The romance of excavation

SOME OE THE ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION IS BROUGHT OUT BY THIS BUSY SCENE AT THEBES SHOWING A SMALL ARMY OF NATIVES DIGGING AMID THE RUINS OF A TEMPLE
THE ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION A RECORD OF THE AMAZING DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT, ASSYRIA, TROY, CRETE, ETC. WITH TWENTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAVID MASTERS LONDON JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED
First Published in 1923 MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LTD., EDINBURGH
TO A. A. WHO SAVED MY LIFE
Now and again the world is stirred by a discovery such as that of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Mr. Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. In the following pages I have sought to reveal some of the romance of excavation, to tell the fascinating story of the men who have gone out into the desert places and dug up long-lost cities and the fabled treasure of ancient kings. Brilliant men, who have played their part in unearthing the glories of the past, have written many volumes on the subject which is nearest their hearts, and if, after closing this book, the reader and student feel a desire to seek them out, I shall be content. In conclusion, I wish to thank Major Kenneth Mason, M.C., R.E., The British School at Athens, and The Trustees of the British Museum, for their kindness in allowing me to use various illustrations in this volume.
DAVID MASTERS.
1923.
THE ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION
THE
ROMANCE OF EXCAVATION
A scientist stood in the British Museum gazing at a piece of rock. Many people passed to and fro, but never one halted to see what held his attention, never one save a little boy, who wondered what the grown-up was looking at. Those who glanced in that direction merely saw a shattered stone, and passed on unheeding.
Had the fragment of stone been the Cullinan diamond or a glowing ruby, everybody would have clustered round to gaze at it. As it was neither one nor the other, everybody walked on. Yet that fragment of stone was, and is, much more wonderful than the finest diamond or ruby ever dug out of the earth.