Preface

of the Author?

Whether the wisdom of the Egyptians Ancient Egypt was a subject of intense fascination in the late 18th century, often viewed as the source of "hermetic" or secret knowledge that predated Greek philosophy. in general, in comparison with our own, contained as it were only the preliminary insights Preliminary insights (Vorerkenntnisse): The basic or foundational bits of knowledge that must be learned before reaching advanced understanding. of human knowledge, or whether more lay hidden within it than we can hardly even dream of—that is something we do not wish to discuss at length here. We will, after all, naturally know more now The original uses the archaic spelling "ißt" for the modern "jetzt" (now). after four thousand years than was known at that time. But how many arts Arts (Künste): In the 18th century, this term encompassed not just fine arts like painting, but also technical skills, crafts, and scientific "know-how.", even of more recent nations, have been lost, from whi-