Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - Egyptology

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. He also played a notable part in the preservation of a number of cuneiform tablets that became known collectively as the Tell el-Amarna letters. Petrie's Syria and Egypt (1898), containing summaries, is also reissued in this series, along with many of his other publications. The present work, first published in 1894 and richly illustrated, gives an account of the work that Petrie carried out in 1891-2. It contains detailed information about both the technical aspects of the dig and the array of artefacts found, including the tablet fragments of diplomatic correspondence from the fourteenth century BCE. The chapter on the tablets is provided by Archibald Sayce, Francis Llewellyn Griffth discusses ceramic inscriptions, and the flint tools are examined by F. C. J. Spurrell.

Amelia Edwards' English translation of the Manual of Egyptian Archaeology by the renowned French Egyptologist Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (1846-1916) was originally published in 1887. The fifth edition reissued here appeared in 1902, ten years after Edwards' death, under the auspices of Maspero. Edwards' translation was important for generating public interest in Egyptology in Britain. It is a classic work of popular Egyptology that has served for years as an indispensable guide for students, amateur enthusiasts and professionals, and was long relied upon by British tourists visiting Egypt's ancient sites. The book contains chapters on civil and military architecture, religious architecture, ancient tombs, Egyptian painting and sculpture, and industrial art. There are detailed sections on the various materials used including stone, clay, glass, wood, ivory, leather, textile fabrics, iron, lead, and bronze. The volume is beautifully illustrated with over 300 engravings.

The Italian adventurer Giovanni Belzoni (1778-1823) is one of the most colourful and notorious figures in Egyptology. After the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt, European interest in the country, and especially in its antiquities, led to a demand for artifacts, the larger the better. Belzoni happened to be pursuing his two careers, as circus strong-man and hydraulic engineer, in Egypt in 1815, when he was asked to organise the transport of a 7-ton statue of Ramesses II from Thebes to the British Museum. After the success of this enterprise, he turned his attention to the discovery of other antiquities, though using destructive techniques which were deplored by serious contemporary scholars. His narrative of his adventures was enormously popular at the time, and remains readable and entertaining today. This reissue omits the plates from the original edition, which are too large to be reproduced satisfactorily in this format.

Dr Carl Richard Lepsius (1810-1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist considered the founder of modern Egyptology. In 1842 he was commissioned by King Frederick Wilhelm IV to lead an expedition to Egypt and Sudan to explore and record ancient Egyptian remains. The expedition included artists, surveyors and other specialists and spent three years recording monuments in Egypt, modern Sudan and the Sinai. The expedition conducted the first scientific studies of the pyramids of Giza, Abusir, Saqqara and Dashur. First published in 1852, this volume is a translation of 40 reports in the form of letters written by Lepsius to King Frederick Wilhem IV during the expedition, and translated by Kenneth R. H Mackenzie. They provide descriptions of many ancient Egyptian monuments which have since been lost or destroyed, and provide an engaging and frank account of the difficulties of supervising an archaeological expedition in Egypt at that time.

This highly illustrated 1907 work was written by Leonard King and Henry Hall, members of the department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities at the British Museum. It begins by describing recent finds of prehistoric material in Egypt, and ends with the decline of the Babylonian and Egyptian empires.

In this 1925 book, as well as discussing the famous archaeological sites, archaeologist and Egyptian resident Annie Quibell (a student of Flinders Petrie) describes Port Said (the entrance to the Suez Canal), the Nile delta, the Coptic church and its long history, and an expedition into the desert.

Originally published in 1904, this volume documents the continued archaeological excavations at one of ancient Egypt's most sacred sites. Following on from the volumes produced by pioneering Egyptologist W. M. Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), his colleagues compiled this copiously illustrated report, further examining the tombs, temples and inscriptions of Abydos.

This illustrated two-volume history of Egypt, 'derived entirely from the monuments', was first published in an English translation in 1879. Brugsch brings to bear his wide experience of the archaeological sites together with his linguistic expertise, and deliberately eschews later Greek and Roman accounts of Egypt.

In this 1859 work, John Taylor claimed to have discovered the 'pyramid inch', which he argued was one twenty-fifth of the so-called 'sacred cubit' and was derived from ancient astronomical observations. His work was very influential, but was later debunked by the more accurate surveys and measurements of Flinders Petrie.

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1875) expanded his Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt (1835) into this two-volume guide of 1843. It not only gives advice for the contemporary traveller, but also provides modern readers with a vivid snapshot of Egypt in the mid-nineteenth century.

Margaret Benson (1865-1916), a brilliant scholar, found an escape from her conventional life when she was granted permission to excavate in Egypt in 1895. She and her close friend Janet Gourlay (1863-1912) published this account of their discoveries at the temple of Mut at Karnak in 1899.

This is a one-volume reissue of three excavation reports, first published for the Egypt Exploration Fund between 1913 and 1914, relating to the necropolis at Abydos. The finds range widely in date and nature, from pottery to mummified dogs. Each report contains a section of valuable illustrative photographs and drawings.

This landmark 1834 work was an important early contribution to the field of Egyptology, uniting the twin passions of the surgeon and antiquarian Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1791-1865). Here he delves into the history, technique and ritual of mummification in a depth that had never been attempted before.

Among the leading Egyptologists of his day, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. This fully illustrated report of 1900 gives detailed descriptions of six first-dynasty tombs at Abydos examined by Petrie, and of the associated finds.

Among the leading Egyptologists of his day, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. This fully illustrated follow-up report of 1901 gives descriptions of eight royal tombs at Abydos examined by Petrie, and of the associated finds.

Published between 1891 and 1905, this three-volume collection contains transcriptions of, and commentary on, Greek papyri fragments discovered by the pioneering Egyptologist Flinders Petrie. The papyri cover a variety of topics, revealing much about Egyptian life in the third century BCE. Each volume contains reproductions of key examples.

Published between 1891 and 1905, this three-volume collection contains transcriptions of, and commentary on, Greek papyri fragments discovered by the pioneering Egyptologist Flinders Petrie. The papyri cover a variety of topics, revealing much about Egyptian life in the third century BCE. Each volume contains reproductions of key examples.

Published between 1894 and 1905, this six-volume set served as a key reference work for students and scholars of Egyptology. Volume 1 (1894), written by W. M. Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), covers Egyptian history from its beginnings to the sixteenth dynasty.