The Washington times., 1901-10-13
IN TILE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Many Important Exhibits Added
to the Collection.
Examples of Prehistoric Burial
From Egypt-Assyrian and Roman
Antiques of Priceless yaiue-Man-
uscripts From the First Century.

1
From Egypt-Assyrian and Roman
Antiques of Priceless vaiue-Man-
uscripts From the First Century.
Few persons are aware OF the great
and important work that is being done in
| our National Museum and of the great
| changes that have been carried out in its
management under the energetic regime
| OF Sir Edward Maunde Thompson. The
museum of today is very different from
| that OF twenty years ago. Order now ex-
| lists where chaos formerly reigned su-
| preme. And. above all. the collections
have been so arranged as to permit of
their being studied by those interested in
any special section of research. The vis-
itor to the museum can now study hts
special section. aided in most cases by a
carefully prepared guide book. and with
the exhibits so arranged as to enable him
| to pass in regular sequence the best ex-
| amples of the subject under study. This
is especially the case in the department
of Oriental antiquities, where the work of
| rearranging the collections has now been
almost completed. During the last year
several important additions have been
made to this section
| Among the most important Is the fine
example Of prehistoric burial from Egypt.
This exhibit shows the type of the pre-
| Dynastic Egyptian-a fair-haired, light
skinned race, probably of Lybian origin:
and the shallow grave, with its pots and
first weapons. has been reproduced exact
ly as it was found at Gebelen. Such an
exhibit is most important for the study OF
the beginnings Of the Egyptian civiliza-
ton. To the same period belong the fine
collection of flint knives, several speei-
mems OF the wavy-fiaked type being exhib-
tied, as well as arrow heads and scrapers
The collection has also been enriched by
a selection of objects from the graves of
kings OF the first and second dynasties,
obtained by Prof Petrie from the royal
tombs at Abydos. Among the exhibits
may be noted some fine examples Of the
curious clay shoppers for jars, impressed
with seal impressions of Mezriot, as well
as some fragments of a marble vase of
Mariner. Casts of the fine slate tablet
of this early ruler are also exhibited
Among the additions to the Assyrian
collections the most important is the pur-
chase of a large collection Of Babylonian
revenue tablets dating from B. C. 23O0.
These tablets. which were fou2d at Tel
10, the ancient Sirpurra. contain the val
uation of focks, herds, crops, ETC., for
the purpose of taxation, and are wonder
full specimens OF ancient bookkeeping. A
selection of these are exhibited in the
New Babylonian rooms. Here also ara
exhibited the fine series of royal letters.
valuable addition to the collection is
the clay memorial of the early Babylonian
King Eannadu, which records the con-
quest of Elam about B. c., 400. This is
one of the finest specimens of archaic
writing known. In the department OF
Greek and Roman antiquities a rich col
lection of jewelry, earrings, necklaces,
and some fine cylinder seals from Enko-
mi. in Cyprus. have been added.
a curious addition is Roman writing
pen, the end of which is fashioned Nike a
modern nib. but not split down the CEN
trefi, the other end shaped like spoon for
erasures. This interesting object was
found in the bed of the Tiber. Among the
larger objects is a fine sarcophagus with
painted design of a sphinx between TWO
liens from Ciazomenaa. The department
has also received from the late queen a
cast of the inscribed pillar found in the
Roman Forum. The inscription is bous-
trophedon in archaic characters. The
original was found in stu under the black
marble pavement and beside two oblong
bases, apparently of the two lions which,
according to Roman tradition, were be-
side the tomb of Romulus or FadstuluS.
In the ethnOgraphic department the most
attractive exhibit will be the regalia OF
King Prempeh and a fine collection of
Ashanti jewelry, while two cases have
been devoted to objects connected with
the commemoration of Alfred the Great
The most popular portion of this section
will be the Waddesdon collection. present
ed by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild, which
is excellently exhibited and supplied with
a good catalogue The trustees are prepar-
ing for publication a special catalogue of
the rich collection. which is to be Illus
trated with photographs of the most i'm
portant objects. The early English and
Flemish carvings in the collection are un-
eqGaled by any other museum. The ex-
hibits in the manuscript department are
OF special interest, among them selec-
ton of Greek papyri from the Foyoum
in Egypt, presented by the Egyptian Ex-
ploration Fund. They range in the date
from the first century B. C. to the sew
enth century after Christ, and include a
portion of the Gospel of St John of the
third century, hitherto unknown ode OF
Sappho. and portions of Homer, Herod-
otus, Plato, and Demosthenes.
There are also a number of letters.
wills, and legal deeds or great interest
Although not exhibited, two important
additions have been made to this depart
ment. The first of these IS the manu-
script of Philip Massinger's drama, Be
lieve as You List written throughout in
the authors own hand. The identification
of the handwriting was only made on it's
appearance in an auction room during the
past year, when the volume was acquired
for the museum. With the exception OF
the two masks of Ben Jonson in the de-
partment this is the only extant holo-
graph drama by one of the great brother
hood of Elizabethan playwrights. The
second important acquisition in this de-
partment is the Common Place Book of
John Milton.
1t will be seen that during the past
year all the departments of the museum
have received important additions. and
we are glad also TO see that great activity
has been displayed both in exhibiting and
publishing these treasures.-LondOn Daily
News.