DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0187
THEBES.
173
poraneous with the foundation of the Egyptian
monarchy. Thebes makes her first appearance
in history with the kings of the XIth dynasty.
This is one of the most curious periods that the
antiquarian can stud}'. If we may believe the
testimony of the monuments, Egypt was just
recovering, either from an invasion or from long
ages of internal troubles which had lasted
since the end of the VIth dynasty. All at once,
the broken links in the chain of tradition are
restored, and Thebes appears with a civilization
of her own, as shown by the tombs of that
remote period — a civilization which differs
widely from that which may be studied at
Sakkarah, at Meydoum, at Zawyet-el-Ma'itin, at
Kasr-es-Sayad, on the latest monuments of the
yjtu dynasty. The manner in which the mum-
mies are arranged, the style of the hieroglyphs,
the formulas employed, all seem changed. The
inhabitants of Thebes interred at Drali-abovUl-
neggah, the necropolis of that early period, were
frequently negroes. The coffins are formed of
the hollowed trunk of a peculiar kind of tree
which is now no longer met with except in the
Soudan. All this seems to indicate that the
renovation of Egyptian society and the founding
173
poraneous with the foundation of the Egyptian
monarchy. Thebes makes her first appearance
in history with the kings of the XIth dynasty.
This is one of the most curious periods that the
antiquarian can stud}'. If we may believe the
testimony of the monuments, Egypt was just
recovering, either from an invasion or from long
ages of internal troubles which had lasted
since the end of the VIth dynasty. All at once,
the broken links in the chain of tradition are
restored, and Thebes appears with a civilization
of her own, as shown by the tombs of that
remote period — a civilization which differs
widely from that which may be studied at
Sakkarah, at Meydoum, at Zawyet-el-Ma'itin, at
Kasr-es-Sayad, on the latest monuments of the
yjtu dynasty. The manner in which the mum-
mies are arranged, the style of the hieroglyphs,
the formulas employed, all seem changed. The
inhabitants of Thebes interred at Drali-abovUl-
neggah, the necropolis of that early period, were
frequently negroes. The coffins are formed of
the hollowed trunk of a peculiar kind of tree
which is now no longer met with except in the
Soudan. All this seems to indicate that the
renovation of Egyptian society and the founding