“ On the art of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia he was perhaps the pre-eminent authority, and it was one of his first tasks as Keeper to rearrange many of the galleries so as to stress the artistic and historical side of archaeology and less the predominantly religious emphasis which previously existed. Of the collections in the British Museum Hall published a work on the Coptic and Greek texts of the Christian period, one volume of a catalogue of scarabs, and six volumes on the hieroglyphic texts. ”

“ Apart from his work as an all-round Egyptologist he was a foremost authority on the history of Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, and his knowledge of the Aegean civilizations, particularly the cultures known as Minoan, was second only to that of Sir Arthur Evans. ”

“ Hall's first excavation were at Dair-al-Bahari, 1903-7, and at Abydos, 1910, with Professor Naville, for the Egypt Exploration Fund; he also took part in the Egypt Exploration Society's excavations at Abudos in 1925. With Professor Naville he published a notable work on the Eleventh Dynasty Temple at Dair-al-Bahari, and with Naville and T.E. Peet one on the cemeteries of Abydos. In 1918 he directed the British Museum excavations at Ur of the Chaldees. ”