IT is hoped that these Essays will shew in what ways and to what degree the results of archaeological research may legitimately affect the views of those who, without special archaeological knowledge, concern themselves with the antiquity of civilization. Evidence and hypotheses, which have not been subjected to an adequate test, do not come within the proper scope of this volume, which, it is hoped, may not be open to the reproach, often brought against summaries, that they resume work which has not yet been done. The impossibility of containing even a rapid survey of all archaeologies within a volume of reasonable bulk has caused the purview of the essayists to be confined to the geographical area from which the culture of Christian Europe has directly sprung, namely, that debatable land of the Near East, where the energetic nature disputes possession with the contemplative, and where have originated the great ideas but not the great institutions of humanity. The views,' contained in this volume, regarding both Archaeology in general and its special departments, have not been arrived at by any common understanding. Each essayist is responsible for his own views, and the Editor for no more than those expressed in his own contributions.