ame period found by Mr. Seton-Karr at the very ancient flint
works in the Wadi esh-Shekh, are of very coarse and poor workmanship
as compared with the stone-knapping triumphs of the late Neolithic and
early Chalcolithic periods. The delicacy of the art had all been lost.
But the best flint knives of the early period--dating to just a little
before the time of the Ist Dynasty, when flint-working had attained its
apogee, and copper had just begun to be used--are undoubtedly the most
remarkable stone weapons ever made in the world. The grace and utility
of the form, the delicacy of the fluted chipping on the side, and
the minute care with which the tiny serrations of the cutting edge,
serrations so small that often they can hardly be seen with the naked
eye, are made, can certainly not be parallelled elsewhere. The art
of flint-knapping reached its zenith in Ancient Egypt. The specimen
illustrated has a handle covered with gold decorated with incised
designs representing animals.

The prehistoric Egyptians may also fairly be said to have attained
greater perfection than other peoples in the Neolithic stage of culture,
in other arts besides the making of stone tools and weapons. Their
pottery is of remarkable perfection. Now that the sites of the Egyptian
prehistoric settlements have been so thoroughly explored by competent
archaeologists (and, unhappily, as thoroughly pillaged by incompetent
natives), this prehistoric Egyptian pottery has become extremely well
known. In fact, it is so common that good specimens may be bought
anywhere in Egypt for a few piastres. Most museums possess sets of this
pottery, of which great quantities have been brought back from Egypt
by Prof. Petrie and other explorers. It is of very great interest,
artistically as well as historically. The potter's wheel was not yet
invented, and all the vases, even those of the most perfect shape, were
built up by hand. The perfection of form attained without the aid of the
wheel is truly marvellous.

The commonest type of this pottery is a red polished ware vase with
black top, due to its having been baked mouth downward in a fire, the
ashes of which, according to Prof. Petrie, deoxidized the haematite
burnishing, and so turned the red colour to black. "In good examples
the haematite has not only been reduced to black magnetic oxide, but
the black has the highest polish, as seen on fine Greek vases. This is
probably due to the formation of carbonyl gas in