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is contained in a paper read bdfore the Royal Society io i 1858, giving an account of the explorations prosecuted near I Cairo by direction of Me. Leonard Horner, in order to dis* cover the general depth of the alluvial land of Egypt, and, by calculations founded upon its annual rate of increase, to connect geological with historical time. Mr. Horner infers, from finding a piece of pottery in the Nile sediment, and at a certain depth below the surface of the soil, that man existed in Egypt more than 11,000 years before the Chris tian era; and not merely existed, but bad advanced in civilisation so far as to know and practise the art of forming vessels of clay, and hardening them by fire. Mr. Homer arrives at this conclusion in the following manner. Taking the colossal statue of Eamesss 1L, in the area of the ancient Memphis, as the basis of his calculation, be found the depth of the Nile sediment, from the present surface of the ground to the upper level of the platform upon which the statue had stood, to be 9 feet 4 inches. Then adopting the date of Lepsius for the reign of Bameses H. (b,c» 1394-1828.) and supposing tlie statue to have been erected in b c. 1361, Mr. Horner obtains, between that time and 1854—the date of his excavations—a period of 3,215 years for the accumulation of 9 feet 4 inches of sediment; and accordingly he.concludes that the mean rate of increase has been, within a small fraction, 34 inches in a century. Hence, says Mr. ; Horner, u it gives for the lowest part deposited an age of 10,285 years before the middle of the reign of Raineses II., 11,646 years before Christ, and 13,500 years before 1854.M. Bunsen, $fter quoting Mr. Horner's words, adds:— \“ The operation performed, and the result obtained, are: historical, not geological. The soil which has bees penetratedia MTrlnHivp]* hi4tnrin*l nniL coaval with mankind, and ncder*
Newspaper Details
Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser
London, Middlesex, GB
Wed, Apr 27, 1859
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 09 Jun 2023
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