and even contained
many unusual spellings; but they were still too clear to be
misunderstood. Sethe succeeded in identifying the names of the fifth,
the sixth and the seventh kings of the first Manethonian dynasty,
called by the Greek authors Usaphais, Miebais and Semempses. Thus it
became extremely probable that all these newly discovered objects were
from the first dynasty, but still not absolutely certain; for the
three names occurred only on fragments of vases, and absolutely
nothing was known of how these fragments were found. The proof that
they belonged to the other objects was wanting. A very skeptical
investigator might still have said that the other objects were older,
that the potsherds had only fallen accidentally into ruined tombs of
an older period; or he might have said quite the contrary, that the
potsherds were older than the tombs.

At this point occurred the possibility of finding a solution of the
question in the objects found in the royal tomb of Neggadeh. For the
report of the excavations at Neggadeh was more exact than that of the
excavations at Abydos; and the whole contents of the tomb of Neggadeh
had been kept together and preserved in a separate room in the Grizeh
Museum. The possibility became a reality. One of the principal objects
of this royal tomb was found to bear the ordinary as well as the Horus
name of the king--a fact which had escaped the fortunate discoverer.
The object is a small ivory plate with incised representations of
funerary offerings before the king. Animals are being sacrificed to
him; jars full of beer and other things are being offered. The figure
of the king, in front of a hanging mat, is not preserved; but the
upper corner still remains with the two names, which were written
above the figure. First, there is the same Horus name which occurs on
all the inscribed objects of this tomb and which may be translated
"The Warrior." Beside the Horus name in a sort of cartouche is the
title "Lord of Vulture and Serpent Crown" (Lord of Upper and Lower
Egypt), and beneath the title the sign which represents a
checkerboard, and has the syllabic value Mn. There can therefore be no
doubt that the king buried in the royal tomb of Neggadeh, of whom we
had only known the Horus name "The Warrior," had also the name Mn.
Now, there is no other known Egyptian king who could be identified
with this name Mn than the first king of the first Manethonian
dynasty, called Menes by the Greeks. It