Chapter XXIX: Part I: , published as Vol. II. of the "University of California

Publications," 1908.

[6] Cf. Maciver and Woolley, "Areika," pp. 14 ff. Mr. Maciver also cites the occurrence of a similar black-topped red-ware on sites in Egypt, dated between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasties (_op. cit._, p. 16).

[7] See Reisner, "Naga-ed-Dêr," I., p. 133 f.

[8] For discussions of the identity of the predynastic emblems with gods of the dynastic period, see Budge, "The Gods of the Egyptians," I., p. 30 f., Foucart, "Comptes rendus," 1905, pp. 262 ff., and Reisner, "Naga-ed-Dêr," p. 125; cf. also Legge, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., pp. 205 ff.

[9] For a reproduction and description of the slate carving, see Legge, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. XXII., pl. vi; cf. also Vol. XXXI., p. 204 f. Whatever view be taken of the ceremonial purpose for which these slates were intended, it is clear that the carving of slate was no new departure in Egypt at this period. Many of the practical slate palettes from Nakâda, on some of which traces have been found of the grinding of malachite and haematite for face-paint (cf. Petrie, "Naqadaand Balias," p. 43), are carved in animal forms. It may be added that the colour-dishes for face or body-paint, which have been found at Fâra, are quite distinct both in form and material from the Egyptian slate palettes. They are of alabaster, with divisions for separate paints, and usually stand on four feet (cf. Andræ, "Mitteil. der Deutsch. Orient-Gesellschaft," No. 17, p. 6); they thus form a closer parallel to the small conical vases of clay or stone, still enclosing paint, which have been found in the lowest stratum of the mound of Susa and belong to the period of its first settlement (cf. De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 5).

[10] Cf. Meyer, "Geschichte des Altertums," Bd. I., Hft. II., p. 107 f.

[11] See the plate facing p. 138.

[12] See above, pp. 26 ff.

[13] It is also possible that to represent the contracted position of his corpses was beyond the power of Eannatum's sculptor. Moreover, the employment of a common grave beneath a tumulus upon the field of battle may possibly have been a modified survival of an earlier practice, its retention having been dictated by convenience. Although no instance of its occurrence has been noted during excavations in Babylonia, we find a very similar form of burial employed at Susa during the period of its first settlement. It would appear that the dead were there buried outside the earthern rampart which marked the city-wall, without any special order or direction, and not enclosed by matting, pot, or sarcophagus. The bodies were placed in a common ditch and covered with earth, others being added from time to time beside or above them, so that sometimes four or five layers of skeletons are found super-imposed. That the corpses here were separately interred would seem to follow from the fact that each is accompanied by its own funerary offerings and furniture placed around the head; see De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr." Vol. VII., No. 1 (1909), p. 4 f. It may be added that the Sumerians, like the predynastic and early dynastic Egyptians, did not embalm their dead. The use of oil and honey for this purpose (see King, "Babylonian Religion," p. 49 f.), the latter of which is ascribed to the Babylonians by Herodotus (I., 198), would seem to have been of comparatively late introduction, and suggested by the Egyptian processes of mummification. It is interesting to note that, according to the evidence obtained by M. Naville at Abydos during the season of 1909-10, the contracted form of burial survived in Egypt at least as late as the Sixth Dynasty.

[14] The use of a sun-dried brick made of Nile mud and chopped straw may well have been evolved by the Egyptians themselves. As to the original home of wheat there is little evidence, though it may be noted that traces of cultivated wheat and barley were found in the earliest stratum at Anau in Russian Turkestan; see Pumpelly, "Explorations in Turkestan," p. 39 f.

[15] Negative evidence also points in the same direction. For instance, the extensive use of ivory by the predynastic and dynastic Egyptians is in striking contrast to the fact that not a single object of ivory was found by M. de Sarzec at Tello. With the Sumerians its place was taken by shell; see above, p. 78.

[16] Against the view may be cited the gradual discontinuance of the cylinder in Egypt, suggestive of a foreign origin. Comparatively few wooden cylinder-seals have been recovered. The fact that wood and not stone was the favourite material has, however, been deduced from many of the seal-impressions, in which a raised line runs from top to bottom across the signs. This can only have been produced by a split in the wood of which the cylinder was composed; cf. Petrie, "Royal Tombs," I., p. 27, and Newberry, "Scarabs," p. 48. The earliest form of cylinder-seal may well have been a piece of notched reed.

[17] If the land of Punt may be set in Abyssinia and Somaliland, it is possible that it formed a secondary centre of Semitic influence in this region; cf. King and Hall, "Egypt and Western Asia," p. 40.

[18] See Meyer, "Geschichte," Bd. I., Hft. II., pp. 155, 162, 393 f.; and cf. Breasted, "Ancient Records," I., p. 66. According to Schäfer's translation, the forty ships were made of cedar-wood, not loaded with it (see "Ein Bruchstück altägyptischer Annalen," p. 30). But this does not affect the inference drawn from the passage, for the cedar must have been obtained in Lebanon, and the record in any case proves a connection between Egypt and Syria in Sneferu's reign.

[19] See above, pp. 197 f., 233 f.

[20] See Thureau-Dangin, "Recueil de travaux," XIX., p. 187.

[21] See above, p. 273 f.

[22] See De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," published as the first, seventh, and eighth volumes of the "Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse."

[23] The manner in which the Semitic culture of Babylonia persisted in influencing that of Elam in the religious sphere is well illustrated by the bronze votive plaque of Shilkhak-In-Shushinak, recently found at Susa; cf. Gautier, "Rec. de trav.," XXXI., pp. 41 ff. It is termed a "Sit-Shamshi," and probably represented a rite of purification which was performed at sunrise. As its title would seem to imply, the rite had been bodily taken over by the Elamites and incorporated along with its Semitic name into the native ritual.

[24] See above, p. 306 f.

[25] Cf. Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," IV., pp. 14 ff.

[26] "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," II., pp. 169 ff.

[27] A good example of Elamite sculpture of the earlier period is furnished by the fragment of a bas-relief, published by De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," II., pl. i., A; in the treatment of the mythological being, half-man and half-beast, who is holding a sacred tree, it is quite unlike the early work of Sumer or Akkad. That, in spite of Babylonian and Assyrian influence, the Elamite sculptor continued to retain his individuality is clear from such a work as the well-known "bas-relief of a spinning woman," which probably dates from the time of the Sargonids (_op. cit._, I., pl. ix., p. 159 f.).

[28] The decorated table and bas-relief published in "Recherches," I., pl. xii and xiii are fine examples of casting in bronze. They date from the period of Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, and both in design and technique surpass any bronze casting yet found in Babylonia. The varied ornaments, jewellery, and figurines, fashioned of gold, silver, copper, and precious stones, published in "Rech. arch.," II., pp. 65 ff., pl. xii ff. as "foundation offerings" from the temple of Shushinak at Susa, are beautiful specimens of the finer class of Elamite metalwork; it is difficult to determine their date accurately, but the disorder in which they were found tells against the theory of a single foundation-deposit, and different groups may well belong to different periods.

[29] See Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," III., pp. 57 ff.

[30] See above, p. 289. The lapidary forms of the characters are more linear and less ornate than those upon the tablets. But the differences are such as would naturally arise from the use of the harder material, and we may probably assign both classes to about the same period.

[31] See Scheil, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. VI., p. 48.

[32] Cf. Jéquier, in "Recherches archéologiques," III., pp. 7 ff.

[33] See De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 8.

[34] For coloured reproductions of Susian wares, see De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," I., pl xvii-xxii; cf. also pp. 183 ff.

[35] See Gautier and Lampre, "Fouilles de Moussian," in "Recherches archéologiques," III., pp. 59 ff.

[36] See De Morgan, "Revue de l'École d'Anthropologie," 1907, p. 410 f. Still less convincing parallels are drawn between the early cultures of Crete and Elam by Lagrange in "La Crète ancienne," pp. 80 ff.

[37] See "The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions," p. 47.

[38] See Pumpelly, "Explorations in Turkestan," Vol. II., Schmidt's section on "The Archaeological Excavations," pp. 127 ff.; see further, p. 355.

[39] Cf. "The Annals of Archaeology," I., pp. 97 ff.

[40] See Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., pp. 311 ff. He also cites a general resemblance, which these three classes of pottery bear to the geometric designs on wares of the Neolithic period from Boeotia and Thessaly. On the strength of this resemblance Mr. Hall suggests that in Iran and in Northern Greece there may have been two closely related stone-using cultures, of which the former reached the age of metal at a much earlier period than the latter. He would, however, regard it as possible that the Neolithic art of Northern Greece went back to 3000 B.C. or even earlier. According to this view, the geometric and often polychrome ceramics found on prehistoric sites as widely separated as Elam, Transcaspia, Syria, Cappadocia, Cyprus, and Northern Greece would represent a development quite independent from that of the Aegean area, with which the early art of Egypt may possibly be connected. For a description of the pottery of Northern Greece, with figured examples and references to the recent literature, see the Reports of Wace, Droop, and Thompson in "Annals of Archaeology," I., pp. 118 ff. It must be admitted that the suggested resemblance between the early ceramics of Northern Greece and Western Asia is not so striking as that between the separate members of the latter group.

[41] Compare, for example, the animal motives from Mussian pottery, figured in "Recherches archéologiques," III., p. 134 f., Figs. 262-264, with the half-human bull-monsters from "proto-Elamite" seal-impressions in Figs. 22-26, p. 11 f.

[42] See De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 5.

[43] It is noteworthy that the "Greek cross," which is a very characteristic emblem on Kassite cylinder-seals from Babylonia, and also occurs on the "proto-Elamite" seal-impressions, is already met with as a decorative symbol on the early painted pottery of Susa and Mussian. It is also possible that the spear-headed emblem of the god Marduk was ultimately of Elamite origin; it might well have been transferred to Marduk at the time of the Kassite kings of Babylon.

[44] See below, p. 356.

[45] See above, p. 2 f.

[46] See Myres, "The Early Pot-Fabrics of Asia Minor" in "The Journal of the Anthropological Institute," Vol. XXXIII., p. 379. Prof. Myres would regard them as of Sargonid date, and it is true that some fragments of painted pottery of that period have been found at Kuyunjik. But the latter may be distinguished, both by subject and technique, from those which reproduce characteristics of the Cappadocian ware and are probably very much earlier (cf. Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., p. 313 f., n. 137).

[47] In the course of excavations at Kuyunjik, when sinking shafts into the lowest stratum just above the level of the plain, I came across obsidian implements and beds of ashes, indicating the existence of a Neolithic settlement.

[48] See above, p. 234 f.

[49] For a reproduction of the seal, see Sayce, "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. V., p. 442.

[50] For the sealings, see Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., pp. 3 ff. The points of contrast presented by the Cyprus seal may be summarized: (1)The signs employed in the inscription are not of Narâm-Sin's period, but of the time of the First Dynasty. (2)The presence of the Storm-god, the number and nature of the religious emblems, the arrangement of the design dictated by the horror vacui, and the engraving of the seal itself with its undisguised employment of the drill, are all Syro-Cappadocian in character; they are in striking contrast to the beauty of proportion and restrained design of the figures arranged on a plain field by the early Semitic seal-engravers of Akkad. (3)The deification of Narâm-Sin is of course no proof that he was dead (see above, p. 251). But it should be noted that on seals of Narâm-Sin's period, which mention the reigning king or a member of his family, the royal name is included in order to indicate a delegation of authority. The text is always couched in the second person, in the form of an address, and the royal name is invariably mentioned first. Had Mâr-Ishtar, the owner of the seal, been a contemporary of Narâm-Sin, the inscription on the seal would have run: "O Narâm-Sin, God of Akkad (_or_ King of Akkad), Mâr-Ishtar, the (_here would follow the title of his office_), is thy servant." As a matter of fact, the inscription runs: "Mâr-Ishtar, son of Ilu-bani, servant of the god Narâm-Sin." Here Mâr-Ishtar's name comes first, then that of his father, and lastly that of his patron deity. Narâm-Sin is no longer the living God of Akkad, but is just an ordinary deity, and occupies an ordinary deity's place upon the seal. The survival of his name as that of a god in the period of the Western Semites is paralleled by the occurrence of the name of Bûr-Sin I., King of Ur, as that of a deity in the Moon-god's suite, on a god-list of the seventh century B.C.; see above, p. 299.

[51] For a reproduction of the seal, see Bezold, "Zeits. für Keilschrift.," II., pp. 191 ff.; cf. also Myres and Ohnefalsch-Richter, "Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum," pp. 15, 134.

[52] Of the Enkomi cylinder-seals, for example, only two are purely Babylonian (of the First Dynasty), and the others, with the exception of a few rude specimens of native Cypriote workmanship, are Syro-Cappadocian and Hittite importations.

[53] See Winckler, "Die Euphratländer und das Mittelmeer," in "Der Alte Orient," VII., 2 (1905), p. 10.

[54] See Burrows, "The Discoveries in Crete," p. 9.

[55] _Op. cit._, p. 134.

[56] See Sayce, "Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions," p. 181, Burrows, "The Discoveries in Crete," p. 139, and Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., p. 225.

[57] For the evolution of Minoan writing, see Evans, "Scripta Minoa," I., pp. 19 ff., 28 ff.

[58] The clay disk stamped with hieroglyphic characters, which has been discovered by Prof. Halbherr at Phaestos, may be cited in support of this view. From a scrutiny of the characters upon it, Dr. Evans concludes that the original home of its peculiar non-Cretan form of writing is to be sought in the South-West coast-lands of Asia Minor, or in an island in close contact with the mainland. The disk belongs to a period when the linear form of script had succeeded the hieroglyphic in Crete itself (see "Scripta Minoa," I., pp. 22 ff., 273 ff.).

[59] It is also through a Hittite medium that we may possibly trace a connection between the composite monsters of Babylonian and Minoan art; see Sayce, _op. cit._, p. 180. It should be noted, however, that, although the idea underlying the designs upon the Zakro sealings may be of foreign origin, the development of the variant types of many of the monster forms was purely local and confined to a single period (cf. Hogarth, "Journal of Hellenic Studies," Vol. XXII., p. 91). Moreover, the bull-monsters, or "Minotaurs," of Aegean art were obviously derived from the local cult of Knossos; in the winged and bird-like types Cappadocian influence is more probable.

[60] See Burrows, "Discoveries in Crete," p. 149.

[61] In this respect it forms a striking contrast to the clay cylinder from the sepulchral deposit of Hagios Onuphrios near Phaestos. The latter is unperforated and the designs are cut at each end of the seal; it is thus no true cylinder, but merely a double-button seal (see Evans, "Cretan Pictographs," pp. 105, 107).

[62] The figures engraved upon the seal consist of a lion-headed demon and two female figures, possibly with the heads of animals; they are arranged across the field of the cylinder from edge to edge. The seal is of soft, black stone, much worn (see Bosanquet, "The Annual of the British School at Athens," No. VIII., p. 302).

[63] See "Ionia and the East," p. 96 f.

[64] See above, p. 334 f.

[65] Cf. Hogarth, "Ionia and the East," p. 47 f.

APPENDICES

I.--Recent Explorations in Turkestan in their Relation to the Sumerian Problem.

II.--A Chronological List of the Kings and Rulers of Sumer and Akkad.