"The history of ancient Egypt is full of interest, and has been a subject of a great deal of study by many learned writers. Herodotus, who has been called 'the father of history,' and flourished in the fifth century before the Christian era, was the first of these writers, and some of the discoveries of the present time have been based on his records. Another Greek writer, Manetho, lived two centuries later than Herodotus, but, unfortunately, the greater part of his works have not come down to us. A large part of the history of ancient Egypt has been obtained from the inscriptions on the walls of the temples and tombs, and from the writings upon papyrus scrolls, and the linen in which mummies were rolled. In modern times there have been many explorers and writers who have devoted years of study to the subject, and consequently we know more of ancient Egypt than of any other country of antiquity. If you wish to know more than we can tell you now about the people that lived here four thousand years ago, we refer you to the works of Wilkinson, Poole, Mariette, Lepsius, Belzoni, Bunsen, Brugsch, and many others. There are books enough on Egypt to keep you busy a whole year, and perhaps two years, just to read them through. We are reading 'The Ancient Egyptians,' by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and find it very interesting. [Illustration: MENES.] "The first King of Egypt that we know about was Menes, who founded the City of Memphis. There is a difference of opinion among the writers as to the date when he existed; Wilkinson, Poole, and others say he lived about 2700 B.C., Bunsen says it was 3623 B.C., and Mariette thinks it was 5004 B.C. The reason why they make this difference is because some of them believe the dynasties, or families of kings, of ancient Egypt succeeded one another, while others believe some of them ruled at the same time in different parts of the country. The difference between the 'successive' and the 'contemporaneous' theories, when you add up the periods of all the dynasties, is more than two thousand years. Down to the seventeenth dynasty the figures are uncertain; from the seventeenth to the twenty-first it is agreed that the dynasties were successive, but there is some difference about their dates; while from the twenty-first dynasty to the Christian era there is no dispute. "Perhaps this is dry reading; if so, you had better go over it carefully, and then skip. "Whether King Menes lived seven or five thousand years ago makes very little difference to us, and probably to him, as he is dead now. To avoid confusion we will take the theory of Wilkinson, and suppose it was only five thousand years ago that the first dynasty began. That will seem more neighborly, and bring us so near to Menes that we can almost imagine we knew him personally. Just think of it--only five thousand years ago!