ARCHAEOLOGY. 



dancing before Min, in intaglio, and of Amenem- 

 hat standing before Min, in relief. An inscrip- 

 tion of the period of the eleventh dynasty records 

 the deposition of the Prince of Coptos for treach- 

 ery, and the installation of a new family in his 

 place, with the names of the members of the royal 

 commission by which the act was performed. 

 The foundation deposits of the temple built by 

 Thothmes III include bronze models of tools, 

 knives of various sizes, narrow chisels, broad 

 chisels, and axes, all in miniature, and inscribed 

 with the words, " Thothmes, beloved of Min of 

 Coptos." Some model corn rubbers, made of 

 sandstone and inscribed with blue paint, were 

 also found in each deposit. The deposits of the 

 Ptolemaic temple were likewise found, and consist 

 principally of representations of the materials 

 used in the construction of the temple. From 

 this temple are further exhibited 3 tanks having 

 14 steps on each side ; pieces of carving, appar- 

 ently window frames, one of which had an en- 

 larged representation of the Egyptian symbol of 

 life ; handsomely carved lions' heads forming the 

 water spouts : and a wall scene of Ptolemy Soter 

 adoring Min. Among other relics described as 

 found here are a black granite kneeling figure ; 

 the legs of a colossal figure in white limestone, 

 supposed to be very early work, which bears, cut 

 into the right thigh, representations of animals 

 an elephant, a hyena, fishes, etc. similar to 

 the figures in ancient rock carving : a red gran- 

 ite stele bearing the date of the twenty-ninth 

 year of Rameses III ; another stele inscribed 

 with the name of a daughter of Rameses VI ; a 

 colossal head of Caracalla in red granite; Greek 

 and Latin inscribed stones ; a Latin dedication 

 of a bridge ; another Latin inscription bearing 

 the name of the little-known Emperor Quietus ; 

 a table of the toll paid on goods and by indi- 

 viduals entering Coptos ; and a figure on an in- 

 laid tile. 



The museum at Ghizeh acquired, early in 1894, 

 an ebony door,, and part of another, found by 

 M. Naville at Deir-el-Bahari. On one side are 

 represented, in low relief, bands of Tats and 

 symbolical knots, and beneath a dado of simple 

 geometrical pattern. The reverse contains two 

 registers of sculpture, in low relief, of Thothmes 

 II worshiping Ammon Ra, with a dado below. 

 Remarkable historical interest pertains to these 

 bas-reliefs, as the figure of Ammon Ra is erased 

 throughout, and, from the reckless hacking, by 

 the hands of a most violent iconoclast. Bands 

 of hieroglyphic inscriptions bear the cartouch of 

 Thothmes" II. The style and finish of the carv- 

 ings are pronounced most excellent, and the 

 rendering of the low relief is described as ex- 

 quisite, while the work, as a whole, is said to 

 equal, if not excel, the best examples of designs 

 in wood or bronze found elsewhere. 



Among neV archaeological finds in the ne- 

 cropolis of Akhmin of interest to students of 

 the early Christian Church, Herr Farrer, of 

 Strasburg, describes lamps with a monogram of 

 Christ, a fish, a peacock, and a frog as decora- 

 tions; several specimens of lamps bearing such 

 inscriptions as " Of the holy Pantoleon," and 

 " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 

 of the Holy Spirit," the first time such inscrip- 

 tions have been found on lamps; rings and 

 other articles of early ornamentation from the 



early Christians ; and textile fabrics. In many 

 instances the representations of events, such as 

 of the crucifixion, and the pictures of Biblical 

 characters, are identical with those found in the 

 catacombs at Rome. Some of the finds date 

 back to the fourth century. 



A roll of papyrus 44 feet long, and covered 

 on the recto side with 68 columns of Greek 

 text, found among the collections gathered by 

 Mr. Petrie in Egypt, of the third century B. c., 

 contains a series of ordinances regarding the 

 control of state monopolies and the conditions 

 under which they were to be let to tax farmers, 

 with reservations protecting the state from loss 

 and the farmer and publican from mutual over- 

 reaching. Among these are regulations for the 

 growth of vines and the making of wine ; paral- 

 lel regulations for oil of four kinds those made 

 from sesame, from the croton plant, from a sort of 

 poppy, and from gourds. The dates are given of 

 the twenty-third and the twenty-seventh year of 

 Ptolemy, the son of Ptolemy, and his son Ptole- 

 my, which can relate only to the second Ptolemy. 

 The collection of the sixth for Queen Phila- 

 delphus appears under the text of the year 

 twenty-three, but no other queen, no titles of 

 state, or other indications of the reigning sov- 

 ereign are found. Mr. Petrie has also brought 

 back a stele containing a hieroglyphic text of 

 the same period, in which an Egyptian high 

 officer, a steward o,f the same queen, commem- 

 orates that he rebuilt a temple at Coptos under 

 her orders. For the new papyrus Prof. J. P. 

 Mahaffy proposes the name of "the monopoly 

 papyrus." 



A superficial examination of Lower Nubia as 

 far up as the second cataract was made during the 

 winter of 1893-'94 by Prof. Mahaffy, Prof. A. H. 

 Sayce, and Mr. Somers Clarke. The results ob- 

 tained on the surface were chiefly negative. No 

 evidence was found that any of the great Ptol- 

 emies penetrated beyond the first cataract, 

 while other evidence since found shows that the 

 Red Sea was their only high road to the land of 

 elephants and ostriches. No evidence was found, 

 either, of Roman occupation. Survivals of an- 

 cient Egyptian customs, however, are very 

 marked. " The Nubian women dress their hair 

 exactly according to the pattern of the elaborate 

 wigs we see on old Egyptian grandees. The 

 baskets of halfa grass, which every Nubian 

 woman keeps plaiting, are exactly like in form, 

 color, and patterns to those which have been 

 recovered from the tombs of the ancient empire 

 six thousand years old." The country is rich in 

 remains of Coptic towns and churches, the walls 

 of the ruins bearing inscriptions wherever the 

 surface has not been destroyed. These and 

 other incidents point to a former dense Chris- 

 tian population, the complete destruction of 

 whose faith by Mohammedanism forms a passage 

 upon which historians have not thrown light. 

 As it is agreed that the southern Coptic is the 

 nearest descendant of the old Egyptian lan- 

 guage, the collecting of texts may help to throw 

 light on the understanding of points in the an- 

 cient tongue that are still obscure. 



The researches of Capt. Lyons, R. E., in the 

 district of Wadi Haifa, in which a number of 

 temples, shrines, and forts were found, show 

 that the conquest of Nubia was earnestly under- 



