ANNUAL MEETING. 29 
discovery made in Tel-el-Amarna is one of the most remarkable that 
has been made in Egypt in this century. We should never have 
expected to find that the Babylonian language would become a 
diplomatic language, as Professor Sayce says it was at the time 
of the 18th dynasty. To us, as Egyptologists, this discovery is of 
the greatest importance, because it shows that the conquest of the 
Egyptian kings lasted and had more lasting influence over the 
countries conquered than we thought of. We generally supposed 
that after the death of a king who made great conquests, such 
as those of Thothmes III., everything found its level; but we 
see that the dominion of Egypt lasted over three, four, or 
even five reigns in succession: and a very curious point is this, that 
we see old Egyptian kings of conquered states treated the natives 
as the governors of those states, and those natives communicated 
with them in the Babylonian language, which was not well known 
to the Egyptian kings, for on one of those tablets of Boulaq, I 
think it is one of the foreign kings who writes to the king of 
Egypt saying that he sends to him an interpreter in order that he 
may understand his letter more completely. But what I would 
like to impress on your mind is this: That even now, at this time, 
Egypt is still the land of the unexpected,—the land of the mar- 
vellous. I have great faith in Egyptian soil, and I think, if 
properly worked, it might show us and give us treasures which 
would be of the greatest value in contributing to our knowledge of 
Egyptian ancient history. I have great pleasure in seconding the 
resolution. 
The President having put the resolution to the meeting, it was 
duly carried. 
Reverend W. Wricut, D.D.—Sir George Stokes, my lords, ladies, 
and gentlemen : I should like to say a few words of special interest 
in regard to Professor Sayce. We have his Address here to-night by 
what we may call a miracle. In fact, the life of Professor Sayce (one 
of the most precious lives in the world) has been preserved to us by 
what I may call a miracle. He landed one morning from his boat 
on the Nile, and went ashore and was bitten by the deadly asp; he 
hurried into his boat, and with his own hand burnt the bitten 
part down to the bone, he then turned to the table, wrote out his will, 
and prepared for the worst. His people waited to see what would 
happen, but finding no ill ensue, they said he was under the pro- 
tection of Allah, and they were right, and they were thankful to 
Allah, whom we call God, for preserving the life of Professor Sayce. 
