DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4222#0057
THE VASES.
47
Xllth Dynasty and the jar lid of King Khyan.
That such a civilization had a long past and
growth, cannot be doubted. Many earlier
stages of it are found, town below town exists
beneath the palace of Knossos ; and that men
were beginning to make the characteristic
painted pottery in the Aegean at 4700 B.C. is a
perfectly open question on the Greek side.
When the only evidences of age in Crete pledge
us to go back from classical times full half-way
to the Egyptian date, and then shoAV that we
are very far from the beginning, it seems that
we should be led in any case by the Greek
evidence to within some few centuries of the
age here indicated. And there is absolutely
nothing to cut short the scale of the earliest
ages in Greece. The only conclusion possible,
until some equally clear evidence may appear to
contradict this, is to accept the dating of the rise
of decorated pottery in the Aegean to 4700 B.C.
43. The Marks on pottery, pis. lv., a b c d,
are of the same classes as those described last
year. It is only by completely collecting these,
and publishing them year by year, that it will
be possible at last to build up a history of the
use of such signs, and to disentangle the hiero-
glyphic from the linear signs. That the latter
go back to early prehistoric time is certain; and
that they continued in use until the alphabets
of the Mediterranean were selected from them,
is shown by the tables published in the last
volume {Royal Tombs, i. p. 32).
In the last volume the part of a name, No. 1
(on pi. xliv.), Avhich is the tail of a fish, Ave can
now place as belonging to Narmer, since Ave
find the fish alone in the square on his sealings.
The names of king Ka, which are the most
important of the incised marks, are given on
pi. xiii. in this volume, for comparison Avith his
seal.
The groups, pi. lv., 6 to 13, are probably
all blundered examples of Mersekha. Nos.
16—26 are the sa-ha palace name; not dis-
tinguished between sa-ha-neb, sa-ha-ka, and sa-
ha- . . . , the palaces of the end of the 1st
and beginning of the Ilnd Dynasty.
27—48 give the Ka arms, often connected
Avith other sis;ns.
49—66 shoAV some animal, probably the same
as on stele. 64 (pi. xxix.), Avhich may be the
jerboa.
67—77 are birds, but cannot be distinguished,
as the different forms Avere not well fixed by
this time.
78—94 are serpents ; the group of two
serpents being usual.
95—102 are fishes.
103—135 sIioav a form Avhich may be intended
for the Avinged disc; neter ka is often placed
with it, and also the yoke sign.
136-
■153 are all the neter sign in various
combinations.
154—163 are the hill signs, both three and tAvo
hills.
165 is the hieroglyph //;.
166 is the hieroglyph mer, the hoe.
168—171 show the hieroglyph hotej).
172—174 the sa hieroglyph.
176—178 give the so-called yoke sign, for
Avhich see sealings 115, 116, on pi. xvi.
179—487 the plant sign, res, "southern."
188—195 the star and crescent,or star in a circle.
198—204 the divided square, perhaps the mat
hieroglyph j>.
206 the group sennu in hieroglyphs.
228—230 the double vase.
231, 232 the spout vase.
233—240 the ankh sign.
242—293 thedagger tep sign ; combined with
the Ka arms, a bird, the neter sign, a spotted
disc, &c.
The groups of signs after this, 294—491, are
not such as can be identified Avith any hiero-
glyphs, but mostly belong to the system of
linear signs Avhich is already classified in the
previous volume. Plates lvi., IviA., and lvii.
have been noticed in detail in the descriptions
of the tombs.
47
Xllth Dynasty and the jar lid of King Khyan.
That such a civilization had a long past and
growth, cannot be doubted. Many earlier
stages of it are found, town below town exists
beneath the palace of Knossos ; and that men
were beginning to make the characteristic
painted pottery in the Aegean at 4700 B.C. is a
perfectly open question on the Greek side.
When the only evidences of age in Crete pledge
us to go back from classical times full half-way
to the Egyptian date, and then shoAV that we
are very far from the beginning, it seems that
we should be led in any case by the Greek
evidence to within some few centuries of the
age here indicated. And there is absolutely
nothing to cut short the scale of the earliest
ages in Greece. The only conclusion possible,
until some equally clear evidence may appear to
contradict this, is to accept the dating of the rise
of decorated pottery in the Aegean to 4700 B.C.
43. The Marks on pottery, pis. lv., a b c d,
are of the same classes as those described last
year. It is only by completely collecting these,
and publishing them year by year, that it will
be possible at last to build up a history of the
use of such signs, and to disentangle the hiero-
glyphic from the linear signs. That the latter
go back to early prehistoric time is certain; and
that they continued in use until the alphabets
of the Mediterranean were selected from them,
is shown by the tables published in the last
volume {Royal Tombs, i. p. 32).
In the last volume the part of a name, No. 1
(on pi. xliv.), Avhich is the tail of a fish, Ave can
now place as belonging to Narmer, since Ave
find the fish alone in the square on his sealings.
The names of king Ka, which are the most
important of the incised marks, are given on
pi. xiii. in this volume, for comparison Avith his
seal.
The groups, pi. lv., 6 to 13, are probably
all blundered examples of Mersekha. Nos.
16—26 are the sa-ha palace name; not dis-
tinguished between sa-ha-neb, sa-ha-ka, and sa-
ha- . . . , the palaces of the end of the 1st
and beginning of the Ilnd Dynasty.
27—48 give the Ka arms, often connected
Avith other sis;ns.
49—66 shoAV some animal, probably the same
as on stele. 64 (pi. xxix.), Avhich may be the
jerboa.
67—77 are birds, but cannot be distinguished,
as the different forms Avere not well fixed by
this time.
78—94 are serpents ; the group of two
serpents being usual.
95—102 are fishes.
103—135 sIioav a form Avhich may be intended
for the Avinged disc; neter ka is often placed
with it, and also the yoke sign.
136-
■153 are all the neter sign in various
combinations.
154—163 are the hill signs, both three and tAvo
hills.
165 is the hieroglyph //;.
166 is the hieroglyph mer, the hoe.
168—171 show the hieroglyph hotej).
172—174 the sa hieroglyph.
176—178 give the so-called yoke sign, for
Avhich see sealings 115, 116, on pi. xvi.
179—487 the plant sign, res, "southern."
188—195 the star and crescent,or star in a circle.
198—204 the divided square, perhaps the mat
hieroglyph j>.
206 the group sennu in hieroglyphs.
228—230 the double vase.
231, 232 the spout vase.
233—240 the ankh sign.
242—293 thedagger tep sign ; combined with
the Ka arms, a bird, the neter sign, a spotted
disc, &c.
The groups of signs after this, 294—491, are
not such as can be identified Avith any hiero-
glyphs, but mostly belong to the system of
linear signs Avhich is already classified in the
previous volume. Plates lvi., IviA., and lvii.
have been noticed in detail in the descriptions
of the tombs.