IHE.  HOENEE  ON  THE  ALLUVIAL  LAND  OF  EGYPT. 
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accumulation  of  the  sediment  upon  the  area  of  Memphis.  They  have  also  a bearing 
upon  an  opinion  I venture  hereafter  to  express,  that  the  evidence  collected  during  these 
researches  afford  a strong  presumption  of  the  existence  of  man  in  Egypt,  in  a certain 
degree  of  civilization,  long  prior  to  all  historical  records.  I have  therefore  made  the 
following  selection  of  these  objects,  as  instances,  showing  the  depths  from  the  surface  at 
w’hich  they  were  found : — 
Fragment  of  a jar  of  coarse  unglazed  pottery  ...  6 feet 
Lower  half  of  a small  human  figure  in  baked  clay  . 6 feet 
Cover  of  a jar  of  limestone 7 feet 
Back  part  of  the  skull  of  a dog  or  large  jackal ...  7 feet 
Left  metacarpal  of  an  ass 7 feet 
Small  vase  of  coarse  unglazed  pottery 8 feet 
Right  metacarpal  of  a dromedary 9 feet 
Valve  of  Iridina  rubens*  10  feet 
Saucer  of  coarse  pottery 10  feet 
Hinder  half  of  a small  lion  in  baked  clay  . . . . 10  feet 
Fragment  of  a jar  with  a stamped  ornament  . . . 11  feet 
Small  fragment  of  coloured  mosaic 12  feet 
Valve  of  Iridina  riibens 12  feet 
Valve  of  Spmdylus  gadercpus^ 12  feet 
Blade  of  a copper  knife;!; 13  feet 
Small  vase  of  white  pottery 14  feet 
Small  pot  of  brown  unglazed  pottery 15  feet 
The  boring  instrument  could  not  bring  up  large  objects,  but  it  will  have  been  seen 
by  the  preceding  section,  that,  at  the  depth  of  38  feet,  the  sand  contained  small  frag- 
ments of  burnt  brick  and  pottery. 
In  the  summer  of  1854  another  pit  was  sunk  at  the  colossal  statue,  midway  towards 
♦ Caillaud  found  Iridina  rulens  in  considerable  abundance  in  the  Nde,  and  Sowebbt  describes  a species 
under  tbe  name  of  Iridina  nilotica  obtained  from  Sennaar  by  Caillaud. 
t On  showing  this  marine  shell  to  the  late  Professor  Foebes,  he  remarked  that  it  had  probably  been 
carried  thus  far  inland  by  a large  bird. 
X This  blade  has  been  analysed  in  the  Metallurgical  Laboratory  in  J ermyn  Street,  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Peect,  by  Mr.  Chaeles  Tooket,  and  yielded  the  following  results : — 
Copper  
97-12 
Arsenic 
2-29 
Iron 
0-43 
Tin,  with  trace  of  gold 
0-24 
100-08 
Phosphorus  was  sought  for,  but  no  trace  was  found. 
The  arsenic  may  have  existed  in  the  copper  ore ; but  the  Ancient  Egyptians  may  have  known  the  art  of 
hardening  copper  by  adding  a small  proportion  of  arsenic. 
