Archive of Letters

Archive of Letters contains historic letters extending from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to the twentieth century. I have brought them together to provide a panoramic view of life during this extended span of time. My purpose in making such a library is to convey a more intimate and varied image of that life than that offered by epics, royal inscriptions, and law codes. A child-king of Egypt orders that a dancing dwarf be brought in safety to court; a boy in Roman Egypt writes to complain that his father has sailed without him.

No single letter can furnish that image. It arises only when many are read together, across the span of time the library contains.