7/27/2019 Petrie 1899_On Our Present Knowledge of the Early Egyptians

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/petrie-1899on-our-present-knowledge-of-the-early-egyptians 1/3

On Our Present Knowledge of the Early Egyptians

Author(s): W. Flinders PetrieReviewed work(s):Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 28,No. 3/4 (1899), pp. 202-203Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842869 .

Accessed: 08/02/2013 05:38

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of 

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve

and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Fri, 8 Feb 2013 05:38:40 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

7/27/2019 Petrie 1899_On Our Present Knowledge of the Early Egyptians

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/petrie-1899on-our-present-knowledge-of-the-early-egyptians 2/3

( 202 )

ON OUR PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE EARLY EGYPTIANS.

BY PROFESSOR . FLINDERSETRIE, .C.L., LL.D., F.S.A.

IN this communicationhe authorgavea summaryf the principal iscoveries

during he ast fiveyears,which adrevealed heriseofEgyptian ivilisation. thad been aid that he beginningf the fourth ggyptianynasty-the geof the

Pyranmids,bout 4000 B.C.-Was the furthestate to which we couldgo. Thepuzzlewas that there hadbeenno trace of the origin f thishigh civilisation.But now entirely ew discoveries uring he last fiveyearsat Koptos,Nagada,Abydos, nd Hieraconpolis,ad discovered emains elongilng,o the ages before4000 B.C.,whichhadhithertoeeui hestarting oint fknowlnistory.

BeginiingwvithheLibyan tock,with omeNegro dmixture, hich ccupiedEgyptduringtsearliest haseof civilisation,rofessor etrie exhibitedllustra-

tions fsomlleftheobjectshe had found t Nagada-including tatuettes,aines,slate palettes or rindingaint, eautifuillyibbed lint nlives f extreme elicacy,forkedances ndarrows,arved poons f vory ndbone,harpoons,racelets,ndcombs. These were at first emporarilyssigned o a new race, as we knewnothingmore boutthem; but furtheresearch ad shown hat they ouldnowbe safely ssigned o thepre-dynastictock bout5000B.C., and evenearlier. Inthegraves fthisaboriginal ace therewerefound ertaini owlsof black claywithpatternsmprintedIpolnhem. Thesewere fmuch mportancendiscussingtherelationfthiscivilisation o that of others n the Mediterraneanrea. In

each of the countrieswhere hishad been found-in Spain,Bosnia, gypt, ndHissarlik-itwascontemporaryith he ntroductionfnmetals.Metalshad ustbeen introduced,nd thereforen all cases thispottery as associatedwith thesanmetateof civilisation.The proximate ate of this was the close of theNeolithic eriod nd the ntroductionfmetals-viz., 000B.c.-and that ccordedverywell withthe time necessary or rriviingt the highcuilturettainied y1500 B.c. These discoverieswere consequently f much value in revealing herelative tate of Egyptian ivilisatioli o that of the rest of the worldat theintroductionf

dynasticule. Therewas a wide difference

etweenhepeople of

5000 B.C.and those of 4000 B.C.,but no differenceetweenthose of the latterperiod nd Egyptiansf Romanage. This showed hata differentace elnteredthecountryetween 000 and5000B.C.

Thenfollowedhedynasticemains f thepresumed omb f King Mena, hefounderfthedynastic istory,fabout he dateof 700B.C.,and then heremains

This content downloaded on Fri, 8 Feb 2013 05:38:40 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

7/27/2019 Petrie 1899_On Our Present Knowledge of the Early Egyptians

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/petrie-1899on-our-present-knowledge-of-the-early-egyptians 3/3

PROF. W. FLINDERS PETIuIE.-On ou6rPresent Knowledge of the aqly Egyptians. 203

of other royal tombs found at Abydos belongiing to the firstthree dynasties. The

skill of flint wolkilng had undoubtedly gone down and was fast dying oult. There

was a gradual decay of flinltworking between 4500 B.C. aind 1500 B.C., as mlletalscame

into use aind copper was gradually hardened into bronze. Professor Petrie showed

diagrams of cylindrical seals as used by the kilngs of the first three dynasties, and

impressions of sulch cylinders, which were vastly more frequently foulnd thani the

seals thelmiselves. He then exlhibited represelntations of tablets and slates, bearing

figures of animiials aiicl birds, such as the hawk, buill, lioln, and leopard, which

manifested a well-acquirecd knowledge of these animals, as well as of the ibex,

gazelle, and antelope. Large numnbers of animiials, such as the calf, molnkey, and

dog, had been found miodelled in green clay, together with a model of a lion in

red pottery. These finds were very important, as they showed the skill of clay

modelling of the earliest dynasty, the rise of the alt of modelling, and the

Egyptian ideas and appreciation of the formisof animiials all( of the hulmlan body.

These iniportant nionuinienits of the civil life of the early kiiigs proved that glazinlg

was a speciality of the ori(rinal people, and that Egyptian art reached its Iiigh-

water mllark somiiewhere abOUt B.C. 4000. Slate tablets and miiace-heads showed the

kings in triumpli over their enemies, receiving, captive kings, opening the public

works, or reclaiming the miiarshes. Other vessels had dedicatioDs wvritten upon

them. Tlhe lianidled coppel vessels showed the most advalceed ietal wvorkfouiid

of the first thlreedyniasties.Tlhe populatioli of the pire-dyniasticage differed in. type froiii that of histolical

timiies, nd in the early iiionullnents the presence of diverse types was very clear,

some beiing slhaven, sonie bearded, sonmelong-haired. We lhad at lhst before us

evideince of the close of tlheperiod previously considered pre-llistoric, slhowing the

developnmenit f the art, writing, and civilisatioln of Egypt and the compositionl of

a race wlhich hiad since mnaintained its character dturing, ,000 years. The puzzle

was lhowthis civilisatioli arose, aiid we h-ad dmi.coveredevidenice to solve this puzzle.

Egypt was theni aii originator in the arts aind liot a borrower, but ever since then

most of the niationis of the ea.trth lhad been borrowers anid niot originators. Here we

were studying the hiistory of a coutnltry, not borrowinga but clevelopinig a vast anid

comiplex civilisatioln fronm ts owli resources.

This content downloaded on Fri, 8 Feb 2013 05:38:40 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions