VIII OBITUARY NOTICES. 



Out into the Day." Maspero recognized that the Pyramid texts 

 furnished in archaic form the oldest recension of the collection, and 

 that these texts must primarily be used for determining the struc- 

 ture of the Egyptian language and for the study of the early re- 

 ligious beliefs. Maspero thus opened up the second era of Egypto- 

 logical research, and associated his name for all times with that of 

 Champollion. 



He had been sent to Egypt in 1880 by the French government 

 as the head of a mission to establish the Institut Francais de I'Arche- 

 ologie Orientale at Cairo — founded to carry on excavations and to 

 promote arclijeological research through publications. On the death 

 of Mariette, the Khedive appointed Maspero as director of the 

 Museum, a post which he retained for a period of five years. De- 

 spite his exacting labors in that capacity, rendered more difficult by 

 the chicaneries of an Oriental government, he continued to edit his 

 Recueil and to carry on his favorite researches. He also retained 

 his professorship at the College de France and spent a portion of 

 each year at Paris, devoted to teaching and writing. In 1883 he was 

 elected a member of the xA.cademie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 

 and when in 1885 ^^ resigned his post at Cairo, he returned to Paris 

 the acknowledged head of French Egyptologists, recognized through- 

 out the world as an authority of the very first rank. 



The next fourteen years, from 1885 to 1899, were spent in Paris. 

 During this period he devoted himself to the training of young stu- 

 dents of Egyptology, and exhibited a fruitfulness in research even 

 more astonishing than his previous achievements. Besides the ar- 

 ticles in his Recucil, his contributions appeared in nunierous jour- 

 nals outside his native land. Long memoirs alternated with shorter 

 articles — ranging over the entire domain of Egyptology. Among 

 popular works which appeared during this period were his " Life in 

 Ancient Egypt," his " Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide 

 to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt " and his " Contes Populaires 

 de I'Egypte Ancienne — the last named a collection of tales, charm- 

 ingly translated into French with a delightful introduction, set- 

 ting forth the nature of this branch of Egyptian literature. The 

 collection includes the famous story of " The Two Brothers," which 

 wandered to the ancient Hebrews and became part of the popular 



