t; and others are from earlier coffins in the British Museum.
But the flower of the collection consists in exquisite drawings of
sculptured hieroglyphics, sometimes with traces of colour, from the tomb
of Phtahhotep at Saqqara, supplemented by a few from other tombs in
the same neighbourhood, and from the pyramid of Papi I. These were all
copied on the spot in 1895--96.

The only critical list of hieroglyphics with their powers published
recently is that of Erman, printed in his "Grammar." The system by
which he classifies the values--obscured in the English edition by
the substitution of the term of "ideograph" for _Wortzeichen_
(word-sign)--displays the author's keen insight into the nature of
hieroglyphic writing, and the list itself is highly suggestive.

In the case of an altogether different system of ancient writing
that has come down to us,--the old cuneiform syllabary of the
Assyrians,--dictionaries, glossaries, and other works of a grammatical
character have been preserved to the present day. Documents such as
these are, of course, of material aid in regard to obscure texts, but in
the case of the Egyptian writing the only surviving native word-list
is the Sign Papyrus of Tanis,* which is, unfortunately, of the Roman
Period, when the original meanings of the signs had been well-nigh
forgotten.

* Egypt Exploration Fund, Ninth Memoir, 1889-1890. This is
an extra volume, now out of print.

It has its own peculiar interest, but seldom furnishes the smallest hint
to the seeker after origins. The famous "Hieroglyphics of Horapollo"
occasionally contains a reminiscence of true hieroglyphics, but may
well be a composition of the Middle Ages, embodying a tiny modicum of
half-genuine tradition that had survived until then.

Scattered throughout Egyptological literature there are, as may
be imagined, many attempts at explaining individual signs. But any
endeavour to treat Egyptian hieroglyphics critically, to ascertain
their origins, the history of their use, the original distinction or the
relationship of signs that resemble each other, reveals how little is
really known about them. For study, good examples showing detail and
colouring at different periods are needed, and the evidence furnished
by form and colour must be checked by examination of their powers in
writing.

In investigating the powers of the uses of the signs, dictionaries give
most important aid to the student. The key-words of the mean