Fia. 78. F ig . 79.
Ancient Asiatic. Modern Kurd.
of the Taurus chain; because he bears a strong resemblance to
modern Kurdish families; seen by comparing this profile with the
head of a Kurd (Fig. 79), from the work of H amilton Smith. To
our minds, here is a strong example of 'permanence of type through
8000 years; whilst the name “ Kurdah,” Kurds, is read in ancient
cuneiform, by De Satjlcy, upon Assyrian inscriptions.
Asiatic conquests of B amses H. yield us Fig. 80; within the fourteenth
century b. c., preserved at Beyt-el-WAlee.165 Mr. Birch’s detailed
account of this important historical document is accompanied by
colored drawings, in which the victories of that monarch over various
Asiatic and African races are represented with amazing truthfulness
and spirit. The head itself possesses a Semitic caste, blended,
perhaps, with Arian elements.
F ig. 80. F ig. 81.
Another captive (Fig. 81) from the Asiatic conquests of B am se s HI.
at Medeenet-IIaboo.166 Wilkinson reads the ng.me “ Lemanon,”
identical with Lebanon ; which is probable, inasmuch as Birch agrees;
whilst Osburn, by reading Hermo-
nites, fixes their locality at Mount F ig . 82.
Hermon, anti-Libanus, in the northeast
of Palestine. This characteristic
specimen is essentially Semitic,
of the Syrian form.
Fig. 82 belongs to the “ Grand
Procession” of the age of Thotmes
HI., of the XVHth dynasty, 1600
b. c.167 Ho head in our whole catalogue
has, perhaps, caused as much
archaeological debate; nor is our
knowledge of his race and country as yet satisfactory.
Bosellini figures this head without comment. Champollion Figeac
copies it, but his explanations lead to no tangible result. Hoskins
has beautifully colored the whole file (sixteen persons in number) of
these tributary people, regarding them as natives of Mero'e, in Ethiopia
; hut subsequent researches, by Lepsius and others, render such
estimate of Meroite antiquity radically wrong. We now know that,
in the time of Thotmes HI., the only civilized points in Hubia were
those occupied by Egyptian garrisons. The Meroe of Greek annalists
did not then exist.
Wilkinson accurately designs the whole scene, but without colors;
thereby rendering it less clear, in an anthropological point of view;
hut his hieroglyphics are more exact, and he o b s e r v e s T h e people,
Kufa (which is their name), appear to have inhabited a part of Asia,
lying considerably to the north of the latitude of Palestine; and their
long hair,- rich dresses, and sandals of the most varied form and color,
render them remarkable among the nations represented in Egyptian
sculpture.” Birch’calls them “ the people of K a f or Kfou, an Asiatic
race;” placing them near Mesopotamia. Prisse denominates them,
“ le peuple de Koufa (race Asiatique, peinte en rouge).”
From the foregoing we may conclude —-1st, that these Koufa were
Asiatics; 2d, that they resided near Mesopotamia; 3d, that, as they
are_ painted red on the monuments, they presented certain affinities
with the Egyptians, confirmed by the physiological characteristics of
the latter race observed by Morton—“ shortness of the lower jaw and
chin;” and 4th, that, if they be Cushites, they are of the Hamitic stem.
They are probably of the KUSA-ite families of Arabia, cognate to the
Egyptians (perhaps allied by royal marriages), who ip consequence
honored them with the red color. Inasmuch as they hring a tribute