Wilkinson, John Gardner; Birch, Samuel [Contr.]: The Egyptians in the time of the pharaohs: being a companion to the Crystal Palace Egyptian collections (London, 1857)

PREFACE. vS

as possible: and the account of the habits and pursuits, in
the first part, which is derived from the tombs, will explain
how very much we are indebted to them for an acquaintance
with the domestic life of the Egyptians, and how important
are the subjects on their walls for supplying what is unnoticed
on the public monuments. If,, too, I have repeated the
notice of some of the crafts and customs, this was owing
to their being a necessary part of the description of the
tombs themselves, and inseparable from the mention of the
occupations of the people, or other subjects represented in
the paintings within them. But the limits of this work have
not allowed me to enter into the religion or the history of
the Egyptians; their institutions, or their advancement as a
nation; and even their sculpture and other arts could only
be partially noticed.

The progress of the Egyptians from early times would
certainly be an interesting inquiry. They were a people
peculiarly wedded to their customs, in which time made little
or no alteration; and the few changes they underwent, or
admitted, as in the size of their temples, or the luxury of
their homes, were mostly consequent upon advancement in
wealth and civilisation. In other respects, they were much
the same under the early and later Pharaohs. But it must
be borne in mind that we do not see them in their infancy