The Egyptian Collections at Cambridge

Abstract

WE recently noticed at some length Dr. Wallis-Budge's book entitled “The Mummy,” and mentioned that it was intended as an introduction or a supplement to his catalogue of the antiquities which belong to the University. The catalogue itself is now before us, and is, as might be expected, a scholarly piece of work. There are people who like to read catalogues; to them this volume should prove to be of greater interest even than its companion “The Mummy”; but fortunately tastes differ, and we confess that, except perhaps to a scholar of endowments equal to those of Dr. Budge himself, “The Mummy” is the better of the two. It is satisfactory, however, to remember that the Fitzwilliam collection has been duly catalogued by competent hands, and that this catalogue is now published in an accessible form, Cambridge thus taking the lead among English universities in allowing the world to know what treasures it possesses of ancient Egyptian art. This knowledge is very valuable to the student. How many of us, for example, have seen and admired at the Louvre the granite sarcophagus of Rameses III.? Yet how few of us have known till now that the lid of the same coffin is at Cambridge? When Oxford has published a catalogue like this, and when the British Museum has followed suit, the cross references from one collection to another will in themselves form an excellent guide and help to everyone who goes in seriously for this fascinating branch of oriental scholarship.

Catalogue of the Egyptian Collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum.

By E. A. Wallis-Budge (Cambridge: University Press, 1893.)