MUSEUM

OF

ANTIQUITY

A DESCRIPTION OF

ANCIENT LIFE:

THE

EMPLOYMENTS, AMUSEMENTS, CUSTOMS AND HABITS,
THE CITIES, PALACES, MONUMENTS AND TOMBS,
THE LITERATURE AND FINE ARTS
OF 3,000 YEARS AGO.

BY

L.W. YAGGY, M.S.,
AND
T.L. HAINES, A.M.,

AUTHORS OF THE "ROYAL PATH OF LIFE,"
"OUR HOME COUNSELOR,"
"LITTLE GEMS."

ILLUSTRATED.

MADISON, WIS.:
J.B. FURMAN & CO.
WESTERN PUBLISHING HOUSE, CHICAGO, ILL.

1884.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880 by
L.W. Yaggy & T.L. Haines,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.

PREFACE.

Egypt, Greece and Italy were the fountain heads of our civilization and the source of our knowledge; to them we can trace, link by link, the origin of all that is ornamental, graceful and beautiful. It is therefore a matter of greatest interest to get an intimate knowledge of the original state, and former perfection, the grandeur, magnificence and high civilization of these countries, as well as of the homes, the private and domestic life, the schools, churches, rites, ceremonies, &c.

The many recent excavations in Troy, Nineveh, Babylon and the uncovering of the City of Pompeii, with its innumerable treasures, the unfolding of the long-hoarded secrets, have revealed information for volumes of matter. But works that treat on the various subjects of antiquity are, for the most part, not only costly and hard to procure, but also far too voluminous. The object of this work is to condense into the smallest possible compass the essence of information which usually runs through many volumes, and place it into a practical form for the common reader. We hope, however, that this work will give the reader a greater longing to extend his inquiries into these most interesting subjects, so rich in everything that can refine the taste, enlarge the understanding and improve the heart. It has been our object, so far as possible, to avoid every expression of opinion, whether our own or that of any school of thinkers, and to supply first, facts, and secondly, careful references by which the citations of those facts, may be verified, and the inferences from them traced by the reader himself, to their legitimate result.

Before we close, we would tender our greatest obligations to the English and German authors, from whom we have drawn abundantly in preparing this work; also to the Directors of the British Museum of London, and the Society of Antiquarians of Berlin, and especially to the authorities of the excavated City of Pompeii and its treasures in the Museum of Naples, where we were furnished with an intelligent guide and permitted to spend days in our researches. To each and all of these, who have so kindly promoted our labor, our heartfelt thanks are cordially returned.

Many of the engravings are from drawings made on the spot, but a greater number are from photographs, and executed with the greatest fidelity by German and French artists.

Steel Plate Engravings.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.