The British Museum has the largest and finest collection of antiquities from Egypt and the Sudan outside of those countries. Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt presents the highlights of the British Museum's Egyptian collection for the first time in print. This beautiful volume displays 200 of the most important and famous objects, including the Rosetta Stone, as well as a selection of lesser-known but equally significant pieces. Together, these works offer an overview of the whole of ancient Egyptian art.

Each object is illustrated with a full-page color photograph, many of which were taken especially for this publication. The accompanying text unfolds the story and features of each object. The introduction offers a brief history of the vast collections of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan and a description of how and why items are selected for display in the permanent galleries of the British Museum.