282 



NA rURE 



[July i8, 1901 



archaeologist and historian in the elucidation of 

 Mycenaean antiquities ; the generally accepted Mycenrean 

 hypothesis as modified by the latest discoveries ; the 

 questions of date and race ; Mycenae and the East and 

 Mycen^ and Egypt ; Mycena:;'s place in history, in- 

 cluding a discussion on the period of the introduction 

 of the metals into Europe ; and the decadence and 

 renascence of Greek culture after the close of the 

 Mycenaean period. The book contains in addition four 

 appendices, seventy-six illustrations, full indices, notes, 

 &c. Many of the facts which are given in Mr. Hall's 

 book are familiar to us from other sources, but he has 

 brought forward from the domain of Egyptology a con- 

 siderable number which will probably be new to the 

 majority of his readers ; indeed, if we remember rightly, 

 the Mycen.xan Question has never before been handled 

 by one whose training has made him familiar with both 

 Greek and Egyptian archaeology. His chapter, then, on 

 the connection between Mycena; and Egypt will be read 

 with much interest, especially his remarks of the identi- 

 fications of the northern Mycenaan tribes who attacked 

 Egypt between ri.c. 1400 and B.C. 11 50. He has identified 

 the tribe of the Uashasha with the Axians of Crete, and 

 he has shown the probability that others of the tribes 

 which are mentioned in Egyptian history at this period 



were of Cretan origin, including the Pulesatha, or 

 Philistines. 



It has been noticed that many of the names of these 

 tribes ended in "sha" or "na," and Mr. Hall has, with 

 apparently very good grounds, identified these termin- 

 ations with the common nominal suffixes " azi " and 

 " iina " which are found in the Lycian language and, 

 seemingly, also in other cognate speeches of Asia Minor. 

 Mr. Hall seems also to have devoted his energies to the 

 solution of the difificult problem of dating the early 

 antiquities of Greece, and, so far as we understand him, 

 he takes in this respect a position midway between those 

 who hold that the latest date possible in Mycenaan 

 archaeology is 11 C. iioo and those who hold, with 

 Dr. A. S. Murray, that this date is more likely to be the 

 earliest which can be assigned to Mycenaan antiquities, 

 i.e. he believes that in Greece proper and in Crete the 

 Mycenaean culture began at a very early period — which, 

 however, he does not define exactly — and had already 

 reached its highest pitch of development about B.C. 1500, 

 when its chief seat was in Crete, and when it was extend- 

 ing its influence to Egypt and Asia Minor. He considers 

 that the discrepancy between the two extreme views can 

 be reconciled on the theory that in Greece proper the 

 Mycenaean age came to an end about B.C. 1000, but con- 

 tinued to exist in Asia Minor until about B.C. 800, and in 

 Cyprus until a century later. 

 This view is perhaps confirmed by the fact that the 



NO. 1655, VOL. 64] 



Dorians, who, e.x hypo/kesi, overthrew the Mycen;ean 

 culture in Greece, did not reach Asia until about B.C. 800, 

 and never gained any foothold whatever in Cyprus. 

 Another important point made by Mr. Hall is that, 

 contrary to the usually accepted view, iron was already 

 known to the Egyptians about B.C. 3500, when, as he 

 says (see p. 198), " it appears named and depicted on 

 the monuments in a manner which admits of no possi- 

 bility of doubt as to its nature." He supports his state- 

 ments by quotations from a learned article by the 

 Swedish Egyptologist, Prof Piehl, which appeared in 

 Ymer (18S8, p. 04 ff.), from which it may be safely con- 

 cluded that the Egyptians were acquainted with the use 

 of iron some 2500 years before it came into general use 

 in Europe. We notice that the passages which Mr. Hall 

 quotes from Egyptian texts are translated by him 

 especially for the purposes of this book, and he weighs 

 with discretion the evidence which many would derive 

 from the cuneiform and from the so-called "Hittite" 

 inscriptions for the elucidation of the origins of 

 Mycenaan culture. It is interesting to note that he 

 believes it possible that the system of writing which was 

 in use among the Cretans may have been derived from 

 the Egyptian hieratic, and he points out some probable 

 instances of the similarity between the two scripts ; but, 

 contrary to the opinion expressed by Mr. A. J. Evans, 



Fig. 5.— Representa 



he thinks that the writing is to be read from right to left, 

 because the figures of men, birds, &c., which occur in it 

 invariably face to the right, and should, on the analogy 

 of Egyptian, face the beginning of the line (see 

 p. 141). Still, it must not be forgotten that, chiefly owing 

 to geographical difficulties, there cannot have been much 

 direct communication between Crete and Egypt across 

 the open sea in the Mycenaean period, and the connec- 

 tion between the two countries must have been carried 

 out iiiii Cyprus and the- coast of Palestine ; and it is a 

 fact that the Cretan and other northern marauders who 

 attacked Egypt in the reigns of Menephthah and 

 Rameses III. made their way to Egypt by this route. 



There are many other points of interest in the book to 

 which we should like to draw attention, but our space is 

 exhausted. The Mycenrean question is a difficult one, 

 and one which, in our opinion, will not be settled for some 

 years to come ; the evidence which will bring about this 

 result is accumulating, but there is not enough of it 

 available yet The most serious phase of the question 

 as it now presents itself is the discrepancy between the 

 dates assigned by experts for the beginning and end of 

 the period of Mycenrean culture proper. Mr. Hall does 

 not claim, if we understand him aright, to have settled 

 this difficulty, but there is no doubt that he has collected 

 a number of facts which will one day form valuable 

 elements in the solution of the problem, and he has 

 set forth the Egyptian aspect of the Mycen;ean question 

 in a clearer form than any of his predecessors. His 

 volume contains an excellent summary of the work 



