ABSTRACT
A new and important feature in the arrangement of the rooms on the upper floor is the section devoted to the exhibition of papyri. Here in flat glazed cases are shown at full length fine copies of the Book of the Dead, hieratic texts, including the unique copy of the" Maxims of Ani," and many other papyri which have been hitherto inacces-
sible to the ordinary visitor. N ow that these precious works cannot be reached by damp, their exhibition in a prominent place is a wise act on the part of the direction of the Museum. To certain classes of objects, such as scarabs, blue glazcd jai"ence, linen sheets, mummy bandages and clothing, terra-cotta vases and vessels, alabaster jars, etc., special rooms are devoted, and the visitor or student can see at a glance which are the most important specimens of each class. The antiquities which, although found in Egypt, are certainly not of Egyptian manufacture, e.g., Greek and Phcenician glass, Greek statues, tablets inscribed in cuneiform, found at Tell el-Amarna, are arranged in groups in rooms set apart for them; and the monuments of the Egyptian Christians or Copts are also classified and arranged in a separate room. The antiquities have now been arranged and numbered on an intelligent system by the exertion of MM. de Morgan and Brugsch, and the excellent work which has been done during the past years is, we hope and believe, an earnest of what will he done in the immcdiate future. The growing prosperity of Egypt is an accomplished fact, «< and it seems that the Museum of
* The following table shows the revenue from 1887-1897:-
Egyptian Antiquities should participate in this prosperity and receive a larger grant of money, both for making purchases and excavations, for the attraction of the antiquities of the country is a very real and genuine matter, and induces travellers to visit it again and again. When the antiquities have been removed to the new museum at Cairo, we may be certain that the English advisers of the Khedive will never allow the progress of an institution which draws much money into the country, and which is now doing splendid work, to be hampered for the sake of a few thousand pounds a year.
