DOI Artikel:
Griffith, Francis Ll.: Progress of Egyptology: archaeology, hieroglyphic studies, etc.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11172#0022
IL-PROGEESS OF EGYPTOLOGY.
A.—ARCHAEOLOGY, HIEROGLYPHIC STUDIES, ETC.
Cairo is becoming more and more a great working centre of Egyptology.
The Cairene Museum, founded by Mariette for Said Pasha over forty years
ago, and soon to be installed in a worthy and convenient building, has
grown to be by far the most important Egyptian collection in the world.
From the ports of Egypt flow forth streams of antiquities: never were
the excavators more busy; from Cairo also proceed the authorizations to
excavate, and the toll taken on the results is a heavy one. Upon the
efficient and single-minded administration of archaeology in Egypt hang
great issues for science ; workers of all nationalities, therefore, will consider
it a happy event that the reins of government of the Department of
Antiquities were last year handed, for the second time and after a long
interval, to the ablest of contemporary Egyptologists, Professor Maspero.
His administrative power has already wrought very great improvements
in the working of the archaeological machinery, and his energy has
produced fresh activity in all directions. Apart from this, the French
Mission Archeologique has just been domiciled in a fine new building
close to the new Museum at Kasr-en-Nil; the French Government
endows it with a considerable annual grant, and the appointment of a new
director will infuse fresh life into it. French Egyptology enjoys every
official and semi-official privilege and encouragement. It is to be hoped
that it will not fail to rise to the height of its responsibilities, and remove
any reproach of lack of care in its work, and of thoroughness and con-
venient arrangement in its memoirs ; for excavation, when unaccompanied
by personal superintendence and exact record, is often little better than
destruction.
A new organ, Annates du Service den Antiquites, has been established
for the record of official explorations and discoveries. The crying want of
an Egyptological reference library in Cairo has now been happily supplied
by the acquisition for the Museum of the very complete library that
belonged to the late Professor Ebers. An important step was taken last
year by the Public Works Department in regard to the safe-keeping of
A.—ARCHAEOLOGY, HIEROGLYPHIC STUDIES, ETC.
Cairo is becoming more and more a great working centre of Egyptology.
The Cairene Museum, founded by Mariette for Said Pasha over forty years
ago, and soon to be installed in a worthy and convenient building, has
grown to be by far the most important Egyptian collection in the world.
From the ports of Egypt flow forth streams of antiquities: never were
the excavators more busy; from Cairo also proceed the authorizations to
excavate, and the toll taken on the results is a heavy one. Upon the
efficient and single-minded administration of archaeology in Egypt hang
great issues for science ; workers of all nationalities, therefore, will consider
it a happy event that the reins of government of the Department of
Antiquities were last year handed, for the second time and after a long
interval, to the ablest of contemporary Egyptologists, Professor Maspero.
His administrative power has already wrought very great improvements
in the working of the archaeological machinery, and his energy has
produced fresh activity in all directions. Apart from this, the French
Mission Archeologique has just been domiciled in a fine new building
close to the new Museum at Kasr-en-Nil; the French Government
endows it with a considerable annual grant, and the appointment of a new
director will infuse fresh life into it. French Egyptology enjoys every
official and semi-official privilege and encouragement. It is to be hoped
that it will not fail to rise to the height of its responsibilities, and remove
any reproach of lack of care in its work, and of thoroughness and con-
venient arrangement in its memoirs ; for excavation, when unaccompanied
by personal superintendence and exact record, is often little better than
destruction.
A new organ, Annates du Service den Antiquites, has been established
for the record of official explorations and discoveries. The crying want of
an Egyptological reference library in Cairo has now been happily supplied
by the acquisition for the Museum of the very complete library that
belonged to the late Professor Ebers. An important step was taken last
year by the Public Works Department in regard to the safe-keeping of