Page:Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians Volume 1.djvu/19



was originally intended that this work should not exceed two volumes; until finding the materials accumulate much beyond my expectations, I was under the necessity of extending it to three; and have, even now, been obliged to omit many subjects, and to defer the mention of them to a future occasion.

This will, I trust, plead my excuse for not describing the religious ceremonies of the Egyptians, the agriculture of the country, and some details, that could not have been comprised within the limits of these volumes, unless treated in an imperfect and brief manner, which their importance would not sanction.

The first chapter contains remarks on the early state of Egypt, with the lists of kings given by Manetho, Herodotus, Diodorus, and other authors; and a conjecture is offered on the origin of the Shepherd Kings. I suppose them to have come from Assyria, and to have invaded and taken possession of Lower Egypt; and suggest, that this event