as _deposits_. We do not know
whether, in selecting these objects, the ancient Egyptian had regard
to what he considered their intrinsic value, or whether, as was most
probable, it was some religious motive that prompted his action. Often
the objects thus deposited come under the designation of pottery,
although the vases were sometimes shaped of stone and not of clay.
Within such vases all kinds of objects were preserved. The jar or vase
was closed with a lump of clay, either flat or conical, and the clay was
impressed, while wet, with a seal.

A detailed and elaborate examination of the relative positions of the
tombs, their dimensions, and the objects found in them, compared with
the various fragments of historical records of the early dynasties,
enables us to reconstruct the exact order of these ancient rulers. This
sequence is:

[Illustration: 362.jpg TABLE OF ANCIENT RULERS]*

* Ka and Zeser were possibly brothers of Mena.

Following the dating tentatively computed by Professor Petrie, the dates
of some of these kings are:

[Illustration: 363a.jpg TABLE OF CHRONOLOGY OF EARLY KINGS]

Thus we have reconstructed the list of Thinite kings before Mena so
far as the facts allow, and perhaps so far as we are ever likely to
ascertain them.

The facts about the second dynasty, the kings after Qa, must now be
studied. In the tomb of Perabsen it was found that there were
buried with him vases of three other kings, which are therefore his
predecessors. Their names are Hotepahaui, Raneb, and Neteren; and it
is certain that Raneb preceded Neteren, as the latter had defaced and
re-used a vase of the former. As on statue No. 1, Cairo Museum, these
three names are in the above order, and, as the succession of two of
them is now proved, it is only reasonable to accept them in this order.
From all the available facts it seems that we ought to restore the
dynasty thus:

[Illustration: 363b.jpg TABLE OF KINGS]

The oldest tomb that we can definitely assign is that marked B 7, the
tomb of King Ka. This is a pit with sloping sides; the thickness of the
brick walls is that of the length of one brick, and the soft footing of
the wall and pressure of sand behind it has overthrown the longer sides.

[Illustration: 364.jpg ENLARGED PLAN OF FIRST DYNASTY TOMBS]

The broken pottery mixed with the sand, which filled it, largely
consisted of cylinder jars, like the later prehistoric form; and these
had many inscriptions on t