the Delta and coast who helped to expel Set; and F the hawk Horus worshippers, who took the lead in driving out B and C by alliance with A, D and E.
Earliest Promise of Greatness
DYNASTICRACE. The most essential difference between the prehistoric and the dynastic people is in their artistic capacity. The earlier peoples, though highly skilled in mechanical detail and handling, were yet very crude in their copying of any natural forms. But as soon as we reach the dynastic race we find that there is an artistic sense and power in their work, which puts even the roughest of it far above all that had gone before. The earliest examplesof their sculpture appear to be the colossal figures of the god Min, found at Koptos. These are of the most primitive style possible, the limbs scarcely marked off from the trunk, and no details of form attempted. But on the side of each there is a patch of hammer-work outlining some figures, perhaps a copy of embroideries on a skin pouch hung at the side. These are figures of a deer’s head and pteroceras shells on one, swordfish, shells, and standards of the god on another, and the same objects, together with an ostrich, elephant, hyena, and calf on the third. All are but roughly hammered round, yet the spirit and correct forms of the animals are of an entirely different order from anything that had yet appeared in Egypt. The promise of all the artistic triumphs of thousands of years to come is clearly seen in these decorations of the rudest statues known.
Mystery of Dynastic Race
The source of this dynastic race can only be inferred. Though marked off from the earlier inhabitants by their artistic taste, and by their use of hieroglyphic writing, we know so very little of the early history of any other lands near Egypt that we cannot yet trace any link to their original source. On looking in various directions, it seems at least clear that they do not belong to the southern tribes, to which they have no resemblance; nor can we suppose that the Libyans, who appear to be one with the prehistoric people, would also supply a race so different in face and in habits. The north and Syria seem barred by the earliest centres being at Abydos and Hierakonpolis in the south of Egypt, from which they conquered the north.
THE FIRST PROMISE OF THE ARTISTIC TRIUMPHS OF EGYPTThese animal figures were wrought by hammering around on the surface of the colossal statue of the god Min, found at Koptos, and show the beginning of the wonderful art of Ancient Egypt. It is the work of the earliest dynastic people, who have passed beyond the stage of making rude scratches on walls and on pottery, and have arrived, as the figures of the ox and the hyæna prove, at a real conception of the methods of sculpture.
THE FIRST PROMISE OF THE ARTISTIC TRIUMPHS OF EGYPT
These animal figures were wrought by hammering around on the surface of the colossal statue of the god Min, found at Koptos, and show the beginning of the wonderful art of Ancient Egypt. It is the work of the earliest dynastic people, who have passed beyond the stage of making rude scratches on walls and on pottery, and have arrived, as the figures of the ox and the hyæna prove, at a real conception of the methods of sculpture.
The Way the Conquerors Came
Lastly, no source seems open except the East, the road from which joined the Nile at Koptos. It is there that the earliest statues have been found, and the decoration on those comprises the swordfish and pteroceras shell belonging to the Red Sea. Such seems to have been the road of the dynastic race into Egypt; but the origin of that race yet awaits research. There are undoubtedly some Babylonian elements in their culture, and somewhere at the south end of the Red Sea lay Punt—the “divine land” of the Egyptians. Thus we are tempted to look to some migration from Southern Arabia, whencealso may have proceeded the kindred Sumerian culture, a few centuries later. From this centre in Pūn, or Punt, it may have conquered and colonised Egypt, and then later passed on up the Red Sea to the coast of the Pœni and their later Punic colony—Phœnicia and Carthage. Such is a pleasing co-ordination, but whether we shall ever recover the evidence to prove or disprove it hangs upon the chance of the past and the activity of the future.
CONQUEST OFEGYPT. The conquest of Egypt spread down from the south to the north. The earliest centres were Abydos and Hierakonpolis. Probably Edfu was as important, or more so; but the great Ptolemaic temple there being still complete, the remains of the earliest kingdom are sealed beneath its pavements. The conquest must have been a gradual process; it is described as such in the myth, many times and in many successive places was Set defeated and repelled. And the probability is that tribal war of such a kind would only gradually transfer district after district from one holder to the next. We know how in England the conquest occupied three centuries, from the Saxon landing to the first Saxon king of all the land. So it may well have been in Egypt.
Kings Before History
We read in Manetho of ten kings of Thinis (Abydos) who ruled for 350 years before the first dynasty of kings of all Egypt. And we know, from the fragment of the Palermo Stone, that at least thirteen kings of Lower Egypt were recorded before the first dynasty. It is obvious from this, and from the probabilities of the conquest, that there were Kings of Upper Egypt before the first dynasty; and there is no reason for not accepting this statement of Manetho as being equally correct with his account of the first dynasty, which we can verify. Of the actual course of the conquest, one fragment of carved slate has preserved the record. Seven towns are represented upon it, each attacked by one animal of the standards of the allies. These towns may be tolerably identified by comparing the hieroglyphics placed within them with the names known in historic times. The upper row of four towns seem to be Mem in the Fayum, Hipponon, Pa-rehehui, and possibly Abydos; and the lower three towns were probably in the delta, though there are the uncertainties of two northern similar names.
Graves of Unknown Kings
DYNASTYO. The contemporary remains that appear to belong to this age of the Kings of Abydos (which we may call Dynasty O) are the tomb chambers and funeral objects in the royal cemetery at Abydos. The plan of that cemetery shows a sequence of each later tomb being placed next to the previous tomb, and generally a receding further back into the desert as time went on. Now, in front of the tomb of Zer, the second king of the first dynasty, there are three large tombs alike, and four lesser ones. As objects of Mena, the first king, were found here, the other tombs are presumably those of six kings before the first dynasty, by their position. The actual objects found in these tombs are all of a more archaic style than those of Mena or any later king. The tombs themselves are all lesser and simpler than those of Zer and later kings. And the names of kings found here are all without the vulture and uræus title, but with onlyneb neb, the double lordship of Egypt. The whole of the evidence, therefore, goes to show that we have six tombs of the Thinite kings before Menes.
The names of these earlier kings, so far as we trace them, are Ka, Ro, Zeser, Zar, Nar, and Sma. Of these, Nar, or Narmer, has the most important remains—part of an ebony tablet, and an alabaster jar from his tomb, and the great slate palette, a great mace head, with scene of a festival, and an ivory cylinder, from Hierakonpolis. The next in importance is Zar, or the “Scorpion King,” of whom there is a great carved mace head, and also some vases. The objects of the carvings appear to be celebrations of thesedfestival; this appears originally to have been the slaying of the king every thirty years, making him Osiris, one with the god, while his daughter was married to the new king. By the time of these carvings, it appears that the king took the place of Osiris in the ceremonials, and his successor masqueraded as the new king, and was henceforth the crown prince—the heir to the kingdom.
A FESTIVAL SCENE OVER 7,000 YEARS AGO, IN THE REIGN OF KING NARMER, 5,500 B.C.A record of the festival of Narmer, a king of Abydos, who reigned before the first dynasty of kings of all Egypt. It indicates that when the festival of his own death was celebrated, in accordance with the ancient custom of killing the king every thirty years to make him one with Osiris the god, no fewer than 120,000 captives, 400,000 oxen, and 1,422,000 goats were offered. The numerical system is here seen to be complete up to millions.
A FESTIVAL SCENE OVER 7,000 YEARS AGO, IN THE REIGN OF KING NARMER, 5,500 B.C.
A record of the festival of Narmer, a king of Abydos, who reigned before the first dynasty of kings of all Egypt. It indicates that when the festival of his own death was celebrated, in accordance with the ancient custom of killing the king every thirty years to make him one with Osiris the god, no fewer than 120,000 captives, 400,000 oxen, and 1,422,000 goats were offered. The numerical system is here seen to be complete up to millions.
Planting and Building
There were brought to the festival of Narmer 120,000 captives, 400,000 oxen, 1,422,000 goats; and the system of numeration was as complete before Menesas it was in any later time. The other mace head of King Zar shows part of the festival, and also the ceremony of the king hoeing the bank of a canal, probably at the inundation. We see the reclamation of the land, with men busy embanking the canals, and cultivating a palm tree in an enclosure of reeds, while they lived in reed huts with plaited dome tops, and used boats with a very high, upright stem. The carved slate palette of Narmer shows him grasping the chief of the Fayum, prepared to smite him, a scene which was repeated for five thousand years in all the Egyptian triumphs. The metal water-pot and sandals are carried behind the king by his body servant. On the other side of the palette is the king going to a triumphal ceremony, preceded by the scribe,thet, and four men of different types bearing the standards of the army, possibly connected with the four territorial divisions of the army found under Ramessu II. Before them lie ten slain enemies, with their heads cut off and put between their legs. The carving of the detail, and particularly the muscular anatomy of the king’s figure, is extraordinarily fine and firm, and as true as any work of later time.
WRITTENHISTORY. Having now dealt with the history as drawn from the remains which have come to light, we now enter from this point on the continuous written history, which has come down from hand to hand without a break to our own times, during over seven thousand years. This history was compiled by the high-priest and scribe Manetho of Sebennytos in the Delta, and only a fragment of his work has been preserved on its full scale; but three later writers have given epitomes of it, and it is on their lists that we have to depend. These are Julius Africanus (221A.D.), Eusebius (326A.D.), and George the Syncellus (792A.D.).
The Men Who Handed Down the StoryAn Ancient Historian and His Figures
Unfortunately, much confusion has been caused by scholars not being content to accept Manetho as being substantially correct in the main, though with many small corruptions and errors. Nearly every historian has made large and arbitrary assumptions and changes, with a view to reducing the length of time stated. But recent discoveries seem to prove that we must accept the lists ashaving been correct, however they may have suffered in detail. A favourite supposition has been that the dynasties named were arbitrary divisions of later times; but the earlier lists also show such divisions as far back as the eighteenth dynasty, and kings founding a dynasty used to copy the titles of the founder of the previous dynasty, showing that the change was recognised at the time.
Another idea has been that the dynasties were contemporary. But, on the contrary, in the overlapping of the tenth and eleventh and also the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth dynasties, we can trace that Manetho was very careful to cut off from one dynasty all the time which he allows to another. As regards the general character of the whole length of time, we can show that Manetho’s version in 271B.C.at Sebennytos was the same as that given to Herodotus two hundred years earlier at Memphis. Herodotus was told that from Menes to his time were 330 kings, and the totals of Manetho are 192 + 96 + 50 to Artaxerxes = 338, so that, in spite of corruption in detail, the totals seem to have been correctly maintained.
In earlier times we can compare Manetho with the fragments of the Turin papyrus, written in the eighteenth dynasty; and here, in one of the most disputable points—the kings of the thirteenth dynasty—the average of eleven reigns legible in the papyrus is 6½ years, and Manetho states sixty kings in 453 years, or 7½ years’ average. The general character of a great number of short reigns in this age is quite supported. Then in the eighteenth dynasty there is a rising of Sirius in the movable calendar, in the twelfth dynasty another rising of Sirius, and some seasonal dates, and in the sixth dynasty are two seasonal dates. [Owing to the ignoring of leap year, the Egyptian months shifted round the seasons in 1,460 years; hence any seasonal date can only recur once in 1,460 years, and fixes an absolute date in that cycle.] All of these agree with Manetho; and though the seasonal dates are vague, they at least show that there is not an error of several centuries in the total. In the earliest times there is the account of the first dynasty, the names and succession of which are verified by the sculptured lists in the nineteenth dynasty and by the actual graves of the kings. Every accurate test that we can apply shows the general trustworthiness of Manetho, apart from minor corruptions.
THE EARLIEST DETAILED SCULPTUREThis carved slate palette of King Narmer shows him grasping the chief of the Fayum, prepared to smite him, a scene which was repeated for five thousand years in all the Egyptian triumphs. The sculpture shows anatomical treatment for the first time in art.
THE EARLIEST DETAILED SCULPTURE
This carved slate palette of King Narmer shows him grasping the chief of the Fayum, prepared to smite him, a scene which was repeated for five thousand years in all the Egyptian triumphs. The sculpture shows anatomical treatment for the first time in art.
Material for History of Early Times
It is naturally a question what sort of material existed for an accurate history of the early times. The fragment of annals known as the Palermo Stone was engraved in the fifth dynasty, and it recorded the principal events of all the years back to the beginning of the kingdom, a thousand years before, the height of the Nile for every year, the length of every king’s reign and of interregnum to the exact days. With such a record of the most remote times carefully maintained we have every reason to suppose that the high-priests and sacred scribes had adequate information as to the general course of their history. And we can see by the Turin papyrus how in the eighteenth dynasty there was a full historical list of all the kings, with their length of reigns, dynasties, and summations of numbers and years at each of the large divisions. Thus it is proved that there were historians at various periods who compiled and editedthe history, and so provided a solid groundwork for later writers, such as Manetho.
A RECORD OF EVENTS IN 4750 B.C.A part of early annals known as the Palermo Stone. Each compartment contains the events of one year, with the height of the Nile in cubits stated below it. The lower right division records: “Building of a ship 170 feet long, and of 60 ships 100 feet long. Conquest of negroes, bringing 4,000 men, 3,000 women, and 200,000 cattle. Building a wall of the palaces of King Sneferu. Bringing 40 ships of cedar (from Syria).” The left division reads: “Making 35 hunting lodges and 122 tanks for cattle. Building a ship of cedar 170 feet long, and two other ships of 170 feet. 7th census of cattle.”
A RECORD OF EVENTS IN 4750 B.C.
A part of early annals known as the Palermo Stone. Each compartment contains the events of one year, with the height of the Nile in cubits stated below it. The lower right division records: “Building of a ship 170 feet long, and of 60 ships 100 feet long. Conquest of negroes, bringing 4,000 men, 3,000 women, and 200,000 cattle. Building a wall of the palaces of King Sneferu. Bringing 40 ships of cedar (from Syria).” The left division reads: “Making 35 hunting lodges and 122 tanks for cattle. Building a ship of cedar 170 feet long, and two other ships of 170 feet. 7th census of cattle.”
The Witness to Early Civilisation
The materials that we have for studying the civilisation of the early dynasties are the royal tombs and steles, the tablets of the annals, the sealings of officials, the inscribed stone bowls, glazed pottery, ivory, and wood, the rock steles of Sinai, fragments of buildings of the second dynasty and onward, the steles of private persons and their graves.
In the Kings’ Tombs
ROYALTOMBS. The tombs show that brickwork was familiar on a large scale. The prehistoric houses and tomb chambers were by no means slight. The town at Naqada has house-walls about two feet thick, and a town wall nearly eight feet thick. The brick-lined tombs are sometimes as large as 8 ft. by 12 ft. The kings’ tombs of Dynasty O are about 10 ft. by 20 ft. Those of Narmer, Sma, and Mena are about 17 ft. by 26 ft., with walls 5 ft. to 7 ft. thick. Under Zer there is a great extension; the brick pit is 39 ft. by 43 ft.; it contained a wooden chamber 28 ft. by 34 ft., and it was surrounded by many rows of graves—318 in all. The later tombs of the first dynasty are less imposing. At the end of the second dynasty the tomb of Khasekhemui consisted of fifty-eight chambers covering a ground 223 ft. long and 40 ft. wide. The sizes of bricks were between 9 in. and 10 in. long, half as wide, and under 3 in. thick, in the prehistoric and through the first and second dynasties. Wood was used on a large scale. The royal tombs show beams for framing of about 10 in. wide and 7 in. deep, and 18 ft. or 20 ft. long, and these beams supported chamber sides and floors formed of planks 2 in. or 3 in. thick. The roof was made of similar beams, covered with boards and mats, which sustained 3 ft. or 4 ft. of sand laid over the tomb. Such was an extension of the roofs of poles and brushwood which were laid over the prehistoric tombs, and over the lesser tombs of the officials of the early kings. The sign for royal architect in the earliest inscriptions is that of a carpenter, the “two-axe man.”
The stone steles were of limestone in the first dynasty, and in the end of the first dynasty the steles of Oa are of black quartzose stone. Those of Perabsen in the second dynasty are of very tough syenite. The carving of all these is in high relief, finely and boldly cut in a simple, clear style. At the end of the second dynasty a stone-built chamber appears for the first time; the blocks have naturally cloven surfaces so far as possible, and the rest of the faces are dressed with a flint adze. Of the same reign of Khasekhemui there is a granite door-jamb with signs in high relief. Granite had already been wrought flat for pavements in the previous dynasty, at the tomb of Den.
Egypt’s Annual RecordThe Honour that Kings Died for
TABLETS OFANNALS. The greater part of the inscriptions of this age are on small square tablets of ebony and of ivory, which were found in the royal tombs. These each have a hole in the top corner, and the sign of a year—the palm stick—down the side, as there is by the side of the entries of the events of each year on the early annals. They thus appear to be each the record of a year, and to have been strung together by the corner holes. There has not yet been any authoritative study of the meaning of these earliest inscriptions, which are very difficult to understand, owing to the transitory condition of ideographs having not yet yielded to syllabicusage. We can, however, glean many points about the civilisation from them. The towns were fortified with battlemented walls. The shrines were small sanctuaries, with a large court in front, like the temple courts of later times. At the entrance to the court were two tall poles, apparently with flags, which later developed into the row of masts with streamers in front of the pylon. The great festival at the close of each thirty years was one of the most important, already noticed here under Narmer. The sanctuary for it had two shrines back to back, each with a flight of steps, apparently for Upper and Lower Egypt. The dancing of the new king, or the crown prince as king, before the old Osirified king in the shrine, was one of the main events of the feast. The types of temple furniture were already fixed in the forms which lasted for several thousand years; the barks of Harakhti are shown with the same hangings at the prow, and are double—for the E. and W.—as in the temple of Sety I. Large bowls of electrum were offered in the temples by the king. Wild cattle were hunted by trap nets, as was done much later in Greece. And there is shown a long road, with resthouses and palm-trees, leading up to the great temple in the reign of King Zer.
A RECORD OF A YEAR’S EVENTS: EBONY TABLET OF KING MENA, 5500 B.C.The greater part of the inscriptions of the first dynasty are on small square tablets of ebony and of ivory. These each have a hole in the top corner, and the sign of a year—the palm stick—down the side. They thus appear to be each the record of a year, and to have been strung together by the corner holes. They were found scattered in the tombs.
A RECORD OF A YEAR’S EVENTS: EBONY TABLET OF KING MENA, 5500 B.C.
The greater part of the inscriptions of the first dynasty are on small square tablets of ebony and of ivory. These each have a hole in the top corner, and the sign of a year—the palm stick—down the side. They thus appear to be each the record of a year, and to have been strung together by the corner holes. They were found scattered in the tombs.
Officers of the Empire
SEALINGS. The clay sealings of officials show much of the organisation of the country. The oldest titles, under Zer, are the “Commander of the Inundation” and “Commander of the Cattle.” In the reign of Zet we find a “Commander of the Elders” and “Archon,” or chief of the city; also the temple property, or “Inheritance of the Chief God,” is named. Under Merneit and Den there is a prince (ha). The vizier was “Commander of the Centre,” probably the major domo of the Court, and also “Over-head of the Commanders.” There are further named a “Royal Sealer of the Vat of Neit,” the “winepress of the north,” and a “Deputy of the Treasury.” In later reigns there is an “Over-head” of a city. And under the second dynasty the titles are “Royal Sealer of all Deeds,” “Scribe of Accounts of Provisions,” “Sealer of Northern Tribute,”“Collector of Lotus Seed,” and “Chief Man Under the King.” These titles are from but a very small part of the bureaucracy, only those whose seals were affixed to the royal provision which was placed in the tomb; but they suffice to show the regular organisation of the government at that age.
THE SEAL OF AN EGYPTIAN OFFICIALMuch exact knowledge of the life of ancient Egypt is derived from the clay seals of high officials. The oldest known titles are those of “Commander of the Inundation.” The seal here is that of the “Southern Sealer of all Documents of King Sekhem-ab,” 5100 B.C.
THE SEAL OF AN EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL
Much exact knowledge of the life of ancient Egypt is derived from the clay seals of high officials. The oldest known titles are those of “Commander of the Inundation.” The seal here is that of the “Southern Sealer of all Documents of King Sekhem-ab,” 5100 B.C.
STONEVASES. The stone vases for the royal palaces were cut in many kinds of hard rock. The rarer kinds are rock crystal, serpentine, and basalt; limestones, porphyry and syenite were more usual; and the commonest materials were metamorphic rocks formed from volcanic ash verging into slate, dolomite, marble, and alabaster. These materials were mostly selected for their beauty. The red porphyry is the rarest, being only known in a bowl of the time of Mena, and two prehistoric pieces. Black porphyry with very large detached white crystals belongs only to the age of Mena. Pink granite, blue-grey volcanic ash, the quartz crystal, and the pink limestones are all very beautiful materials. The hardness does not seem to have been aught but an attraction, as the finest work is always put on the best materials; whereas the soft alabaster and slate did not seem to challenge any great amount of care. The working of the inside was always done by grinding with blocks, sometimes having first removed the axis by a tube drill hole. The outside was dressed by chipping, hammer-dressing, and hand polishing; sometimes done by circular motion on a block, but often by crossing work by hand. The readiness with which oval forms were made shows how little depended on circular motion.
TOMBS OF KING ZER OF THE FIRST DYNASTY, 5400 B.C.Brickwork was common in the houses and tomb-chambers of the prehistoric period, and in the time of the kings of Abydos the building of the tombs was greatly extended. Here are seen the brick partitions to contain offerings, around a wooden chamber now destroyed. Beyond this all round were 318 graves of the royal servants.
TOMBS OF KING ZER OF THE FIRST DYNASTY, 5400 B.C.
Brickwork was common in the houses and tomb-chambers of the prehistoric period, and in the time of the kings of Abydos the building of the tombs was greatly extended. Here are seen the brick partitions to contain offerings, around a wooden chamber now destroyed. Beyond this all round were 318 graves of the royal servants.
Two-Colour Glazing
The use of glazing had been already invented early in the prehistoric age, as far back asS.D. 31; but it was only applied to beads and small amulets. The earliest glazed pottery vase known is of Mena, and this has his name in violet glaze inlaid in the green glazed body. Glazed vases continued to be made throughout the first and second dynasties, but became rarer, and they have not been found revived till much later times. But ivory and wood were largely used for carved objects, sometimes of elaborate design. One of the most distinguishing points of the age of the early kings was the minute carving in imitation of leafage and basket-work, which was mainly done in slate, but also in wood. The fragments which remain show most elaborate patterns worked out with minute attention to detail. Nothing of the same kind is known in any other age.
Remains of the Oldest Sculpture
MONUMENTS. There are but few monumental remains from these early dynasties. The great rock-cut scene of Semerkhet conquering a Bedawy chief in Sinai is the main example. The figures are only summarily cut in the natural face of the sandstone; but the truth of the outline is better than in any of the more pretentious work of later times in that region. The scene of Sanekht—early third dynasty—is much poorer, and that of his successor, Zeser, is scarcely legible, the work is so rude and slight. The private tablets which were put over the graves around the royal tombs show that the fine work was limited to a small number of royal artists in the first dynasty, and that there was no general school of able men such as arose in later times. The figures and hieroglyphics are rudely hammered out, and the drawing is but clumsy. There is seldom more than just the name of the deceased. By the time of Den many are distinguished as theAkhu-ka, the “glorious soul”; while there is also a class apparently named “people of King Setui, daughter of the captive”—i.e., slaves born of captives taken in his wars.
THE EARLIEST SCULPTUREThere are but few monumental remains from the early dynasties. The great rock-cut scene of Semerkhet, of which this shows a part, is the main example. The figures are only summarily cut in the natural face of the sandstone; but the truth of the outline is better than in any of the more pretentious work of later times in the same region.
THE EARLIEST SCULPTURE
There are but few monumental remains from the early dynasties. The great rock-cut scene of Semerkhet, of which this shows a part, is the main example. The figures are only summarily cut in the natural face of the sandstone; but the truth of the outline is better than in any of the more pretentious work of later times in the same region.
It appears that the use of fine materials was at its height under Mena and Zer. Zer has the largest and best-built tomb, Zet shows the greatest delicacy in work, and Den seems to have had the most showy objects. The changes in about five generations here were much like those in an equal time from Amenhotep I. to III. in the eighteenth dynasty. Then decay markedly set in, and there was no revival until the Pyramid kings. But some development in the use of materials went on; and Zeser, of the third dynasty, is said to have built a stone palace; while Khasekhemui, a generation earlier, had a limestone chamber for his tomb, and carved granite for the door-jambs of his temple, at about 4950B.C.These instances are the earliest use of stone for construction that are yet known; though as early as the middle of the first dynasty King Den had a pavement of red granite in part of his tomb.
Age of the Pyramid Builders
PYRAMIDBUILDING. We now approach to the well-known age of the pyramid builders, when the civilisation appears at its highest development in most respects. We shall not deal with this in detail, as it falls into the ordinary historical period which appears elsewhere in this work [see Egypt]. But it may be useful to give the most essential facts of the material civilisation, which may otherwise be lost sight of in the mass of the history.
In stonework the accuracy reached its highest point in the fourth dynasty, when the Pyramid of Khufu was constructed with an average error of less than 1 in 15,000 of length, and even less in angle. The later work fell off from this accuracy; but in the twelfth dynasty the granite sarcophagus of Senusret II. was wrought with an average error in straightness and parallelism of under seven-thousandths of an inch, and an error of proportions between different parts of less than three-hundredths of an inch. There was no attempt to reach this high degree of accuracy in the later work. In sculpture the main character of the work of the Pyramid kings is its dignity and grandeur, representing individualism on the highest plane of abstraction.
THE BUILDING OF THE PYRAMIDS IN THE ZENITH OF EGYPTIAN CIVILISATIONThe age of the Pyramid builders may be regarded as the height of Egyptian civilisation. The greatest accuracy in stonework was reached during the fourth dynasty, when the Pyramid of Cheops, or Khufu, was constructed with an average error of less than 1 in 15,000 of length, and of even less in angle. In the twelfth dynasty the granite sarcophagus of Senusret II. was wrought with an average error in straightness and parallelism of under seven-thousandths of an inch.LARGER IMAGE
THE BUILDING OF THE PYRAMIDS IN THE ZENITH OF EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION
The age of the Pyramid builders may be regarded as the height of Egyptian civilisation. The greatest accuracy in stonework was reached during the fourth dynasty, when the Pyramid of Cheops, or Khufu, was constructed with an average error of less than 1 in 15,000 of length, and of even less in angle. In the twelfth dynasty the granite sarcophagus of Senusret II. was wrought with an average error in straightness and parallelism of under seven-thousandths of an inch.
LARGER IMAGE
The Great Navy of Egypt
Under the twelfth dynasty the personality is weaker and the style that of a formal school, highly trained but dependent upon training. In the eighteenth dynasty the vivacity of expression is directed to a purely personal appeal,more of emotion than of character. After that there is nothing but copying, good or bad. The growth of shipping at the early date of Sneferu, the end of the third dynasty, is surprising; and the record that we happen to have shows how much probably went on at other times, there being built, in one year sixty ships of 100 ft. long, in the next year two of 170 ft. long.
METALS. The use of copper is as remote as the beginning of the continuous civilisation in the prehistoric age, about 8000 B.C. It increased in quantity down to the eighteenth dynasty, and it was hardened by using arsenical copper ores, and leaving oxide in it; this, with hammering made it equal to soft steel for working purposes. Rare instances of tin, probably derived from natural mixture in the ore, are known from the third dynasty; but there was no regular use of it until we find pure tin, also known about 1500B.C.Thence bronze was the main material until Roman times. Iron had been sporadically found in the fourth, sixth, twelfth, and other dynasties, and was known for about 4,000 years before it came into general use in Greek times. This agrees with its having been obtained from native masses rarely discovered, as has been the case in North and South America. Such native iron is the result of volcanic action on iron ore in contact with carboniferous strata. All these conditions exist in Sinai, and hence native iron might be found there. By about 800B.C.iron was used for knives, but with a handle of bronze cast upon it to save the rarer metal. The iron tools in Egypt from the seventh to fifth centuryB.C.are all Assyrian or Greek, and it is not till Ptolemaic or Roman times that bronze tools disappear.
TOOLS OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANSThe plain strip of copper used for an adze in the early prehistoric age became in historic times widened at the edge, and had a slight contraction at the top; but the straight strip was kept up for 7,000 years without any attempt at a haft, simply lashed on to a bent handle. It is not till about 800 B.C. that any use of a haft occurs in Egypt, and then only for a hoe. The different dynasties are indicated in the examples here given.
TOOLS OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
The plain strip of copper used for an adze in the early prehistoric age became in historic times widened at the edge, and had a slight contraction at the top; but the straight strip was kept up for 7,000 years without any attempt at a haft, simply lashed on to a bent handle. It is not till about 800 B.C. that any use of a haft occurs in Egypt, and then only for a hoe. The different dynasties are indicated in the examples here given.
Oldest Rock Drills
The forms of tools varied very little. The plain strip of copper, which was used for an adze in the early prehistoric age, became in historic times widened at the edge, and had a slight contraction at the top to assist in binding it on; but the straight strip was kept up for 7,000 years without any attempt at a haft, simply lashed on to a bent handle. It is not till about 800B.C., or later, that any use of a haft occurs in Egypt, and then only for a hoe; while in Babylonia axes cast with a strong haft were used before 3000B.C.Nor was a haft used for a hammer—a smooth stone in the hand was the only beating tool; while for striking tools a wooden mallet was used, cut out of a block. The axe began as a plain rectangle of copper, sharp on one edge; projections at the back were added, until they were half as long as the breadth of the axe, but no haft was attempted. The saw was used before the pyramid period; and also the saw and tube drill set with hard stones for cutting granite. Drills for boring vases were usually blocks of stone fed with sand and water, or probably emery for cutting the harder stones. Socketted chisels were an Italian invention in the later Bronze Age, about 900B.C., and were copied by the Greeks, in iron, about 500B.C.; but they were never used except under Greek influence in Egypt. Shears are also Western, and were unknown till Greek times in Egypt.
ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST MONUMENTS: THE GREAT STEP PYRAMID AT SAKKARAThis pyramid was built by King Neterkhet of the third dynasty, about 4900 B.C.LARGER IMAGE
ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST MONUMENTS: THE GREAT STEP PYRAMID AT SAKKARA
This pyramid was built by King Neterkhet of the third dynasty, about 4900 B.C.
LARGER IMAGE
THE BEGINNING OF THE ALPHABETThe signary which was used in various early ages is here shown, as it has been gathered from examples of over 100 signs found in Egypt. Closely related to these are the early alphabets of Karia and Spain, the latter alphabet containing over 30 signs. It is from this prehistoric signary that the present Roman alphabet has been gradually selected during past ages.LARGER IMAGE
THE BEGINNING OF THE ALPHABET
The signary which was used in various early ages is here shown, as it has been gathered from examples of over 100 signs found in Egypt. Closely related to these are the early alphabets of Karia and Spain, the latter alphabet containing over 30 signs. It is from this prehistoric signary that the present Roman alphabet has been gradually selected during past ages.
LARGER IMAGE
GLAZING ANDGLASS. The very ancient art of glazing, already used in two colours under Mena, did not take any new form till the eighteenth dynasty, when it was greatly varied by new colours and new applications. Large objects, five feet high, were covered with a single fusing of glaze; minute ornaments, for stitching on garments, blazed with the brightest red, green, blue, or yellow; while whole inscriptions were executed in coloured glaze hieroglyphs, inlaid in the white stone walls. Glass, however, was not made separately until about the time of Tahutmes III., 1500B.C.There is no earlier example of true glass, nor any representation of working glass. All the truly Egyptian glass was wrought pasty, and never blown.
Blown vases belong entirely to the Roman age and later times. The large blown glass lamps of Arab age, covered with fusible enamel designs, are highly skilled pieces of work. The uses of glass to the Egyptian were mainly for beads, for coloured inlays in wood of shrines or coffins, and for variegated glass vases. The beads were made by winding a thread of glass on a wire; the vases, likewise, were made by modelling on an infusible core, held on a mandrel, and winding coloured glass threads on the body. The inlays were often of one colour, generally deep blue imitating lazuli; but often mosaics were used, made of a bundle of glass threads fused together, drawn out, and then cut off in slices. Such are all of Greek or Roman age. An important use of glass in Roman and Arab times was for weights, and for stamps impressed on glass bottle measures, inscribed with the names of the ruler and the maker.
Taste of the Times
Lastly we may note the variations in the nature of the Egyptian literature, as reflecting the civilisation. The earliest tales are those of magical powers, belonging to the pyramid age. Next, in the Middle Kingdom, comes the contrast between town and country, and the tales of adventure in foreign lands. In the New Kingdom the contrasts of character are the main interest, and, in the late tales, the pseudo-historical romance of the great tournament of the Delta, or the antiquarian interests of a priest. These subjects of romance varied as much or more than the actual grammar and language.
THE WANDERERS OF THE DESERT, AMONG WHOM EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION GREW UPLARGER IMAGE
THE WANDERERS OF THE DESERT, AMONG WHOM EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION GREW UP
LARGER IMAGE
PYRAMID OF MEIDUM: BUILT BY SENEFERU, LAST KING OF THE THIRD DYNASTYThis tomb was begun as a square block of masonry, and was enlarged by successive coats, which are here seen. Then one smooth coating of sloping blocks was put over all from bottom to top, and so the first real pyramid appeared in 4700 B.C. The pyramid coating has been destroyed and only the base remains under the rubbish mounds.
PYRAMID OF MEIDUM: BUILT BY SENEFERU, LAST KING OF THE THIRD DYNASTY
This tomb was begun as a square block of masonry, and was enlarged by successive coats, which are here seen. Then one smooth coating of sloping blocks was put over all from bottom to top, and so the first real pyramid appeared in 4700 B.C. The pyramid coating has been destroyed and only the base remains under the rubbish mounds.
ALPHABET. One subject of great European interest should be noted here, as Egypt has thrown much light upon it. The origin of the alphabets of the Mediterranean has been disputed, without historical knowledge of the examples of such signs in early ages. The Egyptian hieratic and the archaic Babylonian signs may have, perhaps, added a few to the Mediterranean signary, but neither source can at all account for it. The alphabet is by no means a clean cut series of 22 signs; it is a very complex tangle of parallel groups of signs in different lands, more or less alike. Of these groups two of thelargest are those of Karia and Spain, comprising over 30 signs, and these have many points of peculiarity in common. This is sufficient to show that the fuller alphabet is the original form, from which the shorter lists have been selected. Now, in Egypt there are found scratched on pottery and woodwork over 100 signs, and these comprise the forms of the fuller alphabet. Moreover, these Egyptian examples are found at about 1200B.C., or only a few centuries before the Karian and Spanish alphabets, again in 3000B.C., in 5500B.C., and before 7000B.C.Of 41 alphabetic signs, 19 occur in 1200–1400B.C., 32 in 3000B.C., 27 in 5500B.C., and 31 in 7000B.C.As we have not a very large amount of material, the occurrence of from 19 to 32 out of 41 signs is as much as we could expect, as all the 41 occur in one period or another. The early date of these puts all derivation from the subsequent hieroglyphics entirely out of the question. We can as yet only say that a large signary of 40 or more linear forms was in continuous use from before 7000B.C.downwards, and that these furnish all the forms of the fuller alphabets, those of the short Phœnician and Greek list of later time.
We have now outlined the rise of civilisation in Egypt, apart from the history of the country, which is dealt with separately; and we turn to the other great valley of early civilisation, in Mesopotamia, to compare the resemblances and the differences between the two lands.
W. M. FLINDERSPETRIE
NOTABLE DATES OF ANCIENT CIVILISATION
EGYPT
BABYLONIA
B.C.
B.C.
8000
Continuous civilisation of prehistoric age began
S.D.30
Before
7000
Asiatic invasion
S.D.40
6000
Susa founded
5800
Invasion of dynastic race
5500
Mena rules all Egypt
S.D.80
5000
Ea founds Eridu and civilises the land
4700
Khufu builds Great Pyramid
4700
Earliest monuments of Kings
4500
Urnina
4000
Invasion from north
3800
Sargon and Naramsin, Semitic rule
3400
Middle Kingdom, twelfth dynasty
3300
Gudea
2500
Hyksos invasion, fifteenth dynasty
2250
Second Hyksos movement
2280
Elamites conquer Babylonia
2129
Hammurabi
1580
New Kingdom, eighteenth dynasty
1572
Kassite dynasty
1380
Tell el Amarna letters
1380
Burnaburiash
701
Taharqa (Tirhakah)
690
Sennacherib
570–26
Aahmes (Amasis)
556–38
Nabonaid, fall of Babylon