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EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 
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objects, and are generally executed with great care and finish. 
They are employed in various ways, sometimes symbolically, to 
indicate the object represented, or the quality for which an 
object is remarkable : at other times alphabetically, to express 
the sound of the initial letter of the Egyptian name. 
SOUTHERN GALLERY. 
The visitor on entering this Gallery approaches the most recent of 
the antiquities of Egypt, the first recess on each side being occupied 
by monuments of the Roman dominion in that country, a period which 
commenced with the capture of Alexandria by Augustus, b.c. 30, and 
extended to the Mohammadan invasion, a.d. 640. 
In the second compartment are placed the remains of the Ptolemaic 
or Greek period, introduced by the conquests of Alexander the Great, 
and the accession of Ptolemy Sotertothe throne of Egypt in b.c. 323 
In the centre of the room is placed the celebrated Rosetta stone ; it 
is a tablet of black basalt, having three inscriptions, two of them 
in the Egyptian language, but in two different characters (Hieroglyphic 
and Enchorial), the third in Greek. The inscriptions are to the same 
purport in each, being a decree of the priesthood at Memphis in honour 
of Ptolemy Epiphanes about the year b.c. 196. This stone has 
furnished the key to the interpretation of the Egyptian characters. 
Cast of a similar trilingual tablet found at San, being a decree of the 
priests at Canopus in honour of Ptolemy Euergetes I. and Berenice, 
b.c. 238. 
The next two compartments contain the monuments of the 30th, 
or last native dynasty, which succeeded in expelling the Persians from 
Egypt. The principal sculptures are: — A slab of green basalt, on 
which is represented King Nectanebo II. (b.c. 358-340), making 
offerings to a deity; from Alexandria. — The sarcophagus of King 
Nectanebo I. (b.c. 378-360), formerly described as that of Alexander 
the Great, on the exterior of which are representations of the sun 
passing through the heavens in his boat, and on the interior various 
divinities ; Alexandria. — Sarcophagus of Naskatu, a Memphite priest, 
covered with inscriptions; Memphis. — Two obelisks erected by King 
Nectanebo I. before the Temple of Thoth ; Cairo. 
The two following compartments contain the remains of the 26th 
dynasty, which commenced under Psammetichus I., and was conspicuous 
for its encouragement of art, and for the extensive employment of 
Greeks in its service. It terminated at the conquest of Egypt by the 
Persians under Cambyses, b.c. 525. The principal objects are: — 
The granite sarcophagus of Hapimen, a royal scribe ; Cairo. — The 
elaborately-worked sarcophagus of the Queen of Amasis II. (b.c. 
538-527); Thebes. — A slab of basalt, on which is represented 
Psammetichus I., making offerings ; Alexandria. — A basalt kneel- 
ing figure of a public functionary, named Uah-ab-ra; Natron Lakes. 
