antiquities. 
Parker, Camden, Sir Robert Cotton, Stowe, 
and others. Application was made in 1589 
to Queer. Elizabeth for a charter, and house 
in w hich they might hold their meetings, 
erect a library, txc. But the death of the 
sovereign put an end to the design. In 
1717, tixis society was revived again, and 
has continued without interruption ; and at 
present, it is in a very flourishing state, 
consisting of learned men in every rank of 
life. The society was incorporated in 1751 
and began to publish an account of its dis- 
coveries in 1770, under the title of “ Archas- 
ologia fifteen volumes in quarto are al- 
ready published. 
ANTIQUITIES, a term implying all tes- 
timonies, or authentic accounts, that have 
come down to us of ancient nations. Ac- 
cording to Lord Bacon, antiquities may be 
considered as the wrecks of history, or such 
particulars as industrious and learned per- 
sons have collected from genealogies, in- 
scriptions, monuments, coins, names, ety- 
mologies, archives, instruments, fragments 
of history, &c. : in this sense the study of 
antiquities leads us to inquire into the ori- 
gin and early epochas of every nation and 
people, whether ancient or modern. Hence 
the study of antiquities, as a science, has 
become, in almost every civilized country, 
an interesting pursuit to men of leisure and 
curiosity. By many persons it has been 
sufficient to investigate the ancient remains 
of Greece and Rome ; but others, who have 
taken a more enlarged, and, what we deem, 
a more proper view of the subject, in- 
clude in the science the antiquities of the 
Jews, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Carthagi- 
nians, and, in short, all those principal na- 
tions mentioned in ancient history. Our 
view of the subject must necessarily be 
contracted, and the most we can aim at is, 
to excite a laudable curiosity in the young, 
and to direct them to objects that may en- 
gage their attention, and to the authors 
most likely to furnish information under the 
several heads of inquiry and research. 
This study has for its chief objects the 
ceremonies, customs, and usages which ob- 
tained in ancient times, either with regard 
to persons, places, or things. Writers have 
accordingly divided antiquities into civil and 
ecclesiastical : including under the former 
head whatever relates to political, military, 
literary, and domestic concerns ; and under 
the latter, the subjects connected with re- 
ligion, as the worship, discipline, and faith 
of ancient times and people. Christians 
have usually separated their antiquities into 
those which relate to the ancient state of 
the Ghrisiian church ; and into whatever be- 
longs to the ancient laws, ceremonies, 
events, &c. that occur in the scriptures. 
These, indeed, form a branch of ecclesi- 
astical antiquities, and bear a near relation 
to the Jewish antiquities, concerning which 
we have many respectable authorities. 
There are persons who would deduce most 
of the heathen antiquities from the manners 
and customs described in the Bible ; while 
others, as Spencer, take the opposite course, 
and deduce tiie antiquities of the Bible from 
those of heathenism. Perhaps a middle 
course would be nearer the truth, as it is 
absolutely necessary, in interpreting scrip- 
ture, to attend to the heathen antiquities 
alluded to in them ; and these not only such 
as are directly aimed at or approved, but 
also such as are purposely opposed. Na- 
tional antiquities are those employed in 
tracing the origin, ancient actions, usages, 
monuments, remains, &c. of some nation 
or people : and it may be observed, that al- 
most every nation lays claim to a greater 
degree of antiquity than the rest of its 
neighbours. The Scythians, the Phrygians, 
the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, Chi- 
nese, Ac. pretend each to have the honour 
of being the first inhabitants of the earth : 
several of these nations, lest they should be 
surpassed in their pretensions by any of the 
rest, have traced up their origin to ages 
long before the received account of the 
creation. Hence the appellations “ abori- 
gines,’’ “ indigeiwe,” “ terraegease,” “ ante- 
lunares,” &c. 
The history and antiquities of nations 
and societies have been objects of inquiry, 
inasmuch as they enable the mind to sepa- 
rate truth from falsehood, and tradition 
from evidence, to establish what had pro- 
bability for its basis, or to explode what 
rested only on the vanity of the inventors 
and propagators : of this we have a striking 
instance in the Chaldeans, who pretend to 
astronomical observations of nearly 500,000 
years. They mention the king who reigned 
over them at the time of the deluge, and 
attribute to him several things which we 
ascribe to Noah. The Chaldaic antiquities 
of Berosns are, however, lost, except a few 
fragments which have been collected by 
Joseph Scaliger, and Fabrieius. To supply 
the chasm, Annius Viterbo, a Dominican 
monk, towards the close of the 15th cen- 
tury, forged the work of Berosns, which 
he published at Rome in 1498. He went 
farther, and produced a supplement to Be- 
