Note return — Chapter XV · VANCE MAKES A DISCOVERY

“Fairly well. He’s weak on grammatical points, but his knowledge of the signs and the vocabulary is rather extensive. He has studied Greek and Arabic; and I believe he had a year or two of Assyrian. Coptic, too. The usual linguistic foundation for an archæologist.—Scarlett, on the other hand, is something of a wizard, though he’s a loyal adherent of Budge’s system—like many amateurs.[23] And Budge, of course, is antiquated. Don’t misunderstand me. Budge is a great man—his contributions to Egyptology are invaluable; and his publication of the Book of the Dead——”