by the agents of universities
and museums in England, America and Germany, and by private explorers,
concessions being granted generally on the terms that the Egyptian
government shall retain half of the antiquities discovered, while the
other half remains for the finders.

The era of scientific excavation began with Flinders Petrie's work at
Tanis in 1883. Previous explorers kept scientific aims in view, but the
idea of scientific archaeology was not realized by them. The procedure
in scientific excavation is directed to collecting and interpreting all
the information that can be obtained from the excavation as to the
history and nature of the site explored, be it town, temple, house,
cemetery or individual grave, wasting no evidence that results from it
touching the endless problems which scientific archaeology
affords--whether in regard to arts and crafts, manners and customs,
language, history or beliefs. This is a totally different thing from
mere hunting for inscriptions, statues or other portable objects which
will present a greater or less value in themselves even when torn from
their context. Such may, of course, form the greater part of the harvest
and working material of a scientific excavator; their presence is most
welcome to him, but their complete absence need be no bar to his
attainment of important historical results. The absence of scientific
excavation in Egypt was deplored by the Scottish archaeologist Alexander
Henry Rhind (1833-1863), as early as 1862. Since Flinders Petrie began,
the general level of research has gradually risen, and, while much is
shamefully bad and destructive, there is a certain proportion that fully
realizes the requirements of scientific archaeology.

_Antiquities, Sites, &c._--The remains for archaeological investigation
in Egypt may be roughly classified as material and literary: to the
latter belong the texts on papyri and the inscriptions, to the former
the sites of ancient towns with the temples, fortifications and houses;
remains of roads, canals, quarries and other matters falling within the
domain of ancient topography; the larger monuments, as obelisks,
statues, stelae, &c.; and finally the small antiquities--utensils,
clothes, weapons, amulets, &c. Where moisture can reach the antiquities
their preservation is no better in Egypt than it would have been in
other countries; for this reason all the papyri in the Delta have
perished unless they happen to have been char