Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/102

 The People. 8i late and skilfully-devised invention. This by no means applies to lo ahd Danalis ; both one and the other undoubtedly belong to the old cycle of Argian myths. On the other hand, we know that bred-and-born Egyptians were stay-at-home folk, in- different to the world outside their own ; that in the whole mass of documents of every kind left by them, there is not a single text from which it could be inferred that before the advent of the Sait dynasty they had direct dealings with Southern Europe ; hence the conclusion that some slight error and confusion crept in and somewhat altered the form which these legendary tales assumed. In the course of her political existence Egypt was attacked again and again by poor warlike tribes from Asia Minor and Syria, from Cyprus and Crete, and even from her nearest neigh- bour Libya ; one and all invaded Egypt for the sake of plunder. Some of these tribes, the Shardana and Masaouash, appear to have succeeded after a long struggle in obtaining, as auxiliaries, a foothold in a land well calculated to excite their covetousness. We may easily imagine that in such circumstances, a change of ruler, or of government, a military sedition crushed with main force, was likely to compel one or other of these bands to take to the sea in quest of new seats. These soldiers of fortune and their families had been domiciled in the country for several generations. They spoke its language, its manners and dress had become their own, and they practised some of its special handicrafts ; coming from Egypt, they may well have been mistaken for Egyptians. Under this reserve, it is not improbable that there may be a residuum of truth in the belief according to which Egypt, once upon a time, would appear to have sent forth her contingent of colonists to Hellas. With due allowance for this notion, it remains true that the bulk of practical know- ledge, of ornamental designs, and of wrought objects, which reached Greece throughout the whole extent of the archaic period, were carried thither by the Phoenicians, the acknowledged brokers of Egyptian industry and agriculture, and that Egyptian inventions and Egyptian examples had a share in the development of Greek genius. It is plain therefore that the part of teacher, which the Canaan- ite was called upon to play for centuries on the coasts of Hellas, was a comprehensive one. Even on such points where they had no fixed domicile, as was the case on some of the islands and VOL. L G