THE TOMBS OF ABYDOS

New Zealand Mail, 29 January 1902, Page 13

THE TOMBS OF ABYDOS

Writing in “Harper’s Magazine’’ for October on the Royal Tombs at Aby. dos, Pi'ofessor Flinders-Petrie says: “A couplo of generations ago it was tho fashion to deny that anything could be certain before tho Greek historians. Then, when the mass of oon. temporary records of the earlier times compelled attention, it was grudgingly allowed that , the older history might be followed just as far as w© could prove it. But nothing was much believed in before the pyramid builders, about 4000 8.C., and waiters put down the first three dynasties as a tissue of fables of a semi.barbarous time, for which no reality or exactitude could he claimed.

To tho surprise of the sceptical world, the last two j-ears have brought to light the actual possessions of these earliest k.ngs. Name after name has been proved to be founded on fact, the successvc order of the whole of the first dy lifts ty has been proved, and. of, other kings before and after that. We now familiarly handle the royal drinking bowls of these sovereigns, once so shadowy and unreal; we know precisely all their changes of taste and of work, and deal with Mena, Zer, or Den as fluently as we do with Louia Quinzo or Louis Zeize furniture. It is tho cemetery of the Royal tombs at Abydcs, and the treasures of gold and ivory and beautiful stones which were left there, that have plac. ed us • face to face with the beginning of history. 0

| _ The oldest record of human history is the statement that ten kings reigned at Abydos in Upper Egypt during 350 years before Mena, who founded. : the united kingdom of the whole land, , and is counted as tho first king of the | first dynasty. Even of these, earliest | kings wo now have four of the tombs 1 and the objects which belonged to [ them, nearly 5000 years 8.C., and their names are given as Ka, Zeser, Narmer, and Sam. Of two of these kings monuments were found three years ago at Hierakonpolis, in Upper Egypt; but it is only now that we can appreciate their historical position. The royal tombs are nearly all built of brick, in most cases with a timber lining to the chamber, sunk in the ground, and originally roofed over with beams, matting, and sand. They lie about a mile behind the celebrated temple at Abylos, just below the desert hills . Plundered anciently, they were next elaborately destroyed by the fanaticism of the Copts, and were again ransacked for Saleable antiqui. ties about four years ago. Yet the great mass of fragments of ancient work and inscription had been thrown aside by ignorant workmen and on my searching it with a carefully trained staff of natives we succeeded in unravelling the whole history of the period, and restoring the entire view of the civilisation of five centuries in order. Tho historic results are as follow:

Prc-dynastie kings.—Ka, about 4900 8.C.; Zeser, 4870 B-C.; Narmer, 4840 8.C.; Sam, 4800 B.C. First Dynasty.—Aha—Men, 4*777 8.C.; Zer—Ta, 4715 8.C.; Zet—Ath, 4678 8.C.; Merneit, 4627 8.C.; Den —-Setui, 4604 B.C. ; Azab—Merpaba, 4584 8.C.; Mersekha—Shemsu, 4553 B.C*; Qa—Sen, 4540 B.C. Second Dynasty.—Hotepahui, 4514 8.C.; Raneb, 4476 8.C.; Neteren, 4437 8.C.; Perabsen, 4390 8.C.; Kha. sekheumi, about 4373 B.C. This history, we must remember, was as old in the days of Exodus as the Exodus is in our time.