The Sculptured Stones found at Hal Tarxien, Malta, in their 
Relation to Cretan and Egyptian Decoration. 
(Brief Summary in English). 
The origin of most of the systems of decoration have, up 
to quite recent years, generally been attributed to Egypt. But 
discoveries lately made in the islands of the Mediteranean 
and in the countries of southeastern Europe have shown that 
civilization in these parts reaches farther back than supposed. 
And the chronological system of Egyptian history now gener- 
ally accepted has proved that the age assigned to Egyptian 
antiquities has been much exaggerated. These facts necessitate 
a renewed examination of many of the old problems. 
The origin of the spiral ornamentation, which plays such 
a large part in Egyptian decoration of the Middle and New 
Kingdom, is now a matter of controversy. It is of course an 
accepted fact that spirals have originated at different times in 
different parts of the globe. Examples might be given from 
the palæolithic art of western Europe, from Egyptian art of 
the predynastic period, from early Chinese and from Mexican 
art. But these are comparatively primitive forms. The more 
developed patterns of late neolithic time and of the bronze 
age, which are found in the countries of the eastern Mediteranean 
and the adjoining countries, cannot be considered from the 
same point of view, but seem to form a continuous group. 
These spirals cannot be of Egyptian origin, as they do not 
occur earlier than the XIIth dynasty (c. 2000 — c. 1800 B. C.). 
The spiral decorated scarabs with names of kings of the IVth, 
Vth and VIth dynasties have hitherto been regarded as a proof 
of an earlier occurence, but they are now generally assigned 
to the Middle Kingdom. And at that time spiral patterns had 
