THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 43 



of the times. Their study has. become a fascinating and instructive 

 branch of Egyptian Archaeology. Mr. Petrie, in a volume published 

 a few months ago, gave exquisite drawings of more than 2,300 

 specimens. He has given only such as bear the names of Kings and 

 private persons ; but the best specimens of the great Egyptian 

 Museums are in his book. All the dynasties, and most of the 

 Monarchs of the dynasties, are represented and classified in chron 

 ological order. It behooves us not to be altogether heedless of scarabs, 

 for has not Miss Edwards, with great mock gravity, in an appreciative 

 review of Mr. Petrie's book given warning that " Civilized mankind 

 " is divided into those who care for scarabs and those who do not. 

 " The former are a select minority* the latter are dwellers in outer 

 "darkness, and so ignorant that they are even ignorant of their 

 " ignorance." 



The same solicitude devoted to the preservation of the dead 

 body was given to its place of sepulture. To the Egyptians the 

 homes of the dead were more important than the homes of the 

 living. A dwelling house for the living was but a resting place 

 which was unimportant, and its structure might be inexpensive and 

 mean. The place of sepulture for the dead was an eternal abode, of 

 superlative importance, and, like the temples of the gods, could not 

 be made too costly or too elegant. Crushed by the tooth of time, 

 and showered over by the sands of the desert, Memphis, the glory 

 of ancient Egypt and seat of her early Kings, so utterly perished 

 that its very place of existence was in dispute, till the shovel of the 

 modern explorer revealed its site beyond doubt. But the tombs of 

 its adjacent necropolis exist in hundreds, and amongst them stands 

 the great pyramid, a marvel of what Egyptian art produced 5,000 

 years ago, and which in our days of colossal structures, Ferguson, 

 the historian of architecture, says, remains the first building in the 

 world. According to the best Egyptologists, an Egyptian tomb, be- 

 sides being a resting place for the body, had to include rooms for 

 the soul, which were closed on the day of burial, and which it was 

 sacrilege to afterwards enter ; a reception room of the Double, where 

 friends of the-deceased and the priest brought their offerings; and a 

 passage connecting the two. The reception room accessible by 

 friends was sometimes above ground. Much variety in tombs, ac- 

 cording to the place of burial and station of the deceased, was 

 permissible, but the general features of construction carried out 



