T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 431

Enclosed in letter of xx 27.12.1912 Copy. In the year 1879 the British Museum decided to excavate on the site of Carchemish, known today as the Kala'at of the village of Jerablus in the ... of Biredjik. Accordingly a fourth share of the site , amounting/40 donums out of the total of 160, was purchased by Mr. Henderson then British Consul at Aleppo. The sale was properly registered at Biredjik, where the record still remains. Excavations wxere begun xrainxix afresh in 1911 and a protest was at once made by the owner of the remaining 120 donums of the Kala'at, Hassan Ibn Hussein. The Imperial commissaire attached to the excavations seemed a "it compensation for him of 25 Turkish which was paid, but in spite of this a little later Hassan appealed to the local authorities against the diggings and his protest was forwarded to Constantinople. The result was an enquiry from the Minister of Public Instruction as to the nature of the ground under discussion, transmitted by the Mutessarif of Urfa to the ... of Biredjik. The Kaimakam replied that the Kala'at was useless for military purposes and further stated that the entire site, if put up for sale would not (fetch, deleted) realise more than from 1500 to 2000 piastres. This was also said by him to the Dragoman of the British consulate of Aleppo. The site as a matter of fact is in partial ruins, and altogether waterless, and in the interests of the antiquities underground should not be intensively irrigated. No further steps have been taken by the Imperial authorities, & pending a declaration from them it may be difficult for the expedition to resume excavation, or to put up the requisite storehouses for the antiquities in the spring of 1912, it is therefore very desirable that the validity of the Henderson purchase of 1879 should be confirmed as soon as possible and instructions to that effect given in Biredjik. The British Museum would then be able to conduct its operations without fear of interference from local landowners.