ACCOUNT OF THE WORK OF THE SERVICE OF ANTIQUI- 

 TIES OF EGYPT AND OF THE EGYPTIAN INSTITUTE 

 DURING THE YEARS 1892, 1893, AND 1894. 1 



By J. De Morgan. 



On the 1st of September it was two years since, charged by tlie Gov- 

 ernment of His Highness the Khedive, with the administration of the 

 antiquities of Egypt, I definitely assumed full control of an office 

 which I had held pro tempore for about six months, and which, in spite 

 of the experience already gained, seemed to me none the less a very 

 heavy burden. 



It is not enough, as you know, that a person be merely a good 

 administrator in order to properly direct this great service; one must be 

 an Egyptologist as well, and while my good intentions might contribute 

 to the conduct of affairs, it could not be so with regard to Egyptology. 

 I found that to succeed Mariette and our colleague, Maspero, was an 

 honor difficult to support. 



My studies had always turned to Asia. I was not an Egyptologist. 

 Consequently only my administration and my discoveries can excuse 

 my ignorance of the hieroglyphs. I hoped, however, that linguists 

 would be satisfied if I furnished them with their documents, while I 

 devoted myself entirely to my researches. 



In order to show you plainly the work done by the Service of Antiqui- 

 ties since my arrival in Egypt, it is indispensable that I divide my sub- 

 ject, because very often enterprises of quite different nature have been 

 executed at the same time, and it would be impossible to enumerate 

 them in chronological order. 



I shall speak first concerning excavations, then about the conserva- 

 tion of monuments, then about the museums, and finally about the pub- 

 lications of the Service of Antiquities in Egypt. 



1 Translated from Actes du Dixieme Congres International des Orientalistes, 

 session de Geneve, 1894. Leide, 1897. Section iv 7 Egype et Langues Africaines, 

 pp. 3-33. 



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