India (1879), zoological specimens, nearly 10,000 in number; ancient Indian sculptures; and copies of paintings from the Ajunta Cavesall from the Indian Museum. The Rev. William Greenwell, F.R.S. (1879-1883), collection of antiquities excavated by the donor in 234 British barrows, and collection of flint instruments from Norfolk. William Burges, A.R.A., bequeathed a selection from his antiquities. (chiefly European and Oriental armour) and illuminated manuscripts. In 1886-1887 the Earl of Chichester presented a large collection of papers connected with the Pelham family, including the official, political, private, and domestic correspondence; and papers of Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, First Lord of the Treasury, 1754-1762; and correspondence and papers of the first and second Earls of Chichester. William White bequeathed a sum of £65,411, expended in building an east wing, called the White Wing.

Additional Purchases of vases, bronzes, etc.—Besides the purchases already recorded the following should be noticed: 1772, Sir William Hamilton's collection, £8400. 1805, Townley Marbles, £28,200; bronzes, coins, and gems, £8200. 1814-1815, Elgin Marbles, £35,000. 1815-1816, Phigalian Marbles, £19,000; 1818, Dr. Burney's MSS., £13,500; Lansdowne MSS., £4925; Arundel MSS., £3559: 3s. 1845, the marbles recovered by Sir Charles Fellows from the buried cities of Lycia. 1851-1860, the Assyrian sculptures and antiquities, the result of the researches and excavations of Sir A. H. Layard. 1855, medieval antiquities from the Bernal sale. 1856, Mr. W. Maskell's collection of carved ivories. 1856 1857, the sculptures from Budrum, chiefly the remains of the mausoleum at Halikarnassos, recovered by Sir C. T. Newton. 1861, marbles from excavations at Cyrene. 1864, sculpture, purchased from the Farnese Palace at Rome. 1863-1875, architectural remains and sculpture recovered by Mr. J. T. Wood from the temple of Diana at Ephesus. 1865, large purchases of objects of ornamental art at the sale of the Pourtalès Collection. 1866, the Blacas Collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. 1867, Mr. E. Hawkins's collection of political prints. 1872-1873, the collections of Alessandro Castellani, chiefly antique jewellery and ornamental art. 1872, Greek and Roman coins from the collection of Mr. E. Wigan, £10,000. 1877, the fine collection of prints and drawings, maps, plans, and views of London, formed by the late Mr. F. Crace.

By the transference of the Natural History Collections to the buildings at South Kensington, room was obtained for the crowded collections of the Departments of Antiquities, and these collections were at once rearranged. The opening of the White Wing has caused considerable further alteration, and the removal of the Print Department to this wing has left the space occupied by the old Print Room on the north-west staircase available for the enlargement of accommodation for the Greek and Roman Antiquities. The galleries are still (1888) in course of rearrangement, and it is therefore useless to

refer specifically to the contents of rooms which may at any time be changed. A general idea therefore of the contents of the various departments only is given here, and further information as to the exact position of the different rooms must be sought for in the Official Guide, which is frequently reprinted.

The General Arrangement of the Museum collections is, broadly, as follows: Ground Floor.-Passing under the portico into the Entrance Hall in front is the Reading Room; on the right are the Printed Book and Manuscript Departments; on the left the Departments of Antiquities. On this side, along the front of the building, are the Roman Gallery and the Græco-Roman Saloons. Parallel with these are the Archaic Greek Room and the Assyrian Transept, from which are entrances to the Assyrian and the Egyptian Rooms. These last occupy the whole of the western range of the original building, and form a noble suite 300 feet long and 40 feet wide, corresponding in dimensions to the King's Library, which extends the whole length of the building. West of and parallel with the Egyptian Saloons are the Ephesus Room, the Elgin Room, the Hellenic Room, the Mausoleum Room, and the Assyrian Galleries. The northern range of rooms is appropriated to the Library and is not open to the public.

The Upper Floor is reached by the principal staircase (on the left of the entrance), along which are ranged various Indian sculptures from the great Buddhist tope at Amaravati. The staircase leads directly into the Prehistoric Saloon. Along this south side of the building are the Terra - Cotta Room, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Roman Rooms, Mediæval Room, and Asiatic Saloon. The eastern half of this floor is devoted to the Ethnographical Rooms; the western to the Vase Rooms and Bronze Rooms. The north portion of the upper floor is occupied by the northern galleries, and north of these are the Assyrian Room and the Egyptian Rooms.

THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES

The Egyptian antiquities-the finest collection in Europe "constitute on the whole the most widely extended series in the range of antiquity, ascending to at least 2000 years before the Christian era, and closing with the Mohammedan invasion of Egypt, A.D. 640." The larger objects are arranged as far as practicable in chronological order in the suite of galleries on the ground floor, and the smaller objects in rooms on the upper floor. On the ground floor is the famous Rosetta Stone-a tablet of black basalt, having cut in it three inscriptions of like purport, two of them Egyptian, in hieroglyphic and enchorial characters, the third in Greek, a circumstance which furnished Dr. Young with the key to the interpretation of the Egyptian characters. The tablet was captured from the French in a vessel which was conveying it from Egypt to the Louvre. The inscription is "A decree of the priesthood at Memphis in honour of Ptolemy Epiphanes about the year B.C. 196." Sarcophagus of King Nectanebo I. (B.C. 378-360),

with inside and out elaborate incised representations of various divinities; also two obelisks erected by that monarch before the Temple of Thoth at Cairo. Sarcophagus of the Queen of Amasis II. (B.c. 538-527). Statue of Menephthah II. on his throne, with a ram's head on his knees. Colossal fist, in red granite; from one of the statues which stood before the Temple of Phtah at Memphis. Colossal granite heads from the Memnonium at Thebes. Between the columns at the entrance to the Northern Gallery a granite statue of Rameses II. on one side, on the other a wooden statue of Sethos I.

Statues in black granite of King Horus. Two seated statues in black granite of King Amenophis III., from Thebes. Two colossal heads of the same king, found near the statue of the vocal Memnon. Two lions, couchant, in red granite, in the most perfect style of Egyptian art, from Nubia. Colossal ram's head, from an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes at Karnak. Colossal head of King Thothmes III., discovered by Belzoni at Karnak in 1818. Statues of the cat-headed goddess Sechet. In the central recess of the east side of the northern gallery is fixed the Abydos Tablet, discovered by Mr. Bankes in a chamber of the Temple at Abydos, which has been "of great value in determining the names and successions of the kings of various dynasties." Notice here the curious contemporary paintings of scenes of ancient Egyptian court and domestic life. In the vestibule are arranged smaller objects of great interest to the Egyptian student. On the staircase Egyptian papyri, documents of various kinds, with inscription written in hieroglyphics, in the hieratic or court hand, and in demotic or enchorial, the Egyptian cursive hand used for ordinary everyday purposes.

In the Egyptian Rooms on the upper floor are arranged smaller objects of great variety, interest, and value, "acquired mainly by purchase from the collections of M. Anastasi, Mr. Salt, Mr. Sams, and Mr. Lane, and by donations from H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Northumberland, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and other travellers in Egypt." They are classified under-Objects relating to the religion of the Egyptians; those relating to their civil and domestic life, death and burial; and include representations of deities and sacred animals; statuettes and small figures in gold, silver, bronze, porcelain, etc.; votive offerings, amulets, household furniture, articles of dress and the toilette; personal ornaments, bronze mirrors, vases of Oriental alabaster, serpentine, bronze, porcelain, terra-cotta, etc.; agricultural implements, armour, weapons, and implements of war; artistic and writing implements, baskets, bronze tools, musical instruments, games (draughtboard, draughtmen, etc.), children's playthings, etc.; animal mummies, human mummies, sepulchral ornaments, sepulchral tablets of painted wood, models of mummies, boats, etc., from the tombs, etc., many of the greatest curiosity, and exhibiting the various modes of embalming practised by the Egyptians, and the various degrees of care and splendour expended on the bodies of different ranks. Worthy of

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special observation are models of Egyptian boats, Egyptian wig, model of a house, etc.; stand with cooked waterfowl, coffin and body of Menkara (Mycerinus), builder of the third pyramid. The fine mummy of Hornetatef, high priest of Amen, coffins in the centre of the room, and mummies of sacred animals in the wall cases.

ASSYRIAN COLLECTIONS

The Assyrian Collections comprise the sculptures excavated on the site of the ancient Nineveh by Mr. (now Sir A. H.) Layard in 18471850; those excavated on and near the same region by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam and Mr. W. K. Loftus, 1853-1855; the collections excavated or obtained by Mr. George Smith in 1873-1876; and those excavated by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam in 1878-1880. The collections are arranged in apartments on the west of the Egyptian Galleries, extending north and south for over 300 feet, with a transept and a basement room, and an Assyrian room on the upper floor.

In the Kouyunjik Gallery are the bas-reliefs obtained by Mr. Layard in 1849-1850 from the palace of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik, afterwards occupied by his grandson, Assur-banipal, who reigned towards the end of the 7th century B.C. The earlier slabs are of alabaster, the later of a harder limestone. All have been more or less injured by fire, and "many of the slabs reached this country in 300 or 400 pieces." They have been most skilfully pieced together, but, very properly, without any attempt at restoration. Those on the west side are of the beginning of the 7th century B.C., and illustrate the wars of Sennacherib, representing his campaigns, sieges of fortified cities, triumphs, processions of captives (Jews occupying a prominent place), tribute bearers, preparations for a banquet, etc. Later slabs represent battles, receptions of ambassadors, torture of captives, etc. On other slabs are depicted cities, buildings in course of erection and completed, the method of conveying the colossal human-headed bull, procession of captives with spoil, etc. In the centre of the room is an obelisk of white calcareous stone, discovered at Kouyunjik by Mr. Rassam. Small bas-reliefs on the sides represent the exploits of Assur-nazir-pal, who reigned two centuries before Sennacherib. In the table cases are iron and bronze bracelets, fetters, and swords, terra-cotta tablets with cuneiform inscriptions; various antiquities excavated by Mr. George Smith; seals, engraved stones, and cylinders of hard stone, one with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 600, and one (of about B.C. 120) inscribed "I am Darius the great king," in Persian, Median, and Assyrian.

In the Nimroud Central Saloon commence the series of sculptures procured by Mr. Layard in 1847 and 1850 from the great mound at Nimroud. The bas-reliefs represent warlike scenes, sieges, the evacuation of a captured city, the impaling of captives, the monarch in his chariot, and various quadrupeds, executed with remarkable spirit and fidelity. Between the two central pilasters is an obelisk of black marble,

found near the centre of the great mound, which Dr. Birch describes

as

One of the most important historical monuments which have been recovered from Assyria. . . . It is decorated with five tiers of bas-reliefs, each continued round the sides; and the unsculptured surface is covered with cuneiform inscriptions, which record the annals of Shalmaneser II. for thirty-one years, commencing about B.C. 860. The bas-reliefs illustrate the presentation of offerings to the king by his numerous tributaries, and the inscriptions record the names of the donors, amongst whom are Jehu, "of the house of Omri," the Israelitish king, and Hazael, the contemporary king of Syria."

Here are also the head of a human-headed bull more colossal in scale than any yet brought to Europe; and two other bulls, similar in character, but smaller. Statues of the god Nebo excavated by Mr. Rassam, of about B.C. 780, and many other interesting objects. By the entrance to the Kouyunjik Gallery is a colossal lion covered with inscriptions. With a companion figure it guarded the doorway of a temple, and, as will be noticed, has five legs, a device to make it appear perfect, whether looked at in front or at the side.

In the Nimroud Gallery is the series of slabs discovered by Sir A. H. Layard. These are among the largest and most perfect we possess, and should be examined for their multiplicity of detailed representation and beauty of execution. Their range of subjects is wider than in those just noticed, and an attentive consideration of them recalls Assyrian life with singular vividness to the spectator. The smaller antiquities-domestic, commercial, military and religious-in the table cases in the centre of the room confirm and strengthen the impression produced by the bas-reliefs.

The Phoenician room (containing a cast of the Moabite stone) leads to the Assyrian Basement Room, where are the sculptures excavated from the ruins of two palaces at Kouyunjik by Mr. Rassam and Mr. Loftus. They are of the time of Assur-banipal, or Sardanapalus, the grandson of Sennacherib, and belong to the latest period of Assyrian art, but are bolder, freer, and more realistic in design and of even greater delicacy of execution than the earlier examples. Note especially the remarkable representation of a lion-hunt on slabs 33-53, and the companion 63-74, the Return from the Chase, where the various animals are represented in life and vivid action, in the agony of death, and carried home as trophies, with an accuracy of imitation, vigour, and feeling, worthy of the greatest sculptors.

The Assyrian Transept contains the remainder of the monuments of Assur-nazir-pal, monuments from the Palace of Sargon, and a magnificent pair of colossal human-headed bulls found at Khorsabad by Sir H. C. Rawlinson in 1849.

The bronze coverings of the gates found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat in 1879 are in the Assyrian Room on the upper floor. The very beautiful representations of the leading warlike incidents in the life of Shalmaneser II., by whom they were erected B.C. 825, deserve special attention.