Expansion of the collection through excavation and purchase
(1886-1945)
Following Birch's death the Museum began to pursue an active
policy of purchase of antiquities from dealers in Egypt, making use
of the enterprising talents of Ernest Wallis Budge, who first went
to Egypt in the 1880s. He was a man of great energy and very
considerable intellectual abilities, a devoted servant of the
Trustees of the Museum, who in his time both tripled the size of
the Egyptian collections, and, by his numerous publications,
greatly advanced popular enthusiasm for ancient Egypt. His
interests lay principally in Egyptian funerary texts and in
funerary equipment. He did not seek out works of art, but mummies,
coffins and religious papyri were energetically pursued. In the
late nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth
century, the dealers' shops in Egypt were overflowing with objects
from chance discoveries and illicit excavations. It was possible to
purchase material freely, and in whatever area lay the interests of
the purchaser.
Budge exploited his opportunities with enthusiasm, building up a
fine representative collection of mummies and coffins for the
Museum, with good examples from most periods. Splendid copies of
the 'Book of the Dead' were also obtained, in particular that
prepared for the scribe Ani, possibly the best illustrated papyrus
in existence. He also purchased new literary texts, like that
called the 'Teaching of Amenemope.' Within the great scale of his
activities it was inevitable that many fine pieces of sculpture and
other works of art were acquired, notably the statues of Senenmut,
steward of Queen Hatshepsut.
Although Budge remained unenthusiastic about supporting
excavations in Egypt, he could not refuse to accept the large and
continuing donations of excavated objects offered by the Egypt
Exploration Fund and other British organisations; he even allowed
members of his staff to participate in these excavations. The
Museum, in consequence, benefited by the acquisition of large
quantities of archaeological material with well-established
provenances, and also of many pieces which could properly be called
works of art: an ivory statue of an Early Dynastic king from
Abydos, three remarkable granite statues of King Senusret III from
Deir el-Bahri in Western Thebes, a colossal granite head of King
Amenemhat III from Bubastis, a most sensitive wood carving of an
official, Meryrehashtef, from Sedment. From excavations the Museum
built up a fine representative, well-documented series of pottery
from Predynastic times down to the Roman Period; and there were
many thousands of small objects illustrating the culture of ancient
Egypt, and large quantities of fragmentary antiquities exemplifying
the artistic and industrial techniques of the ancient Egyptians.
The British Museum has never limited itself to the collection and
exhibition of works of art only. It is a museum of the history of
the cultures of the whole world, and as such demonstrated by the
size and range of the Egyptian collections.
When Budge retired in 1924, there were about 57,000 Egyptian
objects in the Museum, many of them being quite small scarabs,
amulets, shabti-figures, bronzes. In the following years, up to the
Second World War, the pace of collecting slowed, partly due to the
adverse economic situation, and partly to the limited programmes of
excavation. Nevertheless, the British Museum continued to receive
small, but regular, donations from the Egypt Exploration Society
(formerly Fund). The principal sites excavated were El-Amarna and
Armant. From the former, the city established by King Akhenaten,
the Museum received tantalising fragments of fine sculpture and
many small objects illustrating the daily life of the inhabitants
of that short-lived city. The most remarkable piece was a cosmetic
container in the form of a fish, made from polychrome opaque glass,
a masterpiece of technique and beauty.
Two excavations supported directly by the Museum were carried
out between 1928 and 1931 at Mostagedda and Matmar where some of
the earliest Predynastic settlements were identified. From these
places came much archaeological material of great scientific
interest which considerably enhanced the reputation of the Egyptian
collections as a resource for study and research. During the
keepership of Wallis Budge non-museum scholars were not encouraged
to work on the material in the Department; in the following years
the Department became a more welcoming place for visiting
Egyptologists. It was important, therefore, for the collections in
general and for the principles governing acquisition to reflect the
growing importance of the Museum as an institution for
research.
One area of the Department which greatly attracted outside
scholars was the papyrus collection, and in the years between the
two World Wars, significant new acquisitions were made. In 1929 the
Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus, containing an account of the coronation
of King Senusret I was presented by Dr Alan Gardiner and the
British School of Archaeology in Egypt; in 1930 a group of
literary, religious and medical texts, including the famous 'Dream
Book,' was given by Mr and Mrs Alfred Chester Beatty; in the same
year came a large collection of secular texts written in the
domestic script, and coming from Tebtunis in the Fayum, was
purchased.