This volume makes no pretension to the discharge of such a task. All that it attempts to do is to outline the story of certain aspects of the great work which has given us back so many of the wonders of the ancient civilisation of Egypt. Its omissions are, doubtless, many; but two will be at once conspicuous to anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with the subject. Nothing is said of the Search for the Cities, which in the closing years of the nineteenth century created so much interest, and resulted in so many identifications of sites; and nothing is said of the great work of Papyrus-hunting which has added so much to our knowledge of ancient life. These two matters were left untouched for reasons which seemed valid. In the case of the Cities, many of the identifications of the ’nineties are at present being questioned, and it seemed better to leave the matter till something like agreement is reached. In the case of the Papyri, the subject has become so specialised, and has developed so large a literature of its own as to render impossible any attempt to deal with it, on the scale which it deserves, in such a volume as the present. It may be that at some time in the not far distant future, when controversy has resulted in more or less general agreement as to the sites, these two aspects of Egyptian excavation may be dealt with in a volume which may be a sequel and companion to this. My indebtedness to many authorities is manifest on almost every page of the book; but I wish specially to acknowledge my debt to Professor Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie, D.C.L., F.R.S., not only for the kindness which has allowed me to use the material of several of the plates in the book (7, 9, 10), but also for the constant inspiration and stimulus which his work has given to me, as to so many other students of the wonderful civilisation of Ancient Egypt. JAMES BAIKIE. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE THE STORY OF THE PIONEERS 7 CHAPTER II MARIETTE AND HIS WORK 18 CHAPTER III THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN PERIOD 35 CHAPTER IV THE PYRAMIDS AND THEIR EXPLORERS 48 CHAPTER V WORK AMONG THE TEMPLES 84 CHAPTER VI BURIED ROYALTIES 128 CHAPTER VII TUTANKHAMEN AND HIS SPLENDOURS 177 CHAPTER VIII LIFE, ARTS, AND CRAFTS IN THE LAND OF THE NILE 213 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE 1. Portrait Statue of Thothmes III, Cairo Museum _Frontispiece_ PAGE 2. Wall of Chamber, Tomb of Sety I, Valley of the Kings 10