Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

Manual Of Egyptian
Archaeology And Guide To The
Study Of Antiquities In Egypt

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And Guide To
The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt, by Gaston Camille Charles
Maspero This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of
Antiquities In Egypt
Author: Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
Release Date: December 20, 2004 [EBook #14400]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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ARCHAEOLOGY ***

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MANUAL OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY
AND
Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt.
FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS AND TRAVELLERS.
BY G. MASPERO, D.C.L. OXON. MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE
OF FRANCE; PROFESSOR AT THE COLLÈGE DE FRANCE;
EX-DIRECTOR GENERAL OF EGYPTIAN MUSEUMS.
TRANSLATED BY AMELIA B. EDWARDS.
_NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED BY THE
AUTHOR_.
With Three Hundred and Nine Illustrations.
1895.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH AND REVISED EDITION.
Notwithstanding the fact that Egyptology is now recognised as a
science, an exact and communicable knowledge of whose existence and
scope it behoves all modern culture to take cognisance, this work of M.
Maspero still remains the Handbook of Egyptian Archaeology. But
Egyptology is as yet in its infancy; whatever their age, Egyptologists
will long die young. Every year, almost every month, fresh material for
the study is found, fresh light is thrown upon it by the progress of
excavation, exploration, and research. Hence it follows that, in the
course of a few years, the standard text-books require considerable
addition and modification if they are to be of the greatest value to
students, who must always start from the foremost vantage-ground.
The increasing demand for the Egyptian Archaeology by English and
American tourists, as well as students, decided the English publishers
to issue a new edition in as light and portable a form as possible. This
edition is carefully corrected, and contains the enlarged letterpress and
many fresh illustrations necessary for incorporating within the book
adequate accounts of the main archaeological results of recent Egyptian

excavations. M. Maspero has himself revised the work, indicated all the
numerous additions, and qualified the expression of any views which
he has seen reason to modify in the course of his researches during the
past eight years. By the headings of the pages, the descriptive titles of
the illustrations, and a minute revision of the index, much has been
done to facilitate the use of the volume as a book of reference. In that
capacity it will be needed by the student long after he first makes
acquaintance with its instructive and abundant illustrations and its
luminous condensation of the archaeological facts and conclusions
which have been elucidated by Egyptology through the devotion of
many an arduous lifetime during the present century, and, not least, by
the unremitting labours of M. Maspero.
_April, 1895_.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
To put this book into English, and thus to hand it on to thousands who
might not otherwise have enjoyed it, has been to me a very congenial
and interesting task. It would be difficult, I imagine, to point to any
work of its scope and character which is better calculated to give
lasting delight to all classes of readers. For the skilled archaeologist, its
pages contain not only new facts, but new views and new
interpretations; while to those who know little, or perhaps nothing, of
the subjects under discussion, it will open a fresh and fascinating field
of study. It is not enough to say that a handbook of Egyptian
Archaeology was much needed, and that Professor Maspero has given
us exactly what we required. He has done much more than this. He has
given us a picturesque, vivacious, and highly original volume, as
delightful as if it were not learned, and as instructive as if it were dull.
As regards the practical side of Archaeology, it ought to be unnecessary
to point out that its usefulness is strictly parallel with the usefulness of
public museums. To collect and exhibit objects of ancient art and
industry is worse than idle if we do not also endeavour to disseminate
some knowledge of the history of those arts and industries, and of the
processes employed by the artists and craftsmen of the past.
Archaeology, no less than love, "adds a precious seeing to the eye"; and
without that gain of mental sight, the treasures of our public collections
are regarded by the general visitor as mere "curiosities"--flat and stale

for