Serapeum of Saqqara (664–610 BC) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and later used by the Ptolemaic dynasty. The long boulevard leading to the ceremonial site, flanked by 600 sphinxes, likely was built under Nectanebo I, (379/8–361/0 BC) the founder of the thirtieth dynasty (the last native one). The temple was discovered by Auguste Mariette, who had gone to Egypt to collect Coptic-language manuscripts, but later grew interested in the remains of the Saqqara necropolis. In 1850, Mariette found the head of one sphinx sticking out of the shifting desert dunes, cleared the sand and followed the boulevard to the site. After using explosives to
Burial society ceremonies. Burial society is a precursor to general insurance which is a recent innovation. Burial societies were first known to exist in ancient Rome and not before. In ancient Rome, various associations of a fraternal nature, as well as religious groups, political clubs, and trade guilds, functioned as burial societies. Terms for these include "hetaeria", "collegium", and "sodalitas". The by-laws of one burial society are preserved by an inscription dating to A.D. 136. Discovered at Lanuvium, the "lex collegia salutaris Dianae et Antinoi" ("By-laws of the Society of Diana and Antinous") details the cost of joining the society, monthly fees,