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Nicky Nielsen · mercantile networks

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Research Note
IJMH
International Journal of Maritime
History
Mercantile networks and the 2024, Vol. 36(2) 313–324
© The Author(s) 2024
export of antiquities from
Egypt in the mid nineteenth Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions

century: A case study of DOI: 10.1177/08438714241226841
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijh

Menkaure’s sarcophagus and
the Beatrice

Nicky Nielsen
University of Manchester, UK

Abstract
The export of antiquities from Egypt to the United Kingdom during the mid nineteenth
century required an extensive network of cultural, diplomatic and mercantile actors,
including private shipowners. While much previous research has focused on the political
stakeholders in the process, as well as the archaeologists conducting excavations in
Egypt, the attempted export of Menkaure’s sarcophagus from Giza to the British
Museum in 1838 allows for a closer examination of one of the private shipowners
who was involved in this process – namely, Captain Richard Mayle Whichelo of the mer-
chant vessel Beatrice. This article investigates the diplomatic processes that were
required for the export of the sarcophagus and provides an overview of the history
of the Beatrice and of Captain Whichelo, placing this within the broader context of
the transport of antiquities during the nineteenth century.

Keywords
Ancient Egypt, archaeology, export of antiquities, Giza, maritime commerce

Colonel Vyse at Giza
The export of antiquities from Egypt to various western private and public collections
began in earnest following the surrender of the French forces at Alexandria in 1802.

Corresponding author:
Nicky Nielsen, Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology, University of
Manchester, Samuel Alexander Building S2.17, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
Email: nicky.nielsen@manchester.ac.uk
314 International Journal of Maritime History 36(2)

This surrender, in turn, led to an inﬂux of ancient Egyptian artefacts to the British
Museum (including the Rosetta Stone).1 The appointment of ardent collectors such as
Henry Salt and Bernadino Drovetti to posts in, respectively, the British and French dip-
lomatic services in Egypt,2 as well as the organization of state-sponsored expeditions to
Egypt to secure ancient artefacts for national collections (such as the Lepsius Expedition
in 1842),3 led to a signiﬁcant increase in ancient Egyptian artefacts being exported to
Europe during the ﬁrst half of the nineteenth century.
While much scholarship has focused on the excavators or collectors working in
Egypt,4 there has been less analysis of the private shipowners who provided key logistical
support for the export of Egyptian artefacts. The attempted export of the newly uncovered
sarcophagus of the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian ruler Menkaure in 1838 provides a signiﬁ-
cant case study for addressing this aspect of the historical antiquities trade. Not only are
the political and diplomatic actions that led to the export of the sarcophagus well evi-
denced, but the vessel used for the export of the sarcophagus, the Beatrice, as well as
her captain are also associated with a great deal of archival material.
The attempted export of the sarcophagus of Menkaure begins with its discovery. Its dis-
coverer, Richard William Howard Vyse (1784–1853), did not originally arrive in Egypt with
the expectation of undertaking archaeological excavations. Rather, the notion of Vyse con-
ducting archaeological exploration while in Egypt was raised with him by Charles Sloane,
the chancellor of the British consulate in Cairo and vice consul in Alexandria.5 Sloane had
worked in Egypt for more than a decade, during which time he had engaged with archaeol-
ogists, such as the noted Scottish Egyptologist Robert Hay (1799–1863) in 1824, and arch-
aeological excavations.6 Sloane proposed a cooperation between himself, Vyse and the
consul general, Patrick Campbell (1779–1857).

1. See Emily Duthie, ‘The British Museum: An Imperial Museum in a Post-Imperial World’, Public
History Review, 18 (2011), 12–25; Richard Parkinson, The Rosetta Stone (London, 2005).
2. Shadia Mahmoud, ‘Nationalization and Personalization of the Egyptian Antiquities: Henry
Salt a British General Consul in Egypt, 1816 to 1827’, International Journal of Culture
and History, 3, No. 2 (2016), 29–43; Holger Hoock, ‘The British State and the
Anglo-French Wars over Antiquities, 1798–1858’, Historical Journal, 50, No. 1 (2007),
49–72; Donald Malcolm Reid, Whose Pharaohs? Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian
National Identity from Napoleon to World War I (Berkeley, 2002).
3. Christian Loeben, ‘Karl Richard Lepsius and the Royal Prussian Expedition to Egypt (1842–
1845/6)’, in Vanessa Davies and Dimitri Laboury, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Egyptian
Epigraphy and Palaeography (Oxford, 2020), 243–56.
4. See Alice Stevenson, ‘Artefacts of Excavation: The British Collection and Distribution of
Egyptian Finds to Museums, 1880–1915’, Journal of the History of Collections, 26, No. 1
(2014), 89–102; Alice Stevenson, Egyptian Archaeology and the Twenty-First Century
Museum (Cambridge, 2022); Stephanie Moser, Wondrous Curiosities: Ancient Egypt at the
British Museum (Chicago, 2006); Sally MacDonald and Catherine Shaw, ‘Uncovering
Ancient Egypt: The Petrie Museum and Its Public’, in Nick Merriman, ed., Public
Archaeology (Routledge, 2004), 123–45.
5. John Bowring, Report on Egypt and Canada, vol. 6 (London, 1840), 81.
6. Jason Thompson, ‘Osman Effendi: A Scottish Convert to Islam in Early Nineteenth-Century
Egypt’, Journal of World History, 5, No. 1 (1994), 105.
Nielsen 315

Finding the sarcophagus of Menkaure
During the spring and summer of 1837, Vyse and his excavators worked all across
the Giza plateau, including around the Pyramid of Menkaure, where explorations
began on 31 May 1837. On 1 August 1837, Vyse and his colleagues reached the
burial chamber of the pyramid, although, as evidenced by the Arabic grafﬁti in
the chamber, they were by no means the ﬁrst post-pharaonic people to have
visited it.7 Undoubtedly, the most signiﬁcant of the ﬁnds in the burial chamber
was the basalt sarcophagus of Menkaure himself, which Vyse described in great
detail.8
According to Vyse’s own memoires, he decided to send the sarcophagus of
Menkaure to the British Museum, allegedly to prevent damage to the artefact
should it remain in situ.9 Vyse established contact with Edward Hawkins, the
Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, on 16 January 1838 by letter, suggesting
to him that the sarcophagus would make a good addition to the British Museum’s col-
lections. The following day, Hawkins wrote a letter to Josiah Forshall, the Keeper of
the Manuscript Department at the British Museum.10 Hawkins warmly supported
Vyse’s notion that the sarcophagus should be moved from Giza to Alexandria, and
from there be shipped to the United Kingdom without delay, arguing that the sar-
cophagus was an ‘interesting monument’ that would enhance the Museum’s collec-
tions (Figure 1).
On the basis of Hawkins’ recommendation, the trustees of the British Museum,
meeting on 27 January 1838, directed the committee secretary to accept the donation
and instruct the consul general, Patrick Campbell, via the Foreign Ofﬁce to arrange its
transport.11 The board of trustees also authorized the expenses of £150 for the transport
of the sarcophagus from Giza to London.

7. Richard William Howard Vyse, Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in
1837: With an Account of a Voyage into Upper Egypt and an Appendix, vol. 2
(London, 1840), 77.
8. ‘It was entirely empty, and composed of basalt, which bore a ﬁne polish of a shaded brown
colour, but was blue where it had been chipped off, or broken. Some sharp substance, such as
emery powder, had been used in its construction, and it appeared to have been sawn, which is
remarkable, as the art of sawing marble was not known at Rome till a late period. It was ﬁnely
carved in compartments, and the ornaments upon it resembled in some degree the architec-
tural decorations in the tomb of Numbers, and those carved upon two blocks of stone now
exhibited in the British Museum, and which formerly belonged to the collection of the late
Mr. Salt’ (Vyse, Operations, 84).
9. ‘As the sarcophagus would have been destroyed, had it remained in the pyramid, I resolved to
send it to the British Museum’ (Vyse, Operations, 83).
10. Central Archives, British Museum, personal communication, 22 November 2022.
11. ‘[A]ccept with the best thanks of the Trustees Colonel Vyse’s offer, and having consulted that
Gentleman as to the spot where the sarcophagus lies, and then best and most economical
method of conveying it to England, to write through Lord Palmerston to Colonel Campbell
requesting him to take such steps not involving any serious expense as were expedient for
316 International Journal of Maritime History 36(2)

Figure 1. Sketch of the sarcophagus found in the burial chamber of the Pyramid of Menkaure.
Source. Richard William Howard Vyse, Operations Carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837: With an Account of
a Voyage into Upper Egypt and an Appendix, vol. 2 (London, 1840), 85.