PREHISTORIC MAN, ETC. 351 



quarter that the spiral motives, which are dominant in the 

 Egyptian Art of the twelfth Dynasty, were introduced into 

 the decorative repertory of /Egean art. 



34. The seal-stones engraved with Egyptian and deriva- 

 tive spirals are closely associated in Crete with others 

 bearing groups of symbols, more than eighty of which have 

 been recorded, and shown to be hieroglyphic, by Mr. A. J. 

 Evans. They exist in two series, of which the earlier is fully 

 pictorial and naturalistic, the later conventionally abbre- 

 viated into linear forms. Some of the former are closely 

 analogous to certain Egyptian, others to certain " Hittite " 

 hieroglyphs from Kappadokian monuments ; many of 

 the latter are identical with graffiti on twelfth-eighteenth 

 Dynasty pottery from Kahun, Tell-el-Hesy and elsewhere, 

 and some are probably prototypes of symbols which per- 

 sisted in the Phoenician, Greek and Lykian alphabets, and 

 in the Cypriote syllabary. This hieroglyphic system is not 

 confined to Crete, though it is far best represented there 

 as yet ; the pictorial seal-stones are distributed over the 

 Cycladic area ; and two inscriptions in the linear character 

 have been found on vases at Mykenae. Dr. Kluge, of 

 Magdeburg, believes that he can translate these hiero- 

 glyphic inscriptions into a dialect of Greek. 



35. We now come to what is, even literally, the Golden 

 Age of the early Mediterranean cycle. " Mykensean " Art 

 is still best and most completely illustrated by the long 

 series of discoveries in the plain of Argos, which at once 

 revealed its existence, and have given to it a name. The 

 monuments and the civilisation of Mykenae and Tiryns 

 have been repeatedly, though never yet really adequately, 

 described, and have given rise to the most divergent 

 theories as to their date, their origin, and their relations 

 with what precedes and follows them. The following 

 points are those which are chiefly made clear by the most 

 recent researches. 



36. The limits within which Mykensean sites are dis- 

 tributed may now be defined with some approach to 

 accuracy, and no less the wider area over which Mykenaean 

 civilisation had a living influence. With the exception of 



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