History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria in the Light of Recent DiscoveryKing, L. W. (Leonard William)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria in the Light of Recent Discovery
King, L. W. (Leonard William)
Egypt -- History -- To 332 B.C.; History, Ancient
The error of the British explorers was at once admitted by Mr. Quibell,
in his volume on the excavations of 1897 at el-Kab, published in
1898.[4] Mr. Quibell at once found full and adequate confirmation of M.
de Morgan’s discovery in his diggings at el-Kab. Prof. Petrie admitted
the correctness of M. de Morgan’s views in the preface to his volume
Diospolis Parva, published three years later in 1901.[5] The preface to
the first volume of M. de Morgan’s book contained a generous
recognition of the method and general accuracy of Prof. Petrie’s
excavations, which contrasted favourably, according to M. de Morgan,
with the excavations of others, generally carried on without scientific
control, and with the sole aim of obtaining antiquities or literary
texts.[6] That M. de Morgan’s own work was carried out as
scientifically and as carefully is evident from the fact that his
conclusions as to the chronological position of the prehistoric
antiquities have been shown to be correct. To describe M. de Morgan’s
discovery as a “happy guess,” as has been done, is therefore beside the
mark.
[4] El-Kab. Egyptian Research Account, 1897, p. 11.
[5] Diospolis Parva. Egypt Exploration Fund, 1901, p. 2.
[6] Recherches: Age de la Pierre, p. xiii.
Another most important British excavation was that carried on by
Messrs. Randall-Maclver and Wilkin at el-’Amra. The imposing lion-headed
promontory of el-’Amra stands out into the plain on the west bank of the
Nile about five miles south of Abydos. At the foot of this hill M. de
Morgan found a very extensive prehistoric necropolis, which he examined,
but did not excavate to any great extent, and the work of thoroughly
excavating it was performed by Messrs. Randall-MacIver and Wilkin for
the Egypt Exploration Fund. The results have thrown very great light
upon the prehistoric culture of Egypt, and burials of all prehistoric
types, some of them previously unobserved, were found. Among the most
interesting are burials in pots, which have also been found by Mr.
Garstang in a predynastic necropolis at Ragagna, north of Abydos. One
of the more remarkable observations made at el-’Amra was the progressive
development of the tombs from the simplest pot-burial to a small brick
chamber, the embryo of the brick tombs of the Ist Dynasty. Among the
objects recovered from this site may be mentioned a pottery model of
oxen, a box in the shape of a model hut, and a slate “palette” with what
is perhaps the oldest Egyptian hieroglyph known, a representation of the
fetish-sign of the god Min, in relief. All these are preserved in the
British Museum. The skulls of the bodies found were carefully preserved
for craniometric examination.
In 1901 an extensive prehistoric cemetery was being excavated by Messrs.
Reisner and Lythgoe at Nag’ed-Dêr, opposite Girga, and at el-Ahaiwa,
further north, another prehistoric necropolis has been excavated by
these gentlemen, working for the University of California.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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