DOI Artikel:
Griffith, Francis Ll.: Progress of Egyptology, [1]: Hieroglyphic Studies, etc., 1892-3
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10054#0031
Progress of Egyptology.
17
History.
For the earliest monumental period in Egypt we now have a very ac-
curate reproduction of numerous scenes and inscriptions in Mr. Petrie's
Medum, which also contains plans of the pyramid, the pyramid-temple,
and several of the inastabas or private tombs of the necropolis of Medum.
The whole of these appear to go back to the time of Senefru, the first
king of the IVth dynasty. Earlier than this we find hardly a single
monument, but Mr. Petrie's study of the picture-hieroglyphs of Senefru's
reign has shown a highly developed civilization, the architecture especially
displaying most of the forms known to the later dynasties of Pharaohs.
The Archaeological Survey of the Egypt Exploration Fund has this
year been especially busy amongst the monuments of the Vth and VIth
dynasties in Middle Egypt, from Sheikh Sa'id to Der el Gebrawi, and a
most interesting volume illustrating arts and crafts can be promised to
the subscribers. Historical inscriptions of this period are of extreme
rarity; the researches of half a century brought to light only one—the
inscription of Una from Abydos, now in the Ghizeh Museum. Last year,
however, Prof. Schiaparelli, the Director of the Egyptian Museum at
Florence, was so fortunate as to discover a long text at Aswan giving
an account of two expeditions to the south and west. Schiaparelli in
his first reading of the inscription (Eeale Acc. dei Lincei: Una toniba
Egiziana della Vl/h dinastia) was inclined to place the countries men-
tioned in the far Sudan—Darfur, Kordofan, etc.; but Professors Maspero
and Erman, who have retranslated most of the text, agree in bringing
them far nearer to the ancient frontier at the first cataract.
The gap between the Vlth and the Xlth dynasty is almost as obscure
as ever. For the Xllth dynasty we now have the full publication of
the first fourteen tombs of Beni Hasan, in the first Memoir of the
Archaeological Survey, published under the auspices of the Egypt
Exploration Fund. None of these tombs had been edited so fully as
now, while the translations of the long inscriptions are very different from
those generally known. Many short inscriptions of about the same
period have been published in the Recueil de Travanx, and several un-
placed royal names are recorded in them.
The beginning of the XIHth dynasty is a definite period, but it is hard
to distinguish the age of monuments after that until the beginning of
the XVlllth, though undated examples may be numerous. There are,
however, two small groups, connected with the Hyksos and their Theban
antagonists respectively, which are at once identifiable by style or by
v
17
History.
For the earliest monumental period in Egypt we now have a very ac-
curate reproduction of numerous scenes and inscriptions in Mr. Petrie's
Medum, which also contains plans of the pyramid, the pyramid-temple,
and several of the inastabas or private tombs of the necropolis of Medum.
The whole of these appear to go back to the time of Senefru, the first
king of the IVth dynasty. Earlier than this we find hardly a single
monument, but Mr. Petrie's study of the picture-hieroglyphs of Senefru's
reign has shown a highly developed civilization, the architecture especially
displaying most of the forms known to the later dynasties of Pharaohs.
The Archaeological Survey of the Egypt Exploration Fund has this
year been especially busy amongst the monuments of the Vth and VIth
dynasties in Middle Egypt, from Sheikh Sa'id to Der el Gebrawi, and a
most interesting volume illustrating arts and crafts can be promised to
the subscribers. Historical inscriptions of this period are of extreme
rarity; the researches of half a century brought to light only one—the
inscription of Una from Abydos, now in the Ghizeh Museum. Last year,
however, Prof. Schiaparelli, the Director of the Egyptian Museum at
Florence, was so fortunate as to discover a long text at Aswan giving
an account of two expeditions to the south and west. Schiaparelli in
his first reading of the inscription (Eeale Acc. dei Lincei: Una toniba
Egiziana della Vl/h dinastia) was inclined to place the countries men-
tioned in the far Sudan—Darfur, Kordofan, etc.; but Professors Maspero
and Erman, who have retranslated most of the text, agree in bringing
them far nearer to the ancient frontier at the first cataract.
The gap between the Vlth and the Xlth dynasty is almost as obscure
as ever. For the Xllth dynasty we now have the full publication of
the first fourteen tombs of Beni Hasan, in the first Memoir of the
Archaeological Survey, published under the auspices of the Egypt
Exploration Fund. None of these tombs had been edited so fully as
now, while the translations of the long inscriptions are very different from
those generally known. Many short inscriptions of about the same
period have been published in the Recueil de Travanx, and several un-
placed royal names are recorded in them.
The beginning of the XIHth dynasty is a definite period, but it is hard
to distinguish the age of monuments after that until the beginning of
the XVlllth, though undated examples may be numerous. There are,
however, two small groups, connected with the Hyksos and their Theban
antagonists respectively, which are at once identifiable by style or by
v