[Illustration:  379.jpg TABLET OF DEN-SETUI, 4600 B.C.]

It should be noted also that the royal name, Setui, occurs in the lower part of the tablet, so that there is a strong presumption that the tablet is of the time of Den-Setui, and the presumption is almost a certainty when the tablet is compared with some sealings found in its vicinity.  Mr. F. LI.  Griffiths has written at length on this important inscription.*

     * Royal Tombs of the first dynasty, Part I:  Eighteenth
     Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, London, 1900, page 42.

He thinks that this tablet and two others somewhat similar were the brief annals of the time, and record the historic events and the names of government officials.  He translates a portion of the inscription as “Opening the gates of foreign lands,” and in another part he reads, “The master comes, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt.”  Moreover, he translates certain signs as “Sheikh of the Libyans,” and he identifies a place named Tny as This, or the capital of the nome in which Abydos lay.

Of this reign also is an ivory tablet finely polished, but blackened with burning, which has engraved upon it the oldest architectural drawing in the world.

[Illustration:  380.jpg architectural drawing, B.C. 4600.]

The inscription on this precious fragment apparently refers to the great chiefs coming to the tomb of Setui, and a picture of a building in the middle of the inscription may be taken as representing on the left the tomb chamber of Den-Setui, with a slight mound over it.  The upright strokes represent the steles outside the tombs, adjacent to which is the inclined stairway, while on the right is a diagram of the cemetery, with graves ar-ranged in rows around the tomb, with small steles standing up over the graves.

A small piece of still another ivory tablet gives an interesting portrait of Den-Setui.  This king flourished about 4600 b. c, so that this is perhaps the oldest portrait that can be named and dated.  It shows the double crown fully developed, and has an additional interest, inasmuch as the crown of Lower Egypt was apparently coloured red, while the crown of Upper Egypt was white in accordance with the practice that we know existed during the later historic period.

[Illustration:  381.jpg IVORY PANEL OF DEN-SETUI, 4600 B.C.]

Among the many ivory objects found at Abydos is a small ivory panel from a box which seems to have contained the golden seal of judgment of King Den.

The engraving of this ivory panel is of the finest description, and bears evidence of the magnificent workmanship of the Egyptians 6,500 years ago.  It will be seen that enough of the fragment has been preserved to include the cartouche of the monarch, and the snake at the side is the pictograph of judgment.  Beneath is the hieroglyph for gold, and at the bottom is a sign which represents a seal cylinder* rolling over a piece of clay.