C. W. GOODWIN, Esq., communicated the first part of a memoir on Hieratic papyri of the 12th dynasty, in the Berlin Museum, of which fac-similes have been published in Lepsius's Denkmäler. After giving some account of the 12th dynasty and its monarchs, Mr. Goodwin proceeded to examine the first papyrus, which relates to events in the reigns of Amenemha I. and Usersen I. A man named Sancha, of Asiatic extraction, but born in Egypt, was wrongfully accused by the courtiers of Amenemha I., and forced to take flight. He described his journey along the Nile to Elephantine (the limit of Egypt), and thence to a kingdom in the desert, named Gennu, the king of which received him kindly, and gave him his daughter in marriage. He thus became prosperous; but, being anxious to return to Egypt, he obtained Amenemha's permission to do so. He therefore distributed his riches among his children, and after contending with the malice of the courtiers, was appointed by the king to important offices, and retained the king's favour till his death. Thanks were returned for these Communications. Thursday, 17th December, 1863. A. W. FRANKS, Esq., Director, in the Chair. The following Presents were announced, and Thanks ordered to be returned to the Donors :— From the Royal Institute of British Architects.-Sessional Papers. Part 1. No. 3. 4to. London, 1863. From the Author.-Ancient Meols: or, some account of the Antiquities found near Dove Point, on the sea-coast of Cheshire; including a comparison of them with relics of the same kinds respectively, procured elsewhere. By the Rev. A. Hume, LL.D., D.C.L. 4to. London, 1863. From the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archæological Society.—Their Proceedings and Papers. Vol. 4. New Series. No. 41. 8vo. Dublin, 1863. From His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, through Mr. Holzmann, Librarian to His Royal Highness.-Description of the Papyrus of Nas-Khem, priest of AmenRa, discovered in an excavation made by direction of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, by the permission of Said Pasha, late Viceroy of Egypt, in a tomb near Gournah, at Thebes. By S. Birch, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A. Printed for private circulation, by desire of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. 8vo. [London, 1863.] From the Author.-British Monumental Inscriptions. Gathered occasionally from divers Churchyards, by Edwin Roffe. Volume the Second. Privately printed. Sixteen copies. Square 8vo. London, 1861. [Concluding the work.] From William Sandys, Esq., F.S.A.-The History of the Violin, and other Instruments played on with the Bow from the remotest times to the present. Also, an Account of the principal Makers, English and Foreign, with numerous illustrations. By William Sandys, F.S.A. and Simon Andrew Forster. 8vo. London, 1864. From the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon : 1. Memorias da Academia. Nova Serie. Tomo 2, parte 2. 4to. Lisbon, 1863. 3. Portugalia Monumenta Historica. Leges et Consuetudines. Volumen 1. Fasciculus 3. Folio. Lisbon, 1863. 4. Corpo Diplomatico Portuguez. Tomo 1. 4to. Lisbon, 1862. DAVID MARTINEAU, Esq. of Clapham Park, exhibited a bronze thurible or censer, found on an estate of his, called Rattling Hope, near Church Stretton, Salop. It is hexagonal in form; the base being plain and resting on three plain feet; the upper part was composed of six pierced panels, with three different patterns. The summit was broken; the chains had been once attached by three loops, and passed through pierced projections at three of the angles of the upper part. Present height 6 inches, diameter 4 inches. A thurible, very similar to this in design, but less slender, and without feet, is engraved in the Journal of the British Archæological Association, 1863, pl. 6, p. 88. It had been found at Lyng, near Elmham, and is in the collection of Robert Fitch, Esq. F.S.A. It is not easy to ascribe any very positive date to these thuribles. They resemble somewhat in their designs some of the later specimens of Irish metal-work; but their very rude character renders it difficult to assign them to any very definite period. HENRY CHRISTY, Esq. F.S.A. exhibited a skull found in a Gallo-Roman cemetery at St. Acheul, near Amiens. It is remarkable for having been discovered with a second-brass Roman coin placed in the socket of each eye. The probability that these coins had been so placed at the time of the interment was shown by the green tinge which they had communicated to the surrounding bones; one of the coins was still in its place, the other had become detached, and on being partially cleaned, had proved to be of the Emperor Magnentius. With this interment was found a curious ivory or bone handle of a clasp knife, evidently of Roman Roman Clasp Knife, Amiens. Full size. workmanship, which is represented in the accompanying woodcut. The handle is carved in the form of a crouching ibex, whose long horns are placed along its back; at the under part is a groove to receive the blade when the knife was shut. The blade has now disappeared, and was no doubt of iron; at the point where it was attached to the handle is a binding of bronze. Other coins have been found in this cemetery, showing that it was used for a long period. Some of these were also exhibited, and consisted of three second-brass coins of Augustus, one firstbrass of Trajan, one much decayed Gaulish coin, and several thirdbrass coins of Constantine and his successors. J. Y. AKERMAN, Esq. F.S.A. communicated in a letter to the Secretary the discovery of a Saxon cemetery at Arne Hill near Lockinge, Berks. He had been informed of the discovery of Saxon remains at this spot, and the Rev. J. C. Clutterbuck had kindly undertaken to visit the place and learn any particulars. The result of these inquiries was embodied by the Rev. J. C. Clutterbuck in a letter to Mr. Akerman, of which the following is an extract: "In accordance with your wish I send you some account of the Saxon cemetery discovered at Arne Hill near Lockinge, a short distance from Wantage. Colonel Lloyd Lindsay, of Lockinge Paik, fixed on an isolated hill or "mamelon" to the west of his park as the site of a plantation. This spot you will find marked in the Ordnance map as Arn Hill, between East and West Lockinge. Geologically its base consists of the upper bed of the upper green sand; its summit is capped by a coating of flint gravel, resting, I believe, on a bed of the lower chalk. "The plantation was to occupy the top of the hill, in a circle of about 80 yards in diameter. The whole of this area was trenched to the depth of about two feet or over, and it was in carrying out this operation that the discovery was made. In all about 80 skeletons were found, so far as I could learn nearly all lying east and west. You saw some of the implements first discovered; if I remember rightly, only one spear-head and several knives; Colonel Lindsay kindly asked me to spend two days there; during that time about seven or eight interments were discovered. I saw about five of these, and superintended their exhumation. Only one single knife was found. The bones were not quite so well preserved as at Wittenham; which perhaps was owing to the soil or rubble, or in some cases flint gravel, being of a looser nature. I have no reason to believe that the workmen withheld anything that was first found. That it was a cemetery in which the bodies were interred at leisure appeared, I think, evident; so far as I could judge they were of all ages and both male and female. A brook bounds the hill to the west, and also at some little distance to the east. Most of the bodies were buried about two feet to two feet six below the surface at the top, or just below the top, of the chalk, which was, as I said, covered by a bed of flint gravel." C. W. GOODWIN, Esq. proceeded to read the concluding portion of his memoir on certain Hieratic Papyri of the twelfth century, in which he described the two remaining papyri. One of these contains the history of a farmer who, having been robbed by the steward of his property, appealed to the superior lord. The superior lord communicated the matter to the king, who recommended him to make trial of the farmer by causing his house to be pulled down and treating him otherwise ill. The farmer under this treatment made a series of remonstrances, ten in number. The conclusion is lost. The story is related as having happened in the reign of a king of the third dynasty, but is probably fictitious. It was no doubt composed for the purpose of introducing the farmer's rhetoric. The third papyrus seemed to relate to some prisoner who defied the power of a tyrannical judge, and remonstrated with him. A parable illustrative of the vicissitudes of human life is introduced. On the conclusion of this paper SAMUEL BIRCH, Esq., F.S.A. called attention to the great progress which had been made in the study of Egyptian literature, pointing out that in the present instance independent translations of these curious papyri had been made by Mr. Goodwin and M. Chabas which agreed substantially with each other. Thanks were returned for these Communications. The Meetings of the Society were adjourned to Thursday, January 14th. Thursday, 14th January, 1864. WILLIAM TITE, Esq. M.P., V.P., in the Chair. The following Presents were announced, and Thanks ordered to be returned to the Donors: - From Felix Slade, Esq.-A Catalogue of the Antiquities and Works of Art exhibited |