348 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



horned animals. In its earlier part, therefore, the civilisa- 

 tion, so far as it is known, is peculiarly uniform in character, 

 and displays no trace of foreign influence ; except only that 

 the characteristic red-polished glaze of the pottery, already 

 mentioned, is almost identical with that of the Neolithic 

 Libyan people of Ballas-Nagada, and of their " Amorite " 

 kinsfolk in South Palestine. Even here, however, there is 

 no evidence at present of imitation on either side. The 

 strong influence which Cyprus exercised, through its copper 

 trade, over the neighbouring coastland is best illustrated 

 by the discoveries of Dr. Bliss at Tell-el-Hesy, on the 

 coast plain of Palestine (Philistia), some sixteen miles from 

 Gaza. The site consists of an acropolis with eight "Cities " 

 superimposed as at Hissarlik. The mass of the remains 

 represent an indigenous "Amorite" civilisation of low type, 

 related, according to Professor Flinders Petrie, to that 

 of the Libyan invaders of Ballas-Nagada. But bronze appears 

 from the bottom of the series upwards, and iron already in 

 City Four, which with City Three appears to be contemporary 

 with the eighteenth Dynasty and the Mykenaean Age. 

 The bronze types are derivative, partly from Cyprus, partly 

 from Egypt ; and Cypriote importations of the later painted 

 fabrics occur in Cities Two and Three together with native 

 imitations. The red-polished pot fabric of Tell-el-Hesy, 

 however, belongs to the Amorite civilisation, and is not 

 necessarily borrowed from that of Cyprus. 



28. In the latter half of the Bronze Age, Cyprus with 

 characteristic conservatism fell for a while slightly behind 

 its neighbours, and began to import ornaments and articles 

 of luxury from Egypt and the Syrian and Cilician coasts. 

 In this stage the red-polished ware tends to deteriorate in 

 colour and finish ; the bronze weapons become more 

 numerous, and contain a higher percentage of tin, and 

 occasionally jewellery of coarse silver-lead, all of native make, 

 is found in the more richly furnished tombs. Babylonian 

 cylinders occur rarely as imports, with a multitude of charac- 

 teristic native cylinders. Egyptian scarabs and porcelain 

 beads are also found rarely ; and with these again a very 

 common variety of coarse crumbly porcelain badly glazed 



