Six Thousand Years Ago.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 12 June 1914, Page 2

Six Thousand Years Ago.

The graves of the early Egyptians —t; c very earliest in the prehistoric era of King Menu, 6,000 years ago —were described by Professor Flinders Petrie at University College.

They are curious things, -.•nsisting, in addition to the graves themselves, of small antechambers, where gifts of pottery and alabaster vases were lodged beside the bodies. They resemble the foundations of a house as they might be laid down by a modern child at play. The graves, between 600 and 800 in all, are spread over a mile of desert near Tarkhan.

The contents of the graves have led to important discoveries. Seventy skulls have been secured in a perfect state. One grave contained, not a human skeleton, but the skeleton of three asses—presumably the

inseparable companions in life of their owner, and so were given a decent bnrial. They are the most

ancient asses on record, and their bones have been carefully preserved. Other tombs contained a pet goose and gazelle, both lying over the human skeletons. These were offerings at the grave.

Although 6,000 years old, the wooden coffins, which were made of planks of acacia and shittiin wood, are in a remarkable state of preser-. ration, although before being used as coffins they formed part of the timber work in houses. "I once kept one grave open in order to show it to archaeologists," said the professor, "and I found that its contents perished more in six weeks than they had done in 6,000 years."