Myths about Howard Carter’s Destitution after Sakkarah Incident

Part  5 ( of 5)

Book Blog:  Bibliography

Carnarvon, Carter  and  Tutankhamun  Revisited  

The  four previous  Book Blog  postings  cover the  main story about  the  Sakkarah  Incident and Howard Carter’s fall from grace in 1905.  A  bibliography - from which  the primary and other sources   are  to be found -  is a long one and will be included in the final  draft of the End Notes to the  chapter / chapters of  " Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited" that  relate to  the years  1900-1905.

Writers on  Howard Carter:  James,  Winstone,  Tyldesley, Reeves

There are  annotated  versions of  the  Sakkarah tale to  chew over  from  Carter’s  excellent  biographers  Harry  James  and Victor Winstone.  The academic  Joyce Tyldesley   offers  an interesting angle  in one her many books on  Egypt  saying that Carter would not budge on an apology for as long as the authorities failed to prosecute the  drunken Frenchmen for their part in the affray.  An  important  book    “ Howard Carter Before Tutankhamun” by C Nicholas Reeves offers  transcriptions from the official enquiry report, Commission,  and  other correspondence from the participants and  bystanders involved. [ To be covered in the book’s ' End Notes’.]

             Weak  history  from  biographer   Charles  Breasted  

in  " Pioneer of the Past"

James Henry Breasted

Besides the  above narratives  there are tainted tales amounting to weak history  in  a description  by  Charles Breasted in   the book  “Pioneer of the Past” ( published after Carter was dead ). 

This is  the biography by  Charles of his father, James Henry Breasted,  a distinguished  American  archeologist,  fund  raiser, and friend of the American  millionaire Rockefeller. James Breasted was a friend of  Flinders  Petrie and  worked in Egypt with the Carter team in  the days after the discovery of Tutankhamun.  His son’s biography  stands out too  as being the single source for the questionable tale of Carter  going to Highclere in  the summer of  1922 for a much mentioned  meeting with Lord Carnarvon about the Earl’s ultimatum that because nothing much had been found  in the Valley of the Kings   he would only fund one more year’s digging season in Egypt.   

                                     Lord   George  Carnarvon

Lord Carnarvon’s declining  health was the real reason  for discussing  any  last season’s work.

Breasted   tale   of  Carter’s destitution   discredited

Howard  Carter: Myths of destitution

Harry  James  discredits ( or at least  puts into context ) another  regularly told  story from Charles Breasted ( written 8 years after his father 's death)  that Carter  was forced by his reduced circumstances  into  living  under the roof of  a native – a former guard – whom Carter had dismissed, including being fed and given lodgings and money by his old disreputable employee.

The impression given is  that these handouts to Carter were inappropriate-  because of the man’s  errant past, besides the low class and cast issues,  moreover that  such  charity was on tap for a long period. Rightly  Harry James points out that the help – if it was given at all -  was probably only for a very short period, even a matter of  a few days. Carter was  stunned  at  the difficulties of  readjusting after  his return to civilian life  but he  was always capable of earning a living and  finding and paying for his own basic but comfortable accommodation. 

 Carter’s  descent into poverty exaggerated

Breasted ( and others who have repeated the story ) have exaggerated Carter’s descent into poverty and any  level  of destitution  after he resigned from the Antiquities Service . Carter may have struggled as his assured  earnings, i.e. his salary had ended  but  he did slip   into the  world of private enterprise, with some  past experience as a dealer and knew the darker side of  transacting in  the buying and selling of ancient artefacts.  Carter handled the scene in Cairo  with more skill and success than asserted by  Breasted or others  give him credit.

                      

Arthur Weigall's Caricature

Arthur Weigall

A notorious caricature of Carter portrayed as a down and out by Arthur  Weigall,   a  colleague ( pictured above)  with whom Carter had ups and downs  and meant  as a  silly joke has  been  taken as a piece of  historical fact by bad historians and bad writers.

Taking Sides

It is  a damning  indictment  that some individuals  were accelerated to posts after Carter’s removal including the  scholarly  Oxford educated,  James Quibell and  the ruthless  Arthur Weigall,   although the latter was a man described  by Flinders  Petrie as   “ the most capable student we have ever had”  Weigell  was  tested to his limit  in the field  by   Petrie and found lacking in physical strength, with Weigell  leaving Petrie’s team  for  an easier  berth with a German archeologist, Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing.

Despite their University  backgrounds neither  of these two  ambitious  Carter ‘rivals’  Quibell nor Weigall matched Carter as a draftsman, in  digging  experience  or  in practical  knowledge or  stature  so far as Gaston Maspara or Flinders Petrie were concerned, both rivals were more accomplished authors or scholars; two  cannott  boast of always having clean hands in  their  dealings with Carter.   On Carter’s   return from leave and exile to  Tanta,  Weigall  ( with whom Carter was staying at the time of the Sakkarah incident )   succeeded  to Carter’s post as Chief Inspector.  Weigall wasted no time in favouring his own protégé,    Edward Ayrston; on succeeding Carter as Chief Inspector Weigall also made heavy criticisms about his predecessor’s work when in charge of the area.

Howard Carter’s Digging Rights : The Myths

Since Carter left his employment of his own accord he was not embargoed  from  working  in  the field ( another myth by some writers is to say that Carter lost his license to dig ).  Carter did not need a digging license,  moreover   he was free to  take up with  any patron looking for an expert advisor, artist or excavator. Hence Carter’s agreement with Lord George Carnarvon, and before this a short period working with  Theodore Davis. 

                               Theodore Davis ( left ) and Edward Ayrston ( right) 

Carter Was No Martyr

In October 1905, it seems Carter  deliberately  chose  private life, but this  was not  a martyrdom,  in any case Carter,  ever dogged  by inferiority  was incapable of feeling such a  superior state. It is more probable that despite the odds against Carter, he  urgently needed and sought  a sabbatical to  avoid a nervous breakdown.  One of  his  lady friends   in Cairo – who often dined out in Carter’s company- as well as  other ladies-  expressed relief that at last he was going to  enjoy  some quiet  peace of mind far from the madding crowd.   Whilst some people gave Carter a wide berth, others stood by him, not with hands outs but commissions.

Carter’s Temper : His Own  Worst Fool

Carter’s  temper was blistering, he was a vulnerable  young  man who showed  hot rage and fury whenever he was  cornered. He was often in  arguments quite  unable to see the consequences of his  own actions, or  take in that his snarling,  belligerent attitude often made a bad situation worse rather than  better.  And he was so predictable   Carter could be easily set up by others, fooled  and duped, he was his own worst fool as he could be primed and  provoked to hit out like clockwork  and not compromise for anyone. It was this same dogged determination not to concede that led to the notorious bust up with the Antiquities Service and  lock out at Tutankhamun’s Tomb in 1924.

                                      Those who helped and hindered Carter's plight in 1905-7

Carter’s Brooding,  Obstinacy and Autism.

Underlying all the  rage and apparent conceit Carter always brooded. This was from  his congenital  inability  to  fully understand   things in the world at large – it was also   a deep rooted trait from  a   part of his personality  that  was  disabled and had  never developed.  The state of  feeling sorry for  himself was not formed either, but a strain of  self preservation  probably  first  surfaced as a defense  response  to  the  tirade of  torment  he experienced in an abusive childhood at being told by his father  that he was worthless.  When his early  art  and tracing  work  was condemned  by   the hyper critical eye  of his  straight laced, humorless  father Samuel John Carter, Howard’s confidence   was  mentally destroyed.  He struck back by  sulking and displaying an uncontrolled state of   obstinacy.  As he reached  adulthood   Howard Carter  could not  handle well  any  form of  personal  chastisement or criticism,  his reaction and response was to return to his childish state of  obstinacy,   this  became entrenched  as  part of the  autism condition  that  Carter displayed  throughout his life.   

[ This is  a rough draft  of  part of a  proposed chapter   in    " Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited : The Hidden Truths and Doomed  Relationships”  

By William Cross, FSA Scot.   ]

Any queries about this book blog, please contact the Author, William Cross, by e-mail

williecross@aol.com

williecross@virginmedia.com

Howard Carter Resigns From The Egyptian Antiquities Service After Sakkarah Set Up

                     Carter  takes  a  sabbatical  after  sting!

[ Back Story : Howard  Carter’s biographer T G H ( Harry)  James rightly remarks  that  what happened  at Sakkarah  in 1905  “ has been seriously misrepresented.” James found fault with  the accounts of the story by  Percy  Newberry and Sir William Flinders Petrie   especially    in   Newberry’s comment that  “ as a result of his [ Carter’s]  refusal  [ to apologise  to the Cairo officials  ]  he  had to resign his post”   and  Flinders Petrie’s  statement that   “he [ Carter]  was, on demand of the French, dismissed from the [ Antiquities]  Service..” ]

                                             Part 4( of 5)

Carter  was not  dismissed

It  was   Howard Carter  who  made the decision himself  to leave the Antiquities Service.  Although  he was not forced to resign, nor was he  dismissed,  it could be argued in the context of  modern day employment  law  that this  was a  compelling case  of constructive dismissal,  since  Carter was humiliated, his decision making  challenged and  his public standing  undermined.    His  boss,  Gaston Maspero, was powerless to help,  owing to  work  commitments   he was stationed  miles away in  the south for most of January of  1905. Maspero's  deputy took charge of Carter’s predicament over the Sakkarah affair. The fact that Maspero  was  missing  at this crucial  time - is another  oddity  in the plan of the assault on Carter’s  tenure.   

                               Gaston Mesparo : Powerless  to save Carter from humiliation

Why  Carter was dangerous and vulnerable to his enemies

Tomb Robbers

Life  for the Chief Inspector was all about tomb protection and preservation. Carter introduced  a new system for each.  For the  shy, autistic  30-year-old it  was demanding  handling   unscrupulous tomb robbers - but Carter was  tomb- wise, and culture-conscious,  he knew how to deal with native thieves and harness gossip;  sometimes there was zero tolerance shown to offenders, but summary  justice   in the case of  misdemeanors where  the thief was caught red -handed  was comparable  with the retribution that  might be  dished  out  in the manner or  the style of  an old British  police bobby  administering the equivalent of the proverbial  ‘clip around the ear’  or  running the  villain out of town.

There was a  certain respect  for Carter from  some of the most permissive, sneaky  or habitual of the local grave robbers. However not all parties were impressed,  Carter was dangerous, intrusive and  some wanted  him  out of their hair, he was an obstacle preventing several people making their assured  living.

In  more serious cases of monument or artifact  stealing  there were often  high stakes involved, robbers might also claim they were  working for or as agents of  foreign  museums, including  handlers for  the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, or the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.  As a civilian,  and later  Carter was known to have supplied  pieces to agents of these establishments, but he was not persuaded by  those who appealed to him and offered this as a defence,  thus he was laying himself vulnerable as a target  for  outing as a man with double- standards.  

Carter’s  Excavations with  Theodore M Davis in 1902

With Maspero’s backing during 1902 Carter worked as an excavator for the retired American lawyer  Theodore  M Davis. Carter  had a price for turning a blind eye, but usually his  involvement or discretion  was not readily for sale,  it was a question of the  new Inspector  permitting arrangements under generous digging agreements to keep items  or otherwise applying the letter of  the law through the Courts, thus Davis was able to get things out of Egypt  to the USA, whilst native culprits found  their removal of pieces  was subject to prosecution.   Maspero  allowed  many Egyptian  treasures to go abroad in his years as head of the Antiquities Service.

An Inspector Calls

In his time as Inspector there were a number of  difficult  theft cases for  Carter to see through, and these did not always go Carter’s way, bribes to Court and government  officials  were endemic. Other cases did not  go  down without an instance or two involving a threat to Carter’s life from a museum agent, a  bandit  cell or  criminal gang.

Despite Carter’s  strict policing  he  was still  held in a certain tongue in cheek esteem  by the ruthless  gang leaders, who were known to kill or maim those who stood against them. However since  by tradition all  Egyptians had their price and  were known for ‘ selling their own grandmother’,  the chain of the populace involved in securing their percentages went to the very heart of the nation,  the cuts  included several  British and  non Egyptian overseers;  it is understandable there was a  movement  for  Carter’s  comeuppance and removal.

Carter’s early  mix of   success and  dangers averted,   his  heavy   duties  at  Sakkarrah    proved  to be  the  pre-cursor to the achingly personal disaster that catapulted his entire career back down to terra-firma.  Not a direct  body  blow from a  robber or murderer but a below the belt  attack,    a  stitch up from  two-faced colleagues and diplomatic  administrators clamoring  for  obedience. There remains more than  a whiff  of it all  being a joint exercise to  ‘ Get Carter’.

                                      Carter Brought Down

Carter’s  morale  was brought down  to  its lowest  point in any of  the ten and more years he had already worked  the desert doing service for  virtually no great reward  in an unforgiving  Egyptian landscape with  hideous heat,   toiling  for several hard taskmasters, all bent on  finding Royal gold and glory for themselves. 

As  with the more familiar  lock-out of Tutankhamun’s tomb  that Carter orchestrated in 1924 he was never capable mentally of  giving way  in an argument,  although in this earlier  case at Sakkarah  his  high principled  stand  in failing to  offer an apology in the matter  was   heated, heady and  hopeless, and played out into  the hands of the  assassins behind his fall. 

Maspero was  out  of  the way  when the deed

was done to crush Carter and silenced

Maspero was morified at his  protégé’s  professional assassination, but was silenced  like Carter’s other allies Petrie and to a lesser extent, Carter’s one time  patron, the American,  Theodore M Davis.

The  Government  Executive in Cairo  instructed  Maspero to  remove  Carter  from  Sakkarah  and push him on to  a less interesting  ‘relative  backwater’  post at  Tanta   ( Tantah ) in the Nile  Delta.   This  ( as  expected  by his enemies) infuriated Carter, he protested to  Maspero  that “ the treatment  I have received after I have carried out my duty which has always been my endeavour and after my services to the department is inconceivable …..”  Maspero’s  hands were tied to his line management’s demands, besides which Carter was  without remorse, so damaged his case. 

It was made clear to Carter in a letter from Maspero, acting as  the whipping boy for  Sir William Garstin,  that   Carter was reprimanded.

However  it  is  far from convincing  that Carter  was not set up.   He  was  told  he was  being  moved to  Tantah  not on account of [ his action] at Sakkara but because of [ his ] subsequent conduct…[ also described as his  ‘action after the event’ ] ” [ i.e. failing to apologise or offering an expression of regret..to the  French Counsul-General ].

Carter was on verge of the first of several nervous breakdowns that dogged him for decades.     He   did not go  immediately  to Tantah  but consider his options. After a flurry of newspaper accusations ( mostly anti- Carter ), further correspondence and meetings – he was crushed.   [Harry James outlines all these circumstances and side shows in terrific detail in his  book  ‘The Path to Tutankhamun ‘ : a long transcription of which will appear as an End Note in the forthcoming  new book by William Cross. ].

Brow-beaten  Carter requested leave, sweeping in the mitigation of   ‘the strain of  work’  over the previous  17 months. It was after this, with a period of time spent in England –during which Carter contemplated a campaign for justice for his cause – but later changed his mind. After return to Egypt and a further interlude of soul searching  he resigned for ever from the Egyptian Antiquities Service, in October 1905.

Carter seeks a Sabbatical

The Sakkarah affair had overshadowed Carter’s life making it  a misery for all of nine months. Much of the  pain was self-inflicted, he moved away from a promising  career for a unstable sabbatical,  becoming a freelance  antiquities  dealer and agent,   first  in Cairo and later he returned to his hobby of a roaming artist doing water colour landscapes and birds, and running tours for visitors at  Luxor and other tomb sites.

Carter : Habitue of Cafes and  Sleuth

Whilst this uneasy phase of his life after Sakkarah  marked an obvious  low point  Carter always kept  his ear to the grindstone. He was “ a habitué of the Egyptian cafes..”   unlike his “ status conscious colleagues” who thought such places beneath their dignity. If there was gossip or  a rumor Carter heard it first, if there was a crumb or  crust to be made from any antiquities  deal  brewing, Carter wanted input and a share.  Carter knew all the thieves  and tomb robbers of Cairo and Luxor by sight and  ( like  Sherlock Holmes )  could  work out that  a job was in hand  by the conspirators drinking tea together. He was an expert on antiquities, he  also knew how to buy for  and  sell items on to  third parties. After  his years as a draftsman-  tracer and excavator then  as an Inspector  preventing and investigating robberies Carter had the experience of  a  sleuth with the skills of  a Scotland Yard detective.

The  enforced exile  from October 1905  was  not easy.  The best years for Carter were yet to come  especially his renowned partnership with Lord George Carnarvon, one of the many wealthy  collectors of Egyptian antiquities  that Carter had come across during the Cairo season from December to March each year  that saw an bountiful  influx of  British and American buyers.

The last part of this Book Blog will appear shortly

               This is  a rough draft  of   part of  a  proposed  chapter   in                           “ Carnarvon, Carter  and  Tutankhamun Revisited : The Hidden Truths and Doomed Relationships”  

By William Cross, FSA Scot.

To be published 4 November 2016

Any queries please contact the Author William Cross, by e-mail

williecross@aol.com

What are the true facts about the Sakkarah Incident of 1905 that cost Howard Carter his job with the Antiquities Service?

 [ Back story :    Ten years  after  Howard Carter  first  went to Egypt  he gained a   high position in the Antiquities Service. As Chief Inspector of Monuments for Upper Egypt he was on  course for bigger and better things. A serious affray at the ancient site of     Sakkarah  ( Saqqara)  in January 1905 ended Carter’s administrative  career  after he refused to  apologise or express regret  over a violent incident.  There is a suspicion  that the whole unsavory  episode was a sting to curb Carter’s  rise.  What happened at Sakkarah has been told  by several of Carter’s contemporaries.   The published   versions  by  archeologists  Percy  Newberry and  Sir William  Flinders Petrie who were in Egypt  at the time  are considered below.]  

Howard Carter  with two  ladies  enjoying tea at a local hotel far 

from the madding crowd

Part 3 ( of 5 )

Carter’s  colleague  Percy Newberry  who first 

recruited him for Egypt

Howard Carter’s life-long  archeological associate,  Percy Newberry, a man with more seniority in the field  appears to have been  snubbed at the time Carter was first promoted to the post of Chief  Inspector. Yet the evidence is that Percy remained one of Carter’s most loyal,  supportive colleagues. Newberry’s specialty was botany, he was also an accomplished tomb artist. Five years older than Carter, he was university-educated ( he was later a  respected University Professor of Egyptology). Carter always felt some inferiority with those who were  learned on account of their high academic  study, but  he admired  Newberry at a personal level too, they  enjoyed  a shared past  working for the Egyptian Exploration Fund.  

                                  Percy Newberry: Botanical Artist 

                                                        later a Professor of Eg yptology

Beneath his quiet, academic and  gentlemanly charm did Newberry  in fact  have a grudge or ever  feel bitter?  There is no whiff of resentment against  Carter  in surviving correspondence, but he must have been personally disappointed and like others surprised at the time of  Carter’s early rise and the bane of comments for being overlooked by Gaston  Mesparo ( Director of  the Antiquities Service).

It was  Percy Newberry who first recruited Carter to go to work in Egypt  following  a recommendation from Lady Amherst of Hackney of Didlington Hall, Norfolk. She was touched by the young  Howard  being  at peace with his physical disability through his artistic expression as  a  skecher and  tracer.  Newberry, who led several early expeditions for the Egyptian Exploration Fund  took  to Carter and saw his talent. The two men  shared  berths and experiences in  the  harsh, difficult,  inhospitable  desert   life   in the period  from 1891 onwards.    Newberry later worked with Carter as a part of the team  clearing the tomb of  Tutankhamun.

Newberry’s Account of the Sakkarah Incident

The ancient  necropolis at Sakkarah ( Saqqara)

Newberry survived Carter and  offers a  short  narrative on  the fracas at Sakkarah in 1905 in an enlightened obituary notice to his friend (in an Egyptology Journal   from  1939) .  

This text from  Newberry  was amongst the first  published accounts of what happened at  Sakkarah,   and whilst  it is  flawed it  gives  a  succinct  summary:

“ One afternoon ..  [ Carter’s]  reis  [ head  foreman]  of the guards of the necropolis [ at Sakkarra]  came to Carter's office to report that a party of Frenchmen, very much the worse for liquor, demanded admittance to the Serapeum [ the oldest part of the graves]  although they did not possess the necessary tickets.

One of the visitors struck a guard, and this led to a free fight. Carter, on his arrival at the scene, remonstrated and was answered by insults. He then ordered the [ native ]  guards to protect themselves and one of the Frenchmen was knocked down."

Inside  the Serapeum 

Ludicrous!  Cock- Up!

' How dare Carter allow a native gaffer to knock down

 a French citizen? '

The central issue  that fuelled the flames  was one that nowadays would not seen in the same way, the whole ‘ludicrous’ matter  against Carter  and his men  would  be accepted as a case self-defence.

However back  in Egypt in 1905 the matter  appeared  an awkward, ugly, damaging,  cross-culture, cross-nation  cock-up, an attack by the gaffers, a body of lowly  native guards  upon their betters, no less than members of  the governing class of  Europeans.   Carter had ordered his men to defend themselves with their  truncheons.  It  did not look  good!!!

Diplomatic Crisis

The  mini diplomatic crisis  it all   provoked  raised the issue  of the  natives’ low importance  –or no importance-  their  humble caste and class,  and  posed the inevitable  question  : ‘ How dare Carter allow a native guard to knock down a French citizen? ‘  

The official opinion  was clear-cut :  the natives should have taken the Frenchman’s rebuke and beating, and  not retaliated.  

Moreover it was judged that  the end result was a consequence of  Carter’s  rash instructions to the guards that had caused the Frenchman to be knocked down and injured.

Carter Cornered

Carter was cornered, suffocated  by the hypocrisy of  old world colonialism,  best ( or worst )  represented in the attitude of the arch-snob Anglo-Saxon,  Edward Baring, the Earl of Cromer, the  British Consul- General in Cairo.   One author,  Daniel Meyerson,  cleverly sums up  Cromer’s  career   in the book  “In the Valley of the Kings”.  [ NB  To be covered as an ‘End Note’ in the book. ] 

Almost all British colonial chiefs had a low opinion of the native population they ruled. 

Percy  Newberry continues his description 

of what happened next

Carter is Cornered

“On their return to Cairo the [French]  visitors lodged a formal complaint against  Carter and the French Consul-General demanded an apology. Carter refused to give it, saying that he had only done his duty, and as a result of his refusal he had to resign his post.

A complex story with  conflicting accounts

The  affray at Sakkarah  is  a complex tale  and in  revisiting in this retrospective   what emerges are strangely  conflicting  versions of the same story,  there is also a certain inference of skullduggery  at work by Carter’s enemies  in  trying  to effect his  disgrace and capitulation.

Carter’s display of  autism

Several of his contemporaries found Carter diffident, awkward, obstinate ( these are three of the classic signs, and rank as a common display  of  someone with  autism).  Those who resented his rise to prominence through his close friendship with  Gaston Maspero were prepared to take advantage of his predictable stubbornness in  not  accepting the  blame in  any  confrontation.

                                 Sir William Flinders Petrie : Carter supporter

Sir  William  Flinders  Petrie on the Incident at Sakkara

A  defiant  version of the affray at  Sakkarah  that  comes    to  the  defence of   Carter’s action is  one from his old  desert  digging  master,   Sir William Flinders Petrie.

Although once again flawed, Flinders Petrie records the event and its aftermath in his memoir ‘Seventy Years in Archaeology’ :

“ For the first six weeks my wife excavated at Saqqareh, copying mastabas, and had the Misses Hansard, Eckenstein and Kingsford there.  One Sunday, some drunken Frenchmen tried to force their way into her huts, and were stoutly resisted by the cook boy. They went on to the official house and began to smash furniture and fight the native guards. Carter, then inspector, was fetched, and he very rightly allowed the guards to defend themselves till the police could come.

The indignity of letting a native resist a Frenchman weighed more than the indignity of being drunk and disorderly, in the eyes of the French Consul, who demanded an apology from Carter. With proper self-respect, Carter refused to apologize for doing his obvious duty. For this he was, on demand of the French, dismissed from the Service. This was perhaps the dirtiest act of the subservience to French arrogance.”

Accounts at Variance with the Later Facts

Taking the accounts from Carter, Newberry and Petrie, with others  the  facts   clash or are  at  variance.

Newberry’s comment that  “ as a result of his [ Carter’s]  refusal  [ to apologise]  he had to resign his post”   and Flinders Petrie’s version that   “he [ Carter]  was, on demand of the French, dismissed from the Service..” are not accurate.

With the  Percy  Newberry and the Flinders  Petrie’   accounts in mind  the  late  T G H ( Harry ) James,  author of “Howard Carter : The Path to Tutankhamun”, rightly remarks that what happened at Sakkarah  “ has been seriously misrepresented” by several authors.  James devotes a whole chapter to it in his  notable biography of Carter,  and with it  a masterly analysis of the issues. [ This will feature further in the book’s ‘End Notes’.]

         The Next Part of this Book Blog will appear shortly

Any queries please contact the author by e-mail

williecross@aol.com

[This is  a rough draft  of  a  proposed chapter   in    a new book  " Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited : The Hidden  Truths and Doomed  Relationships"  By William Cross, FSA Scot, to be published on 4 November 2016. ]

Howard Carter of Tutankhamun : 1905 : A noisy and bad affray at Sakkarah ( Saqqara) : or “ Get Carter!”

From  the  draft of   a  new book " Carnarvon, Carter and  Tutankhamun   Revisited" by William Cross, FSA, Scot

Part 2  ( of 5 )

[ Back story :    After  reaching   a good  position in the Antiquities Service, between 1900 and 1904,    31-year old Howard Carter found himself at the centre of an international dispute over his handling of a serious affray at  Sakkarah in January 1905. At the time Carter was Chief Inspector of the area, which included the sacred site of Sakkarah  ( Saqqara),  popular with tourists. ]

Fall Guy Howard Carter

At  Sakkarah  ( Saqqara)  on 8 January, 1905, things got out of control  under  Howard Carter’s management  of   a  noisy          ‘ bad affray ’ ( Carter’s own phrase ).   The entanglement  involved  a bunch of  drunken French tourists,  a ‘Rent a Mob’  like group  who suddenly and strangely  appeared out of nowhere.  

These  tourists  clashed  violently with Carter’s ‘gaffers’ ( tomb guards).

Despite  it all  being  a  case of  self- defence on the part played by  Carter and his men,  Carter immediately  found himself  the fall guy  at the centre  of  an international incident which had started with a bizarre argument over tickets, then  a  scuffle,  fisty-cuffs  and people being threatened and  knocked over.  

There was a complaint by  the tourists  to  Monsieur de la Bouliniere,  the  French Consul General. This was  followed by a ‘Get Carter’ campaign  in which  Howard  chose to stand firmly  by his Egyptian co-workers and by his own principles.  

However  it  cost him very  dearly and led to a period of exile away from  the main  arena  earning  ( some said just scrapeing)  a  living from  dealing  in antiquities, mediocre guide work taking tourists around the tombs  and  art commissions.

                                                                         Carter explains

The Sakkarah Incident Details

The details of the Sakkarah incident are described in all the Carter texts  that  deal with  his pre- Tutankhamun years. 

Curiously no one has twigged that there  may  well have been  a deeper plot  playing out  between  some of  the  men on the ground and others as  far up as the government’s Executive. Carter already had enemies, his rise in the Antiquities Service was resented by a few colleagues with powerful friends in Cairo.

The  incident at Sakkarah  had consequences to require personal  resolution by the British Consul General, Lord Cromer.

                                        Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer,  British Consul General

Carter’s own initial  testimony is in a telegram to Evelyn,  Lord Cromer. 

Carter gave  the following explanation to  Cromer (the Egyptian  ( British ) Consul General) :

“ My Lord : I am exceedingly sorry to inform you that a bad affray has occurred today here [ at  the Service’s rest house ] Mariette’s House Saqqara  5pm with 15 French tourists who were here in a drunken state. The cause of the affray was started by their rough handling [ of ] both my inspectors and gaffers [ the native Egyptian guards ]. As both sides have been cut and knocked about I feel it my duty to inform your Lordship immediately. “

A Fuller Report on the Incident

Two days later Carter prepared a much fuller report of all the circumstances, there were also statements made to the police consisting of some 35 sheets of foolscap. [ NB This longer report  along with  other local based reports will appear in the final version of the  book as an ‘End Note.’]

Despite  a  justified and  impassioned  request  from Carter  for “ legal steps [to] be taken against the [ Frenchmen ] for assaulting the gaffers, in raising a hand with intent to attack       [ Carter ]  and for damaging Government property”, Carter  found himself  on the wrong side of  the class structure and  old world diplomacy  pitting his wits against a  holy alliance of   Lord  Cromer, the Indian born  Sir William Garstin, a high ranking Egyptian Government official and Monsieur de la Bouliniere, the French Consul General,  in Cairo.  

[ At this time in Egypt British and French nationals  were jointly involved in the affairs of running the country.  This was made stronger by a new international treaty - an Entente Cordiale  -signed in 1904.]

                        Gaston Maspero : Head of the Antiquities Department 

Maspero’s Whereabouts

To   Carter’s  dismay  Gaston  Maspero could not help him. It makes for another oddity   that at this crucial   period Howard’s  boss   in the Antiquities Service was working away in the South. At  the exact  time of the  furore   Maspero’s   deputy was in charge at  Cairo. Maspero was a  man who had  grasped  an understanding of  Carter’s complex  autistic, obstinate  personality,   more so than anyone else, and who might have influenced and successfully turned around   the  consequent  events that saw Carter cornered. Instead – as Carter could not accept he had done anything wrong – matters festered.

Next piece on this book blog will appear shortly

Extract  from the draft of  “ Carnarvon, Carter and Tutankhamun Revisited :  The Hidden Truths and Doomed Relationships”

By William Cross, FSA Scot

The book will be published on 4 November 2016

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Any queries about  this blog, please contact the Author

William Cross, by e-mail

williecross@aol.com