The Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chaldæa

Abstract

THE third edition of “The Dawn of Civilization,” the English translation of Prof. Maspero's “Les Origines,” has just been issued. The three coloured photographic plates which were inserted in the second edition are here retained, while but few changes have been made in the text of the second edition of the work. The most considerable addition appears to be in the chapter dealing with the first Theban empire. Here the author gives a brief sketch of the conclusions that maybe drawn from a study of the remains recently found by Prof. Petrie between Ballas and Naqâda. Towards the end of the sixth dynasty the Libyans, yielding to a migratory impulse, overran the western frontier and established themselves in Egypt, leaving a permanent record of their presence in the burying places and remains of villages which extend the whole length of the mountain chain from SiÛt to Gebelên. Prof. Maspero does not go so far as Prof. Petrie, who would regard the whole of the south of Egypt as having been wrested from the native kings by this “new race”; he does, however, conclude that these Libyan settlers were predominant throughout a considerable area on the left bank of the river, and that their influence was felt for more than a century. The pagination remains the same as that of the two earlier editions of the book.

The Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chald"a.

(Third edition.) By G. Maspero. Pp. xiv + 800. (London: S.P.C.K., 1897.)