Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

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628 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
more than in Babylonia or Assyria, which enrich our knowledge
of the most ancient history and civilization of Syria
and Palestine preceding the entrance of the Hebrews into
the promised land.
Most of these important discoveries which have been
made on Egyptian ground, apart from those which have
been thrown in our way by chance, are due to the systematic
archaeological examinations carried on by the leading civilized
nations since the close of the previous century.
HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATIONS
the military expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte to
Egypt, conducted in the summer of 1798, belongs the
honor of having first turned the attention of the West towards
the Egyptian monuments and of having brought
them within the reach of science. The expedition was accompanied
by devotees of every science as well as artists,
who amidst the clamor of war studied the hoary remains of
antiquitv and the modern conditions of the conquered country.
As proof of the great diligence which was brought to
bear upon the subject by the French Academy we have only
to mention the masterly work entitled " Description of
Egypt," 1 which appeared from 1809-1813 in twelve volumes
of plates and twenty-four of text. It was through
this magnificent publication that Europe first became acquainted
with the treasure of mighty monuments preserved
in Egypt from a remote past, and we were astonished at the
wonderful remains of a vanished civilization and art which
was far superior to that of classic antiquity.
Among the antiquities thus collected by the French
1
The French title of this work is : Description de I ' Egypte ou Recueil des
observations et des recherches qui ont et'e faites en Egypte pendant /' expedition
de P arm'ee fran$aise.