Historical studies

It is clear therefore that cither of the readings of
Manctho are within the limit of quarry dating.
But if the longer reading be accepted the levy of
men need not have taken place till April, which is the
more likely course.
The proposal of Meyer to cut this interval down
to 300-400 years {iVacItlriii^cs. Acg. Cliron. 1908, p. 20)
would throw the quarrying across the agricultural
season, and cease it before the inundation rose and
transport was most easy. This would entirely
reverse the natural order of Egyptian work, and
leave the stones for six months waiting for the next
inundation ;
fore impossible.
such a shortening of the history is there-
It is now evident that if we accept the Mesore
year or the Thoth year for either event, or for both,
or for neither, the only choice affected by that question
is that between the higher and lower readings of
Manetho. It seems that the only logical course
(after Meyer's paper on the Mesore year named
above) is to accept Mesore as the first month in
both the xiith and the iiird dynasties ; and following
the shorter readings of Manetho we should accept
the date for the xiith dynasty 3579 to 3366
THE LENGTH OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY
(or 2 119 to 1906)
and for the end of the iiird dynasty 4777
(or 3317)-
The quarrying then began on the 15th of March ;
or, if later, then some of the longer readings of
Manetho can be accepted.
The Frequency of Monuments.
28. As the number of monuments in a given period
has been often taken as an indication of the time
involved, it is well to see what is the frequency of
monuments in various periods, in relation to the
conditions of the civili.sation.
We will first take the best ascertained periods,
about the length of which there is no considerable
question. The number of monuments is fairly ascer-
tained by counting them in the Student's History;
only as it would be impossible to include every ring
and scarab with a king's name, the count is best
restricted to buildings, statues, and stones with
cartouches. To express the relative frequency the
number of monuments per century is the clearest
statement. It is not to be expected that a remote
and a recent period should be comparable, as many
conditions are adverse to the earlier age ; but
periods within the same thousand years may be
fairly contrasted, so as to see the extent of variation
in different conditions of the country.
As there is no considerable question about the
lengths of the dynasties from the xviiith dynasty
onward, we state here the number of monuments per
century in each dynasty from that point.
xviii 144 per century
xix