The American Journal of Archaeology, 1893-1

by Various

The third mummy was provided with a beautifully executed portrait on wood which is one of the best examples of ancient painting, though not so rare as the other, for ancient portraits painted on wood have long been known.--Biblia, V. P.

HELIOPOLIS.--M. Philippe, the Cairo dealer in antiquities, is, with permission from the Gizeh Museum, carrying on excavations at Heliopolis, which have brought to light some tombs of the Saïtic period.--Academy, Nov. 12.

KOM-EL-AHMAR.--"At Kom el-Ahmar, opposite El-Qab, I visited two recently-discovered tombs, which contain the cartouches of Pepi, and are in a fairly perfect condition. The walls are covered with delicate paintings in the style of those of Beni-Hassan, and explanatory inscriptions are attached to them. The early date of the paintings and inscriptions makes them particularly interesting. The tombs are still half buried in the sand, and only the upper part of the internal decoration is visible."--PROF. SAYCE, in Academy, April 2.

MEIR.--The authorities of the Gizeh Museum have, on the suggestion of Johnson Pasha, caused excavations to be made at Meïr, near Deirut, in Upper Egypt, which have already resulted in the discovery of some tombs of the XI dynasty. It is intended to continue these excavations.--Academy, Nov. 12.

MEMPHIS.--DISCOVERIES BY M. DE MORGAN.--At a meeting of the Acad. des Inscr. Prof. Maspero communicated the result of the excavations on the site of Memphis by M. de Morgan. He has discovered among the ruins of the temple of Ptah a number of monuments of importance. First, a large boat of granite, similar to that in the museum at Turin, on which the figures are destroyed; next, several fragmentary colossi of Rameses II, and in particular two gigantic upright figures, dedicated by this king, of Ptah, the god of Memphis, enshrouded in mummy-wrappings and holding a sceptre in both hands; lastly, some isolated figures, arranged in a court or a chamber. The importance of this discovery, said Prof. Maspero, will be realised when we bear in mind that we possess no divine image of large size, and that the very existence of statues of gods in Egyptian temples has sometimes been denied.--Academy, Sept. 17.

SEHEL.--THE TENTH DYNASTY.--Prof. Sayce reports that he has been finding evidences of the little-known X dynasty in the immediate neighborhood of the First Cataract. "Mr. Griffith and Prof. Maspero have shown that certain of the tombs at Siût belonged to the period when this dynasty ruled in Egypt. I have now discovered inscriptions which show that its rule was recognized on the frontiers of Nubia.

"An examination of the position occupied by the numerous inscriptions on the granite rocks of the island of Sehêl have made it clear to me that we must recognize two periods in the history of the sanctuary for which the island was famous. During the second period the temple stood on the eastern slope of an eminence where I found remains of it two years ago. As I also found fragments of it bearing the name of Thothmes III on the one hand, and of Ptolemy Philopator on the other, it must have existed from the age of the XVII dynasty down to Ptolemaic times. Throughout this period the inscriptions left by pious pilgrims to the shrine all face the site of the temple. So also do a certain number of inscriptions which belong to the age of the XII and XIII dynasties. But the majority of the inscriptions which belong to the latter age, like the inscriptions which are proved by the occurrence of the names of Antef and Mentuhotep to be of the time of the xi dynasty, face a different way. They look southward.

"This winter I have come across a large number of inscriptions on the mainland side of the channel which look northward, that is, towards the island. A few of these inscriptions are of the time of the XII dynasty, but the greater number belong to the XI dynasty, and one is dated in the forty-first year of Ra-neb-kher. It would seem, therefore, that at the epoch when they were inscribed on the rocks the sanctuary of Sehêl stood either in the middle of the southern channel of the river or upon its edge.

"On the island side of the channel there are a good many inscriptions which are shown by the weathering of the hieroglyphs to be older than the age of the XI dynasty. Indeed, the inscription of an Antef is cut over one of them. They all present the same curious forms of hieroglyphic characters, and contain for the most part titles and formulæ not met with in the later texts. Moreover, they are not dedicated like the later texts to the divine trinity of the Cataract, Khnum, Anuke, and Sati, but to a deity whose name is expressed by a character resembling an Akhem seated on a basket. Mr. Wilbour and I first noticed it last year.

"One of the early inscriptions contains a cartouche which reads Ra-nefer-hepu, the last element being represented by the picture of a rudder. Now Mr. Newberry and his companions at Beni-Hassan have discovered that one of the groups of tombs which exist there is of older date than the time of the XII dynasty. In this group of tombs occurs the name of a lady who was called Nefer-hepu. She must have been born in the reign of Ra-nefer-hepu, and will consequently belong, not to the age of the XI dynasty, but to that of one of the dynasties which preceded it.