underneath the pavement of the ancient
temple, Prof. Petrie found remains which he then diagnosed as belonging
to the most ancient epoch of Egyptian history. Among them were some
extremely archaic statues of the god Min, on which were curious
scratched drawings of bears, _crioceras-shells_, elephants walking over
hills, etc., of the most primitive description. With them were lions'
heads and birds of a style then unknown, but which we now know to belong
to the period of the beginning of the Ist Dynasty. But the statues of
Min are older. The _crioceras-shells_ belong to the Red Sea. Are we to
see in these statues the holy images of the conquerors from the Red Sea
who reached the Nile valley by way of the Wadi Hammamat, and set up the
first memorials of their presence at Koptos? It may be so, or the Min
statues may be older than the conquerors, and belong to the Neolithic
race, since Min and his fetish (which we find on the slate palette from
el-'Amra, already mentioned) seem to belong to the indigenous Nilotes.
In any case we have in these statues, two of which are in the Ashmolean
Museum at Oxford, probably the most ancient cult-images in the world:

This theory, which would make all the Neolithic inhabitants of Egypt
one people, who were conquered by a Semitic race, bringing a culture of
Sumerian origin to Egypt by way of the Wadi Hammamat, is that generally
accepted at the present time. It may, however, eventually prove
necessary to modify it. For reasons given above, it may well be that the
Neolithic population was itself not indigenous, and that it reached the
Nile valley by way of the Wadi Hammamat, spreading north and south
from the mouth of the _wadi_. It may also be considered probable that
a Semitic wave invaded Egypt by way of the Isthmus of Suez, where
the early sun-cultus of Heliopolis probably marks a primeval Semitic
settlement. In that case it would seem that the _Mesniu_ or "Smiths,"
who introduced the use of metal, would have to be referred to the
originally Neolithic pre-Semitic people, who certainly were acquainted
with the use of copper, though not to any great extent. But this is not
a necessary supposition. The _Mesniu_ are closely connected with the
Sky-god Horus, who was possibly of Semitic origin, and another Semitic
wave, quite distinct from that which entered Egypt by way of the
Isthmus, may very well also have reached Egypt by the Wadi Hammamat, or,
equally possibly, from the far south, comin