Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

This was the indispensable companion for Victorian travelers embarking on the great Egyptian adventure. Written by Gaston Maspero, the pioneering French archaeologist who first deciphered the secrets of the pyramids' royal tombs, this handbook brought the mysteries of ancient Egypt within reach of the educated British tourist. Published in an age when a journey up the Nile required months of preparation and serious financial means, it served as both practical guide and scholarly credential for the intrepid traveler wishing to understand what they were seeing among the ruins. Maspero explains how to read the hieroglyphs adorning temple walls, what to look for in the burial chambers of the Valley of the Kings, and how the great monuments were constructed and their purposes understood in the Victorian era. For the modern reader, it offers a window into both ancient Egypt and the Victorian imagination, a time when the West was first awakening to the full grandeur of this civilization.