"You should not mock an old man or an old woman when they are decrepit. Beware lest they (take action) against you before you get old." So runs an inscription in the Petrie Museum (London (UK)), reflecting the position of the elderly in Egypt of the Pharaohs. This is the first book of its kind to be published, covering aspects such as the aged in art, mummies and medicine; the real and ideal lifetime, care of the elderly and old age pensions. Some attention is devoted to long-lived kings and aged administrators. An introduction deals with the discipline of gerontology, while a postscript presents a short biography of the centenarian Egyptologist Margaret Murray. This volume is a sequel to the authors' Growing Up in Ancient Egypt (Rubicon Press 1990), and once again is based on a wide spectrum of original texts and illustrated with many little-known pictures. As this book shows, the respect for older people which ancient Egyptians held contains valuable lessons for our modern generation.