B78 



THE EXCAVATIONS AT AHUSIR, EGYPT. 



that the manner of presenting these groups, just as in the reliefs of 

 tlie sanctuary of the sun god at Abusir, discussed above, corresponds 

 ahnost exactly to the mode of presentation shown in the temples of 

 the flourishing period of Egypt one or two milleniums later. The 

 same characteristics are found in the architectural forms, the colunms, 

 cornices, and other features. It is therefore concluded that the view 

 of the older investigators, that the art of the old empire of Egypt did 

 not differ in principle from that of the later periods, was correct. 

 The art of the later periods shows comparati\ ely insigniticant differ- 

 ences, due to the progressive development of the people. This conclu- 

 sion, howeA^er, has of late been frequently' disputed. ]Momiments 

 whose inscriptions indicate very early time, but that exhibit peculiari- 

 ties known only in later periods, have been declared to ])e in realit}'^ 

 products of these later periods artificially given an archaic appearance; 

 but the finds at Abusir show that these conclusions are erronc^ous and 

 that such monuments are really as old as the names of the kings that 

 they bear. 



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Fig. 3. — Plan of the Pyramid Temple of Ka-en-usur. 



The mortuary temple of King Ka-en-user is as little finished as most 

 old Egyptian edifices of this kind. The king died before the last 

 hand was put on the work, and his successors had so much to do with 

 their own buildings that the}' felt no inclination to spend time and 

 strength on the foundations of their predecessors. But this pharaoh 

 left endowments on the income of which priests were appointed to 

 exercise his cult of the dead, and centuries later these functionaries 

 are still mentioned, though the temple was in process of decay, for 

 graves of that time have been found dug into ruin heaps above the 

 temple floor. Shortlj^ afterwards the cult, too, ceased, the walls of 

 the temple were torn down, and the stones used for other ))uildings; 

 high heaps of debi'is accumulated, common graves for the poor were 

 made there, and a mound of ruins soon covered the entire site. 



On the occasion of these excavations tom])s of widely separated 

 epochs of Egyptian history were opened in the neighborhood of the 



