[1] Blimmer: Essays on History, Religion and Art of Ancient Egypt.
CHAPTER XVI.
Excavations in Egypt.
We have spoken frequently of recent discoveries in Egypt, and of objects found within old tombs. The question naturally arises: Who makes these discoveries, and under what circumstances are the secrets of the tombs revealed?
Modern excavations in Egypt are of recent date. In 1798 the military expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte drew attention to Egyptian monuments. One of his soldiers, excavating for some fortifications in the delta, discovered a stone covered with an inscription, and this was preserved. Being found near the mouth of the Rosetta river, it was called the Rosetta stone. The stone had been inscribed during the reign of Ptolemy III., a Greek king. Because some of his subjects in Egypt were Greeks and some Egyptians, he had caused the decree to be inscribed (1) in Greek, (2) in hieroglyphics, (3) in demotic. The Greek sentences were easily read, and since it seemed probable that the other writing simply repeated the decree, scholars set to work to decipher it. By 1832 they had prepared an Egyptian grammar and vocabulary.
The earliest attempt at systematic investigation was begun in 1822, when the government of Tuscany sent a number of scholars into Egypt to study inscriptions. Champollian and Rosellini were among them. In 1840 Germany sent out an expedition under the leadership of Lepsius. This party began work at Memphis, among the pyramids. In course of time the Tuscan expedition supplied volumes of copied inscriptions and explanatory material.
August Marietta went to Egypt in 1850 and was active there until 1880. He made the first great discovery when he came upon the burial place of the Apis bulls in Memphis. Sixty-four tombs were found, together with amulets and funeral ornaments. In 1857 he was made director of a new museum, which was founded at Cairo. He received the monopoly of the right to excavate in the vicinity of Thebes, and while he allowed others to study what was unearthed under his direction, he would not permit them to do any excavating. Maspero succeeded him as curator of the Cairo Museum. Into this museum has been placed all the great finds of recent years and here one who would make detailed study of ancient Egypt must go.
As a result of his explorations in the valley of the Nile, and of his personal knowledge of all gifts made to the Cairo Museum, Maspero has prepared many books pertaining to the life of the ancient Egyptians. His conclusions are drawn entirely from the revelations of old monuments and remains, and are of first importance.