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

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

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The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt, by Gaston Camille Charles Maspero This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
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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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 the most part, and wholly unprofitable.
I am much indebted to Mr. W.M. Flinders Petrie, author of _The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh_, for kindly translating the