New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-01-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS
ANCIENT EGYPT.

ANCIENT EGYPT.
naYPrIAN ARcH1OLoaY. by q MMrxAo. DOL.
Ox"ns Issnssatsa BY AhELA =. Epw.Rns WIN
Ses iIiustrSsssA~ 12as.. PIP s2s. G. 2. Putnsms
n Maspero's excellent volume on Egyptian
axchso losy, pr pared for the BibliOtheque de
Enseign m MT des Beaux Arts, has been translated
inro Engi xh by Amelia B. Edwards and very hand
a. m " print d. with all the illustrations Of the
French edith n. and with many additional notes by
the Translator and by Mr. Flinders Petrie, the In
vestigatcr Of the pyramids and the expoder Of the
FAINT site the ~ founded upon wrong computa-
tons OF their oricntation by Mr.. Piaszi Smyth
NJ Maspero stands In the front rank OF Egypt
loyists and In this modest little work he has done
the public z cd service. and such as no man who
had not the whole subject at his fingers ends and
WIS not, to speak. saturated with the spirit OF
il. could have rendered The difficulty in prepar-
ing such a volume Of course grows out OF the ex-
tent and G. mps kitty of the MATERIAL Wilkinson,
Rawirson. Line, Brugsch Boy, Marietta and NJ
Masp 70 ms II have dealt with Egypt in con-
size able detail in more ambitious works. but
lust such a handh, ok and resume OF Egyptoiogy
as this was wanting 1t is necessarily but
birdseye view of the great subject but II is a
birds .ye view taken by one who has studied the
whole scene for so many years that he knows
almost instinctvely how to get the best out OF +"
and how to present it in the most easily compre-
hensible way.
NJ. Maspero divides his essay into five chapters,
the subjects being architecture, civil ana military
religious architecture tombs: painting and sculp-
ture; the industrial arts In these five chapters
he manages to compress a really excellent and
clear account Of the relics of ancient Egypt and
OF the manners and customs Of the people There
Is. of course much still wanting to the possible
fulness Of explanation. Modern inquiry has failed
10 solve many Of the riddles Of the Sphinx 1t Is
noticeable too that this thoroughly equipped
writer is very cautious IN his statements. lie Is
bv no means sure that he knows Just how the
pvramids were built. for instance, though twenty
casual toGr us have hastcne 10 lhint el"b'rate
solutions Of that problem, not hcsitating TO eX-
rlain in detail how the entire work was dohe.
That is not NJ Masnero's method Iic tells what
he tnows ard he does not pretend to know whab
lsclxs dem nStraticn There is one interesting
tradition Of Egypt which he is compelled to aban-
don He can find loom for that Lake Mpris
for which lIcrCdotrs stands sponsor lie th'hNs
Tie father Of history must have visited hgVp'
when the Nile was in food and the whole valley
Inundated. and suggests that he may have taken
the levecs which maintain communication between
the towns and villages at that season Tor the
banks II The arflnclai ElKe. lhs uV'i 'AlN''"
tion does rot strike us as happy TIcrOdotus was
keen observer and he thoroughly understood the
Ecvptian syst IN Of irrigation. Remembering
this il is hardly possible to believe that he couid
have made such u mistake as NJ. Maspero here
ettrihutcs 70 him. There may he no room In the
Favoum for Lake Morris There may he no au-
tbcn,ic traces of engineering works which GER
tainIv sLonld have left some evidence OF their
existlncr hut how are the facts to he got over,
first that Uerodotus whose general accuracy IS
proycrhial drscribes the lake and second, that
his description was VIGOROUSLY unqucstioned by
the cortcm porary and later Egyptians ana 'he
travellers who followed in his footprints for ages
oftcr hm' The question does not appear settled
In the negative yet.
With n surcr footing N. Maspero leads his
readers TO an examination of Egyptian archi'ec'-
urc. civil military and religious Naturally INC
buillin~ upon which most care and material were
expcndcd namely tho temples and fortresses' nave
resisted time the most successfully. Modern re-
search shows that the Egyptian civilization Is i"r
o,d,r than was formerly supposed; how ancieho III
deoa Il is impossible to tell But NJ. Maspero points
10 the fact that the most archaic oolec' o'''n "a
b,hit n maturity of artistic sense and culture
sreaIxinr Enthusiastically Of an already adult CIVIL
zaton. The antiquity Of glass-manufacturc III
L..
that is certain is that in the earliest times OF
which anv knowledge has descended to us they
still knew how TO make glass and made 1t some
times as perfectly as it can he made To-Day Inc
belief that the burial Of so many temples unucr
the sand had been the "oassstcd work OF hature
has been superseded by more careful research. IL
is now asccrtained that the practice OF bniidlng
the Villages OF towns round sacred enclosures mas
been an influential factor in the process OF siohg
m The Egyptians, like the ancient creeks were
in the habit Of building new cities ana Vin"soS
On the ri Ms OF old ones and thus u mas come 10
ross that the ground has gradually been raised all
round the temples, leaving them IN the cen
trail hollow and % course exposed to the drilo-
inp Of sand and light soil. And in this manner
the brriol Of countless monuments has been expe-
dted if not wholly brought about.
Al Nasncro's charters ON painting. sculpture
and the industrial arts particularly interest
ing lie gives a comprehensive, discriminating
and apprcciative sketch of Egyptian art lllustrat-
inc his criticisms with the best known examples
Notwithstanding the perverse conventionantes
which so dcformed painting and which checked i's
growth as an art so seriously, Egyptian ieehns
Tor nature found expression i'll sculpture In man
nor which dcmonstrat the superiority Of the civil
ization to it's symbolism. Among the portrait
statues there are a number which cannot be sur
,assed for fidelity to nature for anatomical per
lection, and above all for life-likeness Inc pose
is admirable, the expression full of character, the
accessories appropriate in every respect. 1t is
difficult to realize sometimes that the people VINO
made these wonderful portrait statues were the
same whose mural paintings were entirely devoid OF
perspective, and who systematically set profile
heads upon ful-face bodies. Yet at times the sue
cess of their audacious experiments while trying
to obisin the effects of perspective in painting sug
gcss The thought that they were not wanting In
the intelligence which discovers the laws of art
and science 30 soon as it is set free from the
letters of cOnvcntiOnalism.
Nothing about the ancient Egyptians is more re-