130 



NA TURE 



[December 12, 1907 



work of excavation at Phylakopi, in Melos, which 

 remains unfinished. Meanwhile, the Mycenteologucs 

 can discuss the resuUs of the energetic exploring work 

 of the last decade, and books such as Prof. Burrows's 

 recently published " Discoveries in Crete," or articles 

 like that of Dr. Mackenzie on " Cretan Palaces and 

 the ^gean Civilisation," which appears in this 

 volume, will help us to understand these results better. 

 Dr. Mackenzie's article continues his discussion of 

 the contingent results of the excavations at Knossos 

 and Phaistos, which commenced in last year's 

 "Annual." In the continuation he passes from 

 architectural evidence to a discussion of various 

 theories as to the origins of ^gean culture, in which 



Fig. I. — Cretan seal-impression, showing Minoan civil and militaty 

 costume ; waistcloth and armour. Frotn the " Annual of the British 

 .School at Athens." 



he rightly criticises and dismisses the revived Carian 

 theory of Dr. Dorpfeld, and urges his own view and 

 that of Dr. Evans, which is shared by many others, 

 apparently by Prof. Burrows, and certainly by my- 

 self (see King and Hall, " Egypt and Western Asia 

 in the Light of Recent Discovery," p. 12S), that the 

 ^gean civilisation came from Africa, and was akin 

 in origin to that of Egypt. I mention that this 

 view is held by me, because Dr. Mackenzie credits 

 me in his article with believing rather that /Egean 

 culture came from Asia. He says : — " The designa- 

 tions ' kleinasiatisch ' and Asianic, as well as 

 other statements in the passage cited (Journ. Hell. 



Fig. 2.-C 



developed from waistcloth. From the ".\nnual of the British School 

 at Athens." 



Stud., XXV., 323) would seem to indicate an under- 

 lying belief on Mr. Hall's part that the primary 

 movement of the /Egeo-Pelasgian people was from 

 an initial centre of departure somewhere in Asia." 

 But, as a matter of fact, I agree entirely with Dr. 

 Mackenzie. The words "kleinasiatisch " and ."Vsianic 

 have been used by me in reference to the pre-Hellenic 

 languages of the /Egean merely because they are so 

 used by the philologists Kretschmer and Pick ; and 

 their sole reason for using such terms is that the 

 only later representatives of these languages which 

 are at all well known were spoken in Asia Minor. 



NO. 1989, VOL. yyl 



Prof. Pick may regard these tongues as being of 

 .'\siatic origin. Dr. Mackenzie says : — " Even Pick 

 continues to behold one last vestige of the same 

 oriental mirage. The initial racial movement which 

 led to the vEgeo-Pelasgian culture would, according 

 to Pick, have to be assigned a starting-point at some 

 centre in Asia beyond the Hittite country." But 

 I do not, and I think / may reasonably protest 

 against having non-existent " underlying beliefs " 

 assigned to me, in view of the following passage 

 in the same article that Dr. Mackenzie quotes 

 {J.H.S., XXV., p. 337), the meaning of which 

 seems to me perfectly clear : — " If we were to 

 suppose that the prehistoric Greek and the Egyptian 

 civilisations had a common origin back in the dark- 

 ness of the Age of Stone, that they were twin 

 cultures of the same Mediterranean stock, the one 

 having developed, however, amid the diverse isles and 

 changing seas and skies of the /Egean, the other on 

 the monotonous banks of the Nile, wo can see how 



Fir. 3.— The Excavations at S[;arta; piers of the Rmnan theatre built in 

 the court of the sanctuary of Artemis Orlhia. l-Voin the "Annual of 

 the British School at Athens." 



the northern culture would naturally show greater 

 freedom and variety, often running off into mere 

 bizarrerie, but as often exhibiting something of that 

 spirit which we, knowing it in the renascent Arj'anised 

 civilisation of the later day, call ' Greek.' " 



From this I think it is clear that I do not believe in 

 a-i Asiatic origin for the /Egean culture, and that 

 I do believe in an African origin for it is shown 

 by the passage, already referred to, in Mr. King's 

 and my book (originally published in 1905 as the 

 final volume of an American series), in which I 

 say : — " . . . We are gradually being led to perceive 

 the possibility that the Minoan culture of Greece was 

 in its origin an offshoot from that of primeval Egypt, 

 probably in early Neolithic times." One of the 

 things that has always disposed both others and me 

 to believe an .African origin for it is the scanty cos- 

 tume worn by the Mvcenwans, which has a decidedly 

 southern appearance. Dr. Mackenzie is perhaps the 

 first to direct attention to this point in print, and 



