May i8, ifiSft-] 



X A 'JURE 



57 



The Swedish Fisheries 



In Nature of April 20 you ask for an explanation of the 

 difference in the figures of Dr. Oscar Dickson and Dr. Lundberg 

 relating to the Swedish fisheries. 



1. You mention that Dr. Lundberg, in the "Nntizen uber die 

 Schwedischen Fischereien, " 1SS0, valued the herring fisheries of 

 Sweden at 5,000,000 marks (3,547,303, p. 27), but you forget 

 that Lundberg's b»k only refers to the " Ostsee und Sussvasser 

 Fischereien," and Dr. Dickson only speaks of the west coast or 

 North Sea fisheries. 



2. About the "millions of barrels representing millions of 

 pounds sterling,'' the Swedish North Sea Herring Fisheries 

 statistics value the barrel herring new only at 1 to 2 shil- 

 lings in the first (fisherman's) hands. And you will notice 

 that the millions of barrels mentioned by Dr. Oscar Dickson in 

 the Scotsman, refer to a former period, nearly a century ago, 

 not to the present period, commenced 1877. 



Pyphis, Sweden, May 3 Gerhard von Yhlez 



THE OLDEST EGYPTIAN TOMBS AND 

 TENANTS 



ALTHOUGH the existence of mankind in the dawn 

 of civilisation at the Stone age, and using Palaeo- 

 lithic tools is distinctly proved in Northern Africa and 

 Algeria, the specimens discovered on the soil of Egypt 

 are not so unequivocally Palaeolithic, although those pub- 

 lished by Sir J. Lubbock approach the type. Of the 

 Neolithic stone weapons, numerous examples have been 

 found, some undoubtedly in use at the time of the 

 eleventh and twelfth dynasty, others pro'iably descending 

 to the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. The indica- 

 tions, however, of sepulchres of the Palaeolithic period 

 are absolutely wanting on the soil of Egypt, ard except 

 the stone huts in the Arabian Peninsula, belonging to the 

 more ancient period, there are no remains of contem- 

 porary construction. 



In the graves around the oldest pyramids Neolithic 

 remains are occasionally found, and there can be no 

 doubt that flint weapons were extensively used at the 

 oldest pyramidal period, which, however, was one of copper ] 

 and bronze, copper and even iron objects having been 

 found in the air passages of the great Pyramid, and indi- 

 cations of the use of the hollow bronze drill in the stone 

 sarcophagi of the same epoch. The pyramids were 

 arranged chequer-wise in groups, and each separate site 

 belonged to a different dynasty, the kings and other royal 

 personages being inhumed in them, while around the 

 pyramid of each site were arranged the tombs of the 

 courtiers and officers of the court. The arrangement of 

 these tombs differs at the respective sites. At Sakkarah 

 they are arranged in rectangular groups of streets, and 

 the same arrangement prevails at Gizeh. At Abusir the 

 last undulations of the step-shaped hills which crown the 

 pyramids are occupied by some tombs scattered about of 

 the time of the fourth and fifth dynasty. At Dashour there 

 are also some tombs of a very early and unknown period, 

 and at Meidum, tombs of the third dynasty. All these 

 tombs bear a general resemblance to each other, and 

 pass by the general Arab name of mastabas, " counters,'' or 

 " beds." At first sight they look like the pedestals of pyra- 

 mids, or truncated pyramids, being of rectangular shape, 

 with sloping sides ; they are, however, not square, but rect- 

 angular, and the angle of the sides is so great that the walls, 

 if produced upwards, would rise to 600 leet, an impossible 

 height for such a construction. Consequently they are 

 not of the class of pyramids, but only show the Egyptian 

 preference for converging lines, instead of purely parallel 

 or rectangular forms ; the short sides also in some in- 

 stances are step-shaped, the layers of stone are squared 

 and laid in horizontal courses, and not polygonal m sses. 

 These rectangular masses of masonry or brick-work, the 

 details of which will be subsequently described, did not 

 contain the sepulchral chamber, for that is alwa\s found 

 in the solid rock beneath, the access to which was by a 



rectangular shaft or well, down which the coffin and 

 mummy were lowered by ropes ; the mass of masonry 

 above had only in it the sepulchral chamber and the cell 

 for the sepulchral statue. The general " cemetery," with its 

 street of tombs, was called in Egyptian khcr or khclj the 

 individual tombs bore the general name of malm " se- 

 pulchres," which was applicable to any class of tomb, 

 whether those of the kings or used by the inhabitants of 

 the tow : n or city. The term mer was applied to any 

 tombs which had pyramidal construction, as those made 

 of brick with pyramidal tops cut out of the flank of the 

 hill at the time of the eleventh dynasty at the Drah 

 Abu'-l Neggah, in the western quarter of Thebes ; but 

 the term applied to the syringes or hollowed passages 

 and tunnelled tombs at Gournah and elsewhere is asi, 

 a word applied to a plant, perhaps a " reed," but also 

 meaning a chamber, and this word was used to express 

 the so-called mastaba, or quadrilateral sepulchre of the 

 early dynasties. The great necropolis of Sakkarah is 

 supposed to be that of the ancient Ka-Kam, the city of 

 the Black Bull, known to the Greeks under the name of 

 Cochome, and the pyramid there to have been named 

 Ap, the ''elevation" or "Mount," and the pyramid 

 was step-shaped, made of unbaked brick, probably when 

 first built in seven stages. 



The mastabas were the mausolea of the richer and 

 more important personages of the court hierarchy and 

 Egyptian bureaucracy, for the poor and slaves were not 

 buried with any consideration ; they were hustled into 

 superficial graves about three feet deep beneath the soil, 

 and at this distant period of time are found only as 

 skeletons, with no linen wraps remaining or other traces 

 of emblems, and must therefore be regarded as the oldest 

 and most primitive examples of Egyptian interment, and 

 their bodies were unprovided with coffins. Occasionally, 

 perhaps, some of the least poor, or slaves of extraordinary 

 merit, had rectangular vaulted chambers, constructed of 

 brick-work, vaulted and covered with a white coating ; in 

 the interior of these rude graves are found small vases or 

 cups of coarse pottery or calcareous stone or alabaster, 

 but uninscribed. These graves recal to mind those of the 

 later Roman period, although the Memphian ones belong 

 to a period long anterior. 



The mastabas vary in size and dimension, but their 

 average or normal dimensions are nearly fifty yards long, 

 twelve yards wide, and thirty deep. The chief of these 

 mastabas is the Mastabat-il-1'haraoun, which recent dis- 

 coveries show to have been the sepulchre of Unas of 

 the fifth dynasty, who was not buried in a pyramid. The 

 mastabas are said to be peculiar to Gizeh, and not to be 

 found elsewhere, and a long interval of civilisation must 

 have preceded the construction of these tombs, as they 

 show a considerable knowledge of architecture by their 

 regular and geometric construction, while the square 

 blocks and regular layers, each vertical joint being over- 

 lapped by a square stone, evidence considerable technical 

 experience in the art of masonry. The other mastabas 

 are made of similar masses of brick-work, and the bricks 

 are of two kinds, those of the oldest mastabas, made of 

 rectangular yellow bricks, composed of sand, pebbles, and 

 some Nile mud, their dimensions being 22X11X7 of a 

 metre, and black bricks made of alluvial soil and straw, 

 larger in size, being 3SX iSX 14 of a metre ; these bricks 

 are not older than the middle of the fourth dynasty, while 

 the others are as old as the second line. The black 

 bricks continue till the time of the Romans, and both 

 kinds are sun-dried, no burnt bricks, with the exception 

 of the conical stamped bricks, found at the tombs of the 

 Drah-Ahi' l'Neggah, having been employed in construc- 

 tions till the age of the Caesars. 



In the masses of brick-work or masonry which stood 

 above the soil over the sepulchral chamber, hewn out of 

 the solid rocks beneath, were constructed the mortuary 

 chapel, for the pciforir.ance of masses or liturgies to the 



