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INTRODUCTION
From 1580 B.C., onward, the authorities are in practical agreement; prior to that date the chronology is uncertain.
This confusion has been partly caused by the Egyp- tians having ignored the leap year addition of one day. Their calendar of 365 days lost about a quarter of a day each twelvemonth and about a whole day every four years. New Year’s Day began with the rising of the star Sirius (Sothos) on 17 June, and it coincided with the beginning of the Nile inundation. But in a cycle of 1461 years Sirius rose in every alternate month of the Egyptian year. When, therefore, we find in the Egyp- tian records a reference, at a particular period, to their first month (the month of Thoth), we are left to discover whether it was our April or October; and in dating back we must allow for the “wanderings of Sirius". Much controversial literature has accumulated regarding what is known as the Egyptian "Sothic Cycle”.
Throughout this volume the dates are given in ac- cordance with the minimum system, on account of the important evidence afforded by the Cretan discoveries. But we may agree to differ from Professor Petrie on chronological matters and yet continue to admire his genius and acknowledge the incalculable debt we owe him as one who has reconstructed some of the most obscure periods of Egyptian history. The light he has thrown upon early Dynastic and pre-Dynastic times, espe- cially, has assured him an undying reputation, and he has set an example to all who have followed by the thoroughness and painstaking character of his work of research.
It is chiefly by modern-day excavators in Egypt, and in those countries which traded with the Nilotic king- dom in ancient times, that the past has been conjured up before us. We know more about ancient Egypt now
