حتى منتصف القرن التاسع عشر كانت مصر أرضاً مباحة لهواة جمع الآثار الأوروبيين ومدراء المتاحف الأوروبية يساومون الفلاحين والتجار في مبادلات قد تحسم بحد السلاح أحياناً إلى أن تم تنفيذ القانون الذي يحظر تصدير الآثار ولكن هذا القانون لم يكن كافياً لردع اللاهثين

From 1798, when Napoleon's invading army rediscovered the ancient civilization of Egypt, until 1922, when the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb were handed over to the Cairo Museum, the European powers fell over themselves to plunder the archaeological treasures of the Nile valley. So-called archaeologists behaved like tomb robbers, government officials engaged in illegal conspiracies, and crates of priceless and often unrecorded treasures were shipped away all over the world. But at the same time the science of Egyptology was born. The story is peopled with flamboyant "antiquarians", corrupt officials and eccentric geniuses - men like Champollion, who could speak seven oriental languages by the age of 18, and who deciphered the Rosetta Stone, key to Egypt's mysteries.