The Egyptians employed what practically were three alphabets—the hieroglyphic, the hieratic, and the demotic. The hieroglyph is a symbol, denoting something without letters or syllables; as, pictures of a bee stand for king. The hieratic handwriting was a transition from symbols to primitive letters; the papyrus reed, cut in slices and gummed together, was used as paper for this writing, much of which is very beautifully executed in black and red inks. These papyri are constantly being discovered, but perhaps the earliest “find” of importance was that at Thebes in 1846, when a number of literary compositions were brought to light which must have been executed during the twelfth dynasty, about twenty-five centuries B.C. The Egyptian Tales are works written in a lighter vein than the literature we have already described. They will be read with delight, and none the less so because they show that the Egyptians, who are the Chinese of the Mediterranean, possess that saving quality in literary and political life, namely, a sense of humor. (signed) Epiphanius Wilson THE BOOK OF THE DEAD According to the Theban Recension Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge, Litt.D., D.Lit., F.S.A. A Hymn To The Setting Sun A HYMN OF PRAISE TO RA WHEN HE RISETH UPON THE HORIZON, AND WHEN HE SETTETH IN THE LAND OF LIFE. Osiris, the scribe Ani, saith: “Homage to thee, O Rā, when thou risest [as] Tem-Heru-khuti (Tem-Harmachis). Thou art adored [by me when] thy beauties are before mine eyes, and [when thy] radiance [falleth] upon [my] body. Thou goest forth to thy setting in the _Sektet_ boat with [fair] winds, and thy heart is glad; the heart of the _Mātet_ boat rejoiceth. Thou stridest over the heavens in peace, and all thy foes are cast down; the never-resting stars sing hymns of praise unto thee, and the stars which rest, and the stars which never fail glorify thee as thou sinkest to rest in the horizon of Manu,(1) O thou who art beautiful at morn and at eve, O thou lord who livest and art established, O my lord!