Most of what we have been studying in this chapter comes under the head of archaeology rather than of art. Nevertheless, since it represents the gradual approach of civilisation toward the artistic conception, it is well worth attention. BOOK II PRE-CLASSIC PERIOD CHAPTER I EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION The most ancient civilisation known to us is that of Egypt, and the knowledge of it is mainly derived from its architectural remains and the sculpture, painting, and inscriptions with which they are decorated. In addition, there are the records written upon papyri, the Biblical books of Exodus, and the history of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who lived about 250 <small>B.C.</small> By this time Egypt had been subdued by Alexander the Great and had passed under the rule of the Ptolemies. So Manetho wrote in Greek, but only fragments of his work have survived, through quotations made from it by Eusebius, Josephus, and other historians. It is from all these materials that scholars have endeavoured to piece together some sort of connected history of the period covered by Manetho; the difficulty being increased by the fact that the Egyptian system of chronology reckoned by dynasties and computed the time by the years of the reigning sovereign, beginning anew with each succession. Furthermore, the inscriptions omit references to any interruptions that occurred in the sequence of the dynasties; recording only the periods of Egyptian supremacy and leaving out those in which the country suffered from the domination, short or long, of foreign conquerors. Accordingly, while Manetho names the first ruler of the First Dynasty as Menes, there is nothing but the conjecture of scholars as to the date; and the latter has been variously estimated as from 3892 to 5650 years before Christ. It will be a help at the outset to summarise the Dynasties under two heads: (A) those of Independent Egypt; (B) those of Subject Egypt. A. Dynasties of Independence. 1. I-X--THE ANCIENT EMPIRE; Capital, Memphis in Lower Egypt. Lasted about 1500 years. 2. XI-XIII--THE MIDDLE EMPIRE, or First Theban Monarchy; Capital, Thebes in Upper Egypt. Lasted about 900 years. 3. XIV-XVII--Hyksos Invaders occupy Lower Egypt; the Egyptian princes rule as vassal princes in Upper Egypt: from 400-500 years. 4. XVIII-XX--THE NEW EMPIRE or Second Theban Monarchy. The Great Epoch of Egyptian power and art. Lasted about 600 years and ended about 1000 <small>B.C.</small> B. Dynasties of Subjection. 5. XXI-XXXII--THE PERIOD OF DECADENCE under various foreign rulers; sometimes called the Saitic Period, because the first conquerors, the Libyans, made their capital at Sais. Lasted from about 1000-324 <small>B.C.</small> 6. XXXIII--THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD of Greek rule, following the Conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great; 324-31 <small>B.C.</small>