DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2871#0012
Vlll
INTRODUCTION.
a suburb rather than as an integral part of it. The western portion,
too, contained the place of sepulture of the community at large, and
was probably chosen for this purpose owing to the close approach of
the Libyan range to the river's bank, the soft stone of these hills
giving every facility for forming rock-cut tombs. Though Thebes is
sung of by Homer as "hundred-gated," yet it is more than doubtful
if she ever possessed that number of gates, but rather that he used
the expression metaphorically, referring to the many noble pylons which
existed, and of which there are still so many remains extant. Its
history, though still shrouded in obscurity, yet day by day is being
read more clearly, as the numberless inscriptions and freshly-discovered
papyruses are discussed by the light of modern research. Ere long
we may hope to assign to events dates more specific than we can at
present. From what has already been discovered it seems no longer
doubtful that Thebes must have passed through stirring times at an era
when our usually accepted chronology seems to be at fault. The first
Theban dynasty, it has been computed on good evidence by Mariette
Bey, must have been in power some 3000 years before Christ; whilst
the earliest Egyptian king, of which there is record, has been supposed,
by the same learned author, to have occupied the throne more than 5000
years before Christ, or 1000 years anterior to the formerly supposed
date of the creation of our first parents. By a further study of Egyptology
and its kindred sciences, the mystery which envelopes the world's early
history may be dispelled, and the apparent discrepancies between biblical
and scientific chronology eventually reconciled.
There is a wonderful antithesis between the present mean hovels
of unburnt brick, which stand where palaces and villas, with their
gardens and farms once flourished, and the solid masonry of the
temples, which still serve as the landmarks of time. It needs no
knowledge of Egyptology to be impressed with the grandeur of the
latter, though the charm is doubled when even a smattering of the
nature and meaning of the inscriptions has been acquired.
INTRODUCTION.
a suburb rather than as an integral part of it. The western portion,
too, contained the place of sepulture of the community at large, and
was probably chosen for this purpose owing to the close approach of
the Libyan range to the river's bank, the soft stone of these hills
giving every facility for forming rock-cut tombs. Though Thebes is
sung of by Homer as "hundred-gated," yet it is more than doubtful
if she ever possessed that number of gates, but rather that he used
the expression metaphorically, referring to the many noble pylons which
existed, and of which there are still so many remains extant. Its
history, though still shrouded in obscurity, yet day by day is being
read more clearly, as the numberless inscriptions and freshly-discovered
papyruses are discussed by the light of modern research. Ere long
we may hope to assign to events dates more specific than we can at
present. From what has already been discovered it seems no longer
doubtful that Thebes must have passed through stirring times at an era
when our usually accepted chronology seems to be at fault. The first
Theban dynasty, it has been computed on good evidence by Mariette
Bey, must have been in power some 3000 years before Christ; whilst
the earliest Egyptian king, of which there is record, has been supposed,
by the same learned author, to have occupied the throne more than 5000
years before Christ, or 1000 years anterior to the formerly supposed
date of the creation of our first parents. By a further study of Egyptology
and its kindred sciences, the mystery which envelopes the world's early
history may be dispelled, and the apparent discrepancies between biblical
and scientific chronology eventually reconciled.
There is a wonderful antithesis between the present mean hovels
of unburnt brick, which stand where palaces and villas, with their
gardens and farms once flourished, and the solid masonry of the
temples, which still serve as the landmarks of time. It needs no
knowledge of Egyptology to be impressed with the grandeur of the
latter, though the charm is doubled when even a smattering of the
nature and meaning of the inscriptions has been acquired.