Author Description

Compared to the great collections of Egyptian art in Europe, that of the Metropolitan Museum is young. But the relatively late date at which the collection was started was also a major asset: the greater part of the Egyptian collection came from controlled excavations which the Museum undertook between 1906 and 1936 at Thebes, Lisht, the Wadi Natrun, the Kharga Oasis, and Hierakonpolis. Thus the collection is rich not only in art objects representative of ancient Egyptian culture, but in pieces which are part of a scientific context. They form groups in which each individual piece contributes to the understanding of the others, for the drawings, notes, plans and photographs in the excavation records provide a wealth of information that places the objects in a specific locality, architectural setting, and chronological horizon. The Department feels an obligation to make these records available to scholars of the ancient world and to the interested public, following the precedent set by early members of this Department who began the work under the guidance of Curator Albert M. Lythgoe. Excavation then as now meant not only the retrieval of objects and associated information, but the analysis and dissemination of knowledge through publication. Only when the task of publishing all important archaeological information gained during an excavation is accomplished can we feel that the project is completed. Many problems arise in attempting to publish archival records in the absence of guidance from the original excavators. The reader who is not familiar with excavation records may think that it is a simple task to check the records for a particular piece in order to obtain the information necessary to evaluate its date and meaning. In point of fact, only in very few instances can one obtain information about an object without thoroughly working through all available records of the site from which it came. Usually one note or plan cannot be understood without another; that o