Collecting Egyptian Antiquities in the Year 1838: Reverend William Hodge Mill and Robert Curzon,Baron Zouche *

Abstract

This article focuses on the collecting activities of the Reverend William Hodge Mill and Robert Curzon, which both occurred in 1838. Thanks to the decipherment of the Demotic ostraca acquired by both men, it has been possible to conclude that many of their antiquities were collected in Thebes at about the same time. While Robert Curzon is a well known manuscript collector, his contribution to Egyptian antiquities has tended to be understudied. Here his collection of antiquities is discussed in detail, including the location of some of the objects sold at auction after his death. The Reverend William Hodge Mill's collecting activities have not been identified until now. He collected far fewer objects than Robert Curzon, probably for financial reasons, but both men were interested in examples of ancient writing.