ORIGINS OF SCIENCE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 19 



Phoenicians. The iEgeans, whom the Greeks conquered, 

 were highly civilized, but their culture seems to have been 

 obliterated rather than absorbed. The Greek alphabet 

 arose through imitation of the Phoenician, mathematical 

 concepts were received from Mesopotamia, Greek architec- 



Fig. 5. Hornless Breed of Egyptian Cattle. From a tomb relief 

 at Gizeh, 29th century B. C. (Redrawn from Breasted.) 



ture, as shown by the derivation of the colonnaded Greek 

 temple and many lesser features, had its prototypes in 

 Egypt. In like manner, many of the earliest intellectual and 

 mechanical accomplishments of the Hellenic race are trace- 

 able to what existed in the civilizations previously established 

 at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. 



The scientific achievements of the Egyptians during the 

 thirty-five centuries preceding 1000 b. c. may now be sum- 

 marized, without too great emphasis upon the exact dates, 

 since it is our purpose merely to indicate the total legacy of 

 natural knowledge which passed from Egypt to Europe by 

 way of Greece. Extensive archaeological records appear 

 after 4500 b. c. A steady though slow development may be 



