EGYPTIAN WONDERS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1935, Page 12

EGYPTIAN WONDERS

FURTHER SECRETS REVEALED. GREAT CITY 4000 YEARS AGO. Mr. Edward Armytage, entomologist, and explorer of New Guinea and the South Seas, recently returned to England from Egypt, where he has been watching the excavating of a secret city which existed 4000 years ago. In the following article he describes what is happening. ...... A city, the existence of which had not even been suspected, has been discovered in Egypt. The discovery promises to throw new light on a highly organised civilisation that existed 4000 years ago. And it may provide the key to the mystery of how the pyramids were built. The city was discovered by accident. For years Egyptian archaeologists have ignored an incompleted pyramid near the better-known pyramids. They regarded it as nothing, but a mound of debris. Then Professor Selim Hassan, the Egyptian excavator, declared that it was undoubtedly the tomb of a ruler. His opinion has been justified. Not only has the mound proved to be the tomb of a queen who reigned 4000 years ago, but close by has been unearthed the remains of a wonderful city. The city had a perfect drainage system, and other amenities which were not introduced into Europe until 200 years ago! The new pyramid has been proved to be the tomb of Queen Khent-Kawes, the first woman in known history to reign in her own right. The inscriptions revealed it beyond all doubt to be the tomb of the world’s first queen; certainly the first queen, in recorded history. She insisted on being called a king. She was spoken of as the king, and respected as such. This queen is mentioned in the tomb pyramid of King Nefer-er-ke-re of the Fifth Dynasty. . The rulers of this ancient empire believed in town-planning. Archaeologists declare it is the best-planned city they have ever seen. The streets were built to system, so that those holding positions of state lived near the queen. The main street, for instance, was occupied by the priests. The foundations of the houses, though they were laid 4000 years ago, are so sound that they could be built on again. And all the houses had bathrooms. The subjects of Queen Khent-Kawes were excellent sanitary engineers. They had no lead. Everything was cut out of granite and stone. Many streets had houses made of mud bricks. For some reason, not yet divined, all the houses of the town face north. The houses do not differ very greatly from modern ones, but some are better planned and more substantiallybuilt.

On entering the north side houses, for instance, one finds a small room about eight feet by four feet for the porter, and on the’ other side a waiting room of 18 feet by nine feet. The dining room is in the middle of the house, and is flanked by two bedrooms. At the back is the kitchen—where one can still see the marks of the fires which burned 4000 years ago—and a room for pottery and water jugs. The city is divided into two sections by a subterranean tunnel which runs north and south under the main street. On the southern side, the houses are in a better state of preservation, and are larger. In some cases, traces of the oriignal coloured plaster, in beautiful hues, still adhere to the mud walls.

Probably the most important discovery is a stone pulley wheel found near the city. This tends to show that ancient Egypt knew more of building methods than modem generations suspect. It may solve the centuries-old controversy cl how the pyramids came to be built.