Graves Gave Up Ancient Secrets.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 16 October 1914, Page 2

Graves Gave Up Ancient Secrets.

RELICS OF A THOUSAND EGYPTIAN TOMBS. BASKET COFFINS IN WHICH MEN WERE BURIED SITTING UPRIGHT—AND FINE POTTERY. " From a thousand graves discovered during the excavations just completed at the large cemetery of the First Dynasty at 'Tarkhan, some curious relics have been brought to England and are now being shown at an exhibition of, Egyptian antiquities at the University College, Gower Street, W.C. Tarkhan is situated thirty-seven miles south of Cairo, and some of the skeletons which have been unearthed, complete in their basket couins, date back as far as 5500 B.C. The baskets were made of the reeds of withies, and the records show that the bones of the bodies were unfleshed, so that the knees could be dmubled up to the .chin in order that the remains might occupy the least possible space. The ancients apparently liked to be buried in this position, for another exhibit of the same period shows the skeleton of a woman, whose remains had also been unfleshed, doubled tip and encased in a box made of acacia wood, just as she was laid to rest 7,500 years ago. EXQUISITE OLD POTTERY. Some of the finest pottery work of all times was found at Tarkhan, the examples which are to be seen at the exhibition, and which telong to the First Dynasty, being much better than the Egyptian is able to make to-day. There are alabaster vases—some of them exquisite examples of green glazed ware—while other discoveries show that the women of the period made and wore beautiful linen clothing. That the vanity of women dates back to the dim ages is shown by an abundant collection of beads and other ornaments made of glaze, carnelion or garnet. Prehistoric bed poles also find a place in this exhibition. These are four inches thick and were found laid over a rich tomb, supporting the wooden roofing. In the tomb were, in addition, many fine alabaster vases and slate bowls of singular beauty ; while the name of King Ha, a monarch of the period, is to be seen engraved upon the representation of the forepart of a lion on a large alabaster jar. This and other examples came apparently from the royal pottery, for the King's name is inscribed on other ware found in thf same grave. WORK OF 7,400 YEARS AGO. There is a glass case containing armlets of flint, ivory, bone, slate, shell, and copper ; ivory spoons, one in the shape of twto hands and arms; green glazed pottery vases, the general use of which was unknown till now ; a limestone figure of a man seated ; a copper baboon and two beetles of green stone—all the work of the clever potters of 5500 B.C. From Riqqeh and Memphis, where excavations haye also been proceeding, are examples of the work of the later dynasties. There are large pottery figures of prehistoric people, who rejoiced in the names of Ab, Maa, Nefert, Shert, Per, and Aut, and of a houseguard named Ansher.a. Close by is the representation in pottery ware of a fowler pulling the cord of a clap-net full of birds, the birds outside the net being roughly sketched in red paint. Another interesting exhibit is a set ,of four canopic jars of limestone, with ink inscriptions, for a man named Senusert. The heads of these are excellently worked, and they are some of the finest examples of the Twelfth Dynasty. Many varieties of decorated glazed wore bowls of the Ptolemaic age were found at Memphis. Those include a fine lion's head of Assyrian style, and a seated baboon, while a curious piece of black ware has relief figures of contemporary notabilities apparently strung on threads and impressed in the mould. The exhibition is in charge of Professor Flinders Petrie, who also controlled the work of excavation among the ancient tombs.