Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire ...

The Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire was initiated at the turn of the 20th century to create a comprehensive, systematic inventory of the vast collections housed within the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Following the appointment of Gaston Maspero as director of the Service des Antiquités, the project was commissioned to replace scattered and incomplete lists with a uniform scholarly resource. This monumental undertaking involved an international team of renowned Egyptologists who were tasked with documenting individual artifacts across various classifications, from sarcophagi and jewelry to stelae and ostraca.

The design of the volumes emphasizes scientific precision, prioritizing high-quality plates, detailed transcriptions, and analytical descriptions. By providing a standardized scholarly framework, the Catalogue aimed to make the treasures of Cairo accessible to researchers globally, effectively setting the standard for institutional record-keeping in archaeology. Although the series spans decades of publication and reflects evolving methodologies in the field, it remains a foundational reference for the study of Egyptian material culture and the history of Egyptology itself.