THE HELIX OF HISTORY 27 



claim that writing had its origin there, but it certainly origi- 

 nated independently in Eg)'pt, and the Egyptologists are by 

 no means willing to concede the claims of their archaeological 

 rivals. 



In oiu' study of history after the invention of writing, we 

 are less dependent on material relics and can use the records. 

 However, we are still interested in tracing the history 

 of civilization in terms of its arts and crafts, in the tools, 

 weapons, and ornaments that ancient man produced and left 

 behind him, although we have available generally from the 

 early periods only that small fraction of the production which 

 "^vas buried in the graves. 



Having summarized the progress of man through the pre- 

 historic period until the invention of the written record, let 

 us endeavor to look at the history of civilization as a whole 

 and consider the nature of the phenomena it displays, in the 

 same way that we should consider any other group of natural 

 phenomena. 



Any contemplation of the pattern of history gives at once 

 an impression of cyclic change— of the rise, flo^vering, and 

 fall of local civilizations of peoples and of empires. Many 

 empires have risen to power and fallen again in the last 5000 

 years. Some had a very brief triumph, like that of Attila 

 the Him or Alaric the Goth or, much more recently, of the 

 Swedish Empire, which for a short time ruled all northeast- 

 ern Europe. Others lasted much longer, the maximum dura- 

 tion being the 3000 years which the Eg) ptian system endured. 



Indeed, when Tve contemplate Egyptian history we get the 

 impression of cyclic rise and fall within the life of that coun- 

 try, suggesting that this cyclic structure is not connected ^vith 

 the individual nation, race, or empire but with the period of 

 time, and that the long duration of the Egyptian system 

 enables us to discern within that duration several cycles. 

 Thus, from the prehistoric beginnings of Egypt, we find a 

 rapid advance in architecture and sculpture to the time of 

 the pyramid builders in the Fourth Dynasty, corresponding 

 approximately to 3000 b.c. The artistic level of the architec- 



