A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. Now reissued in two volumes are the four excavation reports, published between 1931 and 1934, covering his extensive dig at Tell el-Ajjul in Palestine. The reports scrupulously record the finds of artefacts dating from the Copper Age and extending to the Hyksos period. Descriptions of the working party's struggles against malaria and the elements highlight Petrie's devotion to his work. Volume 2 combines the final two excavation reports, first...

The fifth Baron Abercromby (1841 1924), a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. His especial interest was prehistoric pottery, and he introduced the word 'beaker' as a term to indicate the late Neolithic/Chalcolithic western European culture which produced these characteristic clay drinking vessels. His aim was to produce a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, to classify these by type and geographical area, and to examine the goods associated with dateable pottery in burials and cremation...

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. In this short but classic work of 1904, he explains his vision for the young science of archaeology. Petrie outlines his processes and goals for an excavation, offering advice on how to manage workers drawn from the local population as well as guidance on creating a thorough record of a dig, the importance of which had not been fully appreciated by many contemporary archaeologists. His methods were highly influential in their more systematic and...

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. The two excavation reports now reissued here together were first published in 1891 and 1892 respectively, written in collaboration with other experts. They outline significant finds at the pyramids of Lahun and Meidum, and at Gurob and Kahun, notably the latter's cache of Middle Kingdom papyri. Petrie and his collaborators describe in detail how they came to make these discoveries, shedding light on developing archaeological practices used towards...

Sir Arthur John Evans (1851 1941), the pioneer of ancient Cretan archaeology, most famously excavated the ruins of Knossos and uncovered the remains of its Bronze Age Minoan civilisation (as detailed in The Palace of Minos at Knossos, also reissued in this series). In this highly illustrated work, first published in 1901, Evans surveys the recent archaeological evidence from his dig at Knossos as well as from other locations around the Mediterranean. He describes a variety of religious objects and symbols, especially those concerned with sacred stones, pillars and trees, which Evans argues...

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. His meticulous recording of artefacts and his sequence dating of pottery types found in Egypt and Palestine made Near Eastern archaeology a more rigorous and scientific discipline. This fully illustrated follow-up report of 1901 on the royal tombs at Abydos, capital of Upper Egypt, covers the early dynastic period (c.3100 c.2700 BCE). Petrie gives detailed descriptions of eight tombs and the associated finds. A chapter on the inscriptions is...

The Hungarian-born archaeologist Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) is probably best remembered today for his explorations in Chinese Turkestan, and especially his discovery of the Buddhist treasure of Dunhuang, described in his earlier works, Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan and Ruins of Desert Cathay (also reissued in this series). Stein was equally interested in the territory north-west of the North-West Frontier, and in this highly illustrated 1929 work he describes an expedition to survey the route of Alexander the Great's invasion of India in 326 BCE. Having long been intrigued by 'that...

The fifth Baron Abercromby (1841 1924), a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. His especial interest was prehistoric pottery, and he introduced the word 'beaker' as a term to indicate the late Neolithic/Chalcolithic western European culture which produced these characteristic clay drinking vessels. His aim was to produce a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, to classify these by type and geographical area, and to examine the goods associated with dateable pottery in burials and cremation...

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853 1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. In 1880 he began the first ever systematic survey of the Giza Plateau, with perhaps his most important work being on the Great Pyramid. Theories abounded as to how the Great Pyramid had been constructed, yet few were based on close examination of the structure itself. Petrie's findings, still used as a reference today, enabled him to disprove prominent theories, such as the belief of Charles Piazzi Smyth that the Great Pyramid was a product of...

'If modern Egypt is so far away that it takes three weeks to get there, ancient Egypt is infinitely more distant.' So wrote novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards (1831 92) in this, the last published work of her career. Having first travelled to Egypt in 1873, in 1889 90 Edwards was invited to lecture in the United States, campaigning for the Egypt Exploration Fund, of which she was joint honorary secretary. In five months she addressed 100,000 people at over 110 meetings in sixteen states. First published in 1892, a month before her death, this book is a collection...