454 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



irregular in texture, and on account of the numerous branches of (lie 

 trunk it is impossible to cut it into boards more than a couple of feet 

 in length. The palaces of the early kings of the Delta were built of 

 coniferous wood hung with tapestry-woven mats. The tomb of 

 Menes' queen, Neith-liotep, at Naqada, was built of brick in imitation 

 of one of these timber-constructed palaces, and smaller tombs of the 

 same kind are known from the Second and Third Dynasties, but not 

 later. As early as the reig-n of King Den (First Dynasty) the 

 palaces of this type were beginning to be built of the native wattle- 

 and-daub in combination with wood, and by the end of the Pyramid 

 Age the style disappears entirely, though the memory of it was 

 preserved in the false doors of the tombs and stelae. Brick buildings 

 similar to those of the " palace " style of Egypt are also loiown from 

 early Babylonia, and they were at one time regarded as peculiarly 

 characteristic of Sumerian architecture. These, obviously, must 

 have been copied, like the Egyptian, from earlier timber forms. In 

 Babylonia, as in Egypt, timber was scarce, and there are records 

 that it was sometimes obtained from the coast of Syria. This was 

 the region from which the Egyptians throughout historic times ob- 

 tained their main supplies of wood, so it is not improbable that they, 

 as well as the Sumerians, derived this particular style of architecture 

 from Northern Syria. I may observe in passing that in this 

 " palace " style we have the transition form between the nomad's 

 tent and the f)ermanent building of a settled people. The lack of 

 native timber in Egypt is significant in another direction. Boats of 

 considerable size are figured on many predynastic monuments. They 

 are long and narrow, and in the middle there is usually figured a reed 

 or witker-work cabin. In my view these boats v/ere built, like many 

 of those of later periods in 'Egypt, of bundles of papyrus reeds bound 

 together with cord; they were, in fact, great canoes, and, of course, 

 were only for river traffic. They were not sailing boats, but were 

 propelled by means of oars. No mast is ever figured with them, but 

 they generally have a short pole amidships which is surmounted by 

 a cult-object. On one predynastic vase there is a figure of a sailing 

 ship, but this is totally different in build from the canoes, and it has 

 a very high bow and stern with its mast set far forward in the hull. 

 Similar vessels are figured on the ivory knife handle of predynastic 

 date from Gebel el Araq, but these vessels appear to be in port and 

 the sails are evidently lowered. I have already referred to the Great 

 Port mentioned on the Palette of Menes. A port implies shipping 

 and trade relations with people dwelling along the coast or across the 

 sea. It may be that the peoi^le of the northwestern Delta built 

 wooden ships, but if they did they must have procured their timber 

 from some foreign source. Coniferous wood was already being im- 

 ported into the Nile Valley at the beginning of the First Dynasty 



