the tomb of Ese, wife of Ramses II but, when taken to show the scene of his crime, he pointed out the graves of the children of Ramses II, in which no one had been buried. Thereafter, "the princess examined the tombs and the large chambers in the place of the beauties, in which the beautiful royal children, the royal consorts, the royal mothers and fathers of the mothers of the Pharaoh rest. They were found uninjured." Thereupon there was great rejoicing and a "great embassy to the town consisting of the inspectors, the chiefs of the workmen of the necropolis, the officers of the police, the police and all the bondservants of the necropolis of western Thebes."

A

Three years later, other robberies having occurred, about sixty arrests were made, including many officials of low rank, a scribe of the treasury of Amon, a priest of Amon and one of Chons. They had robbed the outer chambers of the tombs of Ramses II and Sety I and sold the stolen property. quarrel over the division of the spoils led to the discovery. This capture did not end the thefts, and it was finally determined to abandon the tombs in the desert in order to save the mummies. These were moved from place to place, and finally concealed in a deep rocky pit in the mountains of Der-el-bahri, where they reposed until modern robbers found the pit in 1875, and in 1881 the authorities were informed of it, and the mummies of all the great monarchs of the new empire were brought to light. Great regard for the remains of the dead is not exclusively a trait of the Egyptians, but they were more lavish in their expenditures for the preservation of the bodies of the dead than any other people. As the occurrences above mentioned show, their care did not end with embalming the bodies and building vast tombs for them, but continued in watching and preserving the necropolis from generation to generation.

Under the old empire there were six courts of justice or great houses, at the head of which was a chief judge. Each of the "thirty great men of the south" was a judge and district chief and a member of one of the great houses. The "governor of the south" alone had a seat in all. These great

uninjured. As to the other the commissioners reported "The pyramid of the King Sebekemsaf. It was found that the thieves had bored a mine and penetrated into the mummy chamber. They had made their way out of the outer hall of the tomb of Nebamun the superintendent of food under Thothmes III. It was found that the king's burial place had been robbed of the monarch; in the place also where the royal consort Nubch'as was buried the thieves had laid hands on her." "The governor and the prince vassals ordered a thorough examination to be made, and it was proved exactly by what means the thieves had laid hands on this king and on his royal consort."

The examination of the private tombs disclosed that those of two "singers of the high-priestess of Amon Re, King of the gods" had been broken into and other private tombs. "It was found that they had all been broken into by the thieves, they had torn the lords (i.e. the bodies), out of their coffins and out of their bandages, they had thrown them on the ground, they had stolen the household stuff which had been buried with them, together with the gold, silver and jewels found in their bandages." The commission so reported, and the prince of the necropolis sent in the names of the supposed thieves, who were immediately arrested. They were "examined," that is "beaten with stick on their hands and feet," until they confessed that they had entered the tomb of the king and taken rich ornaments of gold from the mummies of the king and queen and divided the booty among the eight robbers. To supplement and make good their confession they were required to identify the pyramid they had robbed. The governor and royal scribe commanded them to be taken in their presence to the necropolis, where they identified the tomb of Sebekemsaf as that to which their confession referred. The court thereupon made report to the Pharaoh, who alone could pronounce sentence in the case. Meanwhile the thieves were placed in custody of the high priest of Amon and confined in the prison of the temple! On suspicion of other desecrations a metal worker of bad repute was arrested and "examined." He confessed that he had been in

the tomb of Ese, wife of Ramses II but, when taken to show the scene of his crime, he pointed out the graves of the children of Ramses II, in which no one had been buried. Thereafter, "the princess examined the tombs and the large chambers in the place of the beauties, in which the beautiful royal children, the royal consorts, the royal mothers and fathers of the mothers of the Pharaoh rest. They were found uninjured." Thereupon there was great rejoicing and a "great embassy to the town consisting of the inspectors, the chiefs of the workmen of the necropolis, the officers of the police, the police and all the bondservants of the necropolis of western Thebes."

Three years later, other robberies having occurred, about sixty arrests were made, including many officials of low rank, a scribe of the treasury of Amon, a priest of Amon and one of Chons. They had robbed the outer chambers of the tombs of Ramses II and Sety I and sold the stolen property. A quarrel over the division of the spoils led to the discovery. This capture did not end the thefts, and it was finally determined to abandon the tombs in the desert in order to save the mummies. These were moved from place to place, and finally concealed in a deep rocky pit in the mountains of Der-el-bahri, where they reposed until modern robbers found the pit in 1875, and in 1881 the authorities were informed of it, and the mummies of all the great monarchs of the new empire were brought to light. Great regard for the remains of the dead is not exclusively a trait of the Egyptians, but they were more lavish in their expenditures for the preservation of the bodies of the dead than any other people. As the occurrences above mentioned show, their care did not end with embalming the bodies and building vast tombs for them, but continued in watching and preserving the necropolis from generation to generation.

Under the old empire there were six courts of justice or great houses, at the head of which was a chief judge. Each of the "thirty great men of the south" was a judge and district chief and a member of one of the great houses. The "governor of the south" alone had a seat in all. These great

men had served as scribes and inferior officers of the court before promotion to the full dignity of judges. Besides these there were local judges in the towns. The special god of the judges was Ma'at the goddess of truth. All judges of high rank served as her high priests. During the middle empire this organization of the courts disappeared. While the office of chief judge continued, even under the New Empire, the six great houses were no more. Under the new empire the composition of the courts varied from time to time, including priests and laymen in varying proportions, but courts were held at fixed places where justice was regularly administered. The procedure seems to have been simple. The court being seated the contending parties in civil cases came before it standing. The plaintiff first preferred his complaint orally, the defendant was then required to answer, after which the court gave judgment. The successful party then turned to the other party and stated to him the terms of the judgment, whereupon the loser said, "I do it, indeed I do it, I do it." What process followed in case of failure to perform is not clear.

In criminal cases the governor preferred the accusation as plaintiff, and the defendant then answered to it, thereupon the court seems to have filled the place substantially of a jury and found the prisoner guilty or not guilty, this finding was then forwarded to the Pharaoh, who pronounced sentence.

That the Egyptians had written laws there seems no reasonable doubt, and it was claimed that they were composed by Thoth, the god of wisdom. The ancient law books have not been preserved and their contents come down to us only in fragments. However complete the written laws may have been, they do not appear to have restrained the kings who chose to override them, yet respect for the forms of law seems to have had quite a firm hold. Thus Pepy, in the Sixth Dynasty, established a special court to inquire into the acts of some of his courtiers, and Ramses III created a special court to try members of his household, who had conspired against him. The record of the court of the proceedings against one of the conspirators is a model of brevity.

"Penture formerly bore another name. He was brought before the court, because he had joined with his mother Tey, when she conspired with the women of the harem, and because he acted with hostility against his lord. He was brought before the vassals that they might question him. They found him guilty, they dismissed him to his house; he took his own life." Before this investigation was closed an incident occurred, which reflects severely on the special court organized for the investigation. It was discovered that the accused women of the harem had sought out three members of the commission and, with them and Pai'es, the chief culprit, had "made a beer house," that is, held a revel. But they also were apprehended, and "their punishment was fulfilled by the cutting off of their noses and ears."

While the power of Egypt continued to be great, it was not extended after Ramses II. During the Twenty-fifth Dynasty Egypt was ruled by Ethiopian kings, who however were not strangers to Egyptian civilization, if indeed they were not of Egyptian blood. At intervals after the time of Ramses there were wars with the Assyrians with varying success, till in the year 662 B.C. Egypt became an Assyrian province. Eight years later, however, with the aid of Greek mercenaries they were driven out. Psammetichus founded the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, which endured a little more than a century. During this period there was much intercourse with the Greeks.

In 525 B.C. Cambyses invaded Egypt and reduced it to a Persian province. In the reign of Artaxerxes the Egyptians revolted and were aided by the Athenians, but without success. About 411 B.C. another revolt proved successful and Egypt remained an independent kingdom till about 343 B.C. when it was again overrun by the Persians, who maintained their ascendency till Alexander's conquest. Though under the Ptolemies Egypt was again an independent kingdom, it was under Greek rulership. When the Romans came the rulership passed into their hands, and since their time there has been no such nation as Egypt. Though the land, the river and people are to all appearances substantially the same, the spirit is wanting, and Egypt has been dead for more than two