believe that its contents prove that the expectation of the coming of a Messiah was current in Egypt some forty-five centuries ago.  The following extracts will give an idea of the character of the indictment which Apuur drew up against the Government and society of his day, and which he had the temerity to proclaim in the presence of the reigning king and his court.  He says:  “The guardians of houses say, ’Let us go and steal.’  The snarers of birds have formed themselves into armed bands.  The peasants of the Delta have provided themselves with bucklers.  A man regardeth his son as his enemy.  The righteous man grieveth because of what hath taken place in the country.  A man goeth out with his shield to plough.  The man with a bow is ready [to shoot], the wrongdoer is in every place.  The inundation of the Nile cometh, yet no one goeth out to plough.  Poor men have gotten costly goods, and the man who was unable to make his own sandals is a possessor of wealth.  The hearts of slaves are sad, and the nobles no longer participate in the rejoicings of their people.  Men’s hearts are violent, there is plague everywhere, blood is in every place, death is common, and the mummy wrappings call to people before they are used.  Multitudes are buried in the river, the stream is a tomb, and the place of mummification is a canal.  The gentle folk weep, the simple folk are glad, and the people of every town say, ’Come, let us blot out these who have power and possessions among us.’  Men resemble the mud-birds, filth is everywhere, and every one is clad in dirty garments.  The land spinneth round like the wheel of the potter.  The robber is a rich man, and [the rich man] is a robber.  The poor man groaneth and saith, ‘This is calamity indeed, but what can I do?’ The river is blood, and men drink it; they cease to be men who thirst for water.  Gates and their buildings are consumed with fire, yet the palace is stable and nourishing.  The boats of the peoples of the South have failed to arrive, the towns are destroyed, and Upper Egypt is desert.  The crocodiles are sated with their prey, for men willingly go to them.  The desert hath covered the land, the Nomes are destroyed, and there are foreign troops in Egypt.  People come hither [from everywhere], there are no Egyptians left in the land.  On the necks of the women slaves [hang ornaments of] gold, lapis-lazuli, silver, turquoise, carnelian, bronze, and abhet stone.  There is good food everywhere, and yet mistresses of houses say, ‘Would that we had something to eat.’  The skilled masons who build pyramids have become hinds on farms, and those who tended the Boat of the god are yoked together [in ploughing].  Men do not go on voyages to Kepuna (Byblos in Syria) to-day.  What shall we do for cedar wood for our mummies, in coffins of which priests are buried, and with the oil of which men are embalmed?  They come no longer.  There is no gold, the handicrafts languish.  What is the good of a treasury if we have nothing to put