The discovery of an Egyptian tomb, with its treasure hoard and its marvelous wall paintings, is an experience given to few. As he leafs through this book, which traces the stages of an aesthetic evolution spanning more than three thousand years, the reader may form some idea of the delights and sur prises in store for the archaeologist in the field Not only are these works of art superb examples of technical mastery, but they reflect the very human delicacy of feeling and the piquant sense of irony and observa tion with which Egyptian artists painted

what they saw around them As the oldest works are also the fewest in number and the least well preserved, stress has been laid on New Kingdom painting, of which so many fine examples survive that they permit of appraisals and comparisons hardly less rewarding than those we make of present-day works and artists. The great centuries of Egyptian painting are un questionably the 15th and 14th centuries BC The finest extant works of that period have here been grouped and evaluated in such a way as to bring out the personality of individual artists, who, though we shall never know their names, enable us to share the emotions they felt and expressed thou sands of years ago However, this study also includes significant Old Kingdom works from the hypogea and mastabas of Sakkara. examples of Middle Kingdom painting, frag ments found in the palaces of Tell el-Amarna and painted objects from the treasure of Tutankhamen.