For your further information and guidance, the Department transmits,
herewith, copies of its instructions of this date to the Embassies in
London and Paris2a recapitulating subsequent
developments in this matter and directing those missions to ascertain
whether the British and French Governments are now willing to associate
themselves in making representations in this matter to the Egyptian
Government along the lines set forth in a draft note which the
Department is prepared to authorize you to present to the Egyptian
Government in the event that no circumstances meanwhile develop which
would make desirable any modification of the action proposed. A copy of
this draft note, providing in general for representations along the
lines of those proposed in the Department’s earlier instruction, is also
enclosed.
The Department desires that you furnish, confidentially, your British and
French colleagues with copies of this draft note and ascertain from them
whether they are in a position to make representations of a similar
character or to support the representations which you propose to
make.
In this connection you will note in the enclosed copies of instructions
to the American Embassies in London and Paris that these missions are
directed to report briefly to the Department by telegraph the results of
the further representations which they are to make,
[Page 59]
respectively, to the British and French
Foreign Offices. Upon the receipt of such telegraphic reports the
Department will communicate further with your mission. Pending the
receipt of such further communication you will of course withhold
presentation to the Egyptian Government of the enclosed draft note, the
receipt of which you should, however, acknowledge by telegraph with your
comments.
In the meantime and in connection with such discussion of this question
as you may be able to hold with your British and French colleagues, the
Department would be pleased to have you discuss the text of the enclosed
draft note with Doctor Breasted,3 Mr. Winlock4 and such other representative
American archaeologists in Egypt as you may see fit, impressing upon
them, however, the strictly confidential character of such discussions.
Representatives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City have
already indicated their full concurrence in the subject matter and form
of this proposed note, and other archaeological interests in this
country have urged the Department to support the general position set
forth therein. The Department would be pleased, therefore, to receive
through you any observations or views in this matter which may be
expressed by interested American archaeologists in Egypt. You should
transmit by telegraph to the Department a brief summary of any such
observations together with any comment which you may consider
appropriate.
[Enclosure]
Draft of Proposed Note To Be Presented to the
Egyptian Foreign Office by the American Minister
Excellency: Your Excellency is no doubt
fully conversant with the extent of the interest which, for upwards
of twenty-five years, has been taken by a number of important
American scientific societies and museums in archaeological research
and excavation in Egypt. The results of the work undertaken by the
Egyptian expeditions of these American societies are of signal
importance to a scientific understanding of the history and
humanities of antiquity. The work itself has been rendered possible
largely by the generous appropriations of money made by such
representative American institutions.
It is my understanding that, from 1912 to 1922, excavations in this
country were conducted under the terms of concessions granted in
each case by the Egyptian Antiquities Service in accordance with the
Antiquities Law of 1912. Article 11 of this Law, in its application
[Page 60]
to properly authorized
archaeological expeditions, provides that the discoverer of a
movable antiquity shall receive as a reward “one-half of the objects
so discovered or of their value.” Under the régime thus established
the Egyptian Antiquities Service, through the many and important
objects which it has constantly received from the work of these
foreign archaeological expeditions, has profited largely in building
up its own national collection, a collection which I would venture
to describe as now unquestionably the finest and most representative
collection of national antiquities to be found in any country. At
the same time the various interested American museums have been
enabled to create and develop representative collections
illustrating the history and art of ancient Egypt. I may mention in
this latter connection that these collections have proved of
far-reaching educational value to the schools and universities of
the United States, and have been responsible for fostering the
increasingly strong interest amongst the American people in both
ancient and present-day Egypt, a fact which has led an increasing
number of American travellers to visit Egypt each year.
It was the assurance, contained in the law of 1912, that the
interested American scientific societies and museums would receive a
fair share of the antiquities thus discovered, which, in the opinion
of the trustees of those institutions, warranted their
appropriating, from the funds at their disposal, the large sums of
money necessary for the financing of their Egyptian expeditions.
Under date of October 10, 1922, each of the American concessionaires,
then conducting archaeological excavations in Egypt, was informed by
the Antiquities Service that the Antiquities Law of 1912 was to be
changed and that, after the season 1922–1923, the Service would no
longer be bound to divide equally with the concessionaires the
results of their excavations, but that, under regulations which had
been prepared but not yet put into effect, the Director General
would be free to retain everything that he deemed important for the
national collections. Your Excellency will recall that these new
regulations were put into effect as of the beginning of the
1924–1925 season, following the communication to the interested
foreign archaeological interests of the form of excavation permit
which they would be required to sign and under which they would be
authorized to continue their work. I am not aware that, since that
date, any change has been made in the form of permit granted to
foreign archaeological expeditions. Article 10 of this form of
permit sets forth that “all the antiquities found during the entire
duration of the work shall be turned over to the Antiquities
Service” and that “with the exception of those which the Service
shall decide, in its discretion, to give to the beneficiary, they
shall form part of the public domain.”
[Page 61]
Later, under date of April 1, 1925, in a letter addressed to the
President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, the
Director General of Antiquities stated that in the application of
the new regulations the Egyptian Government sought to realize a
threefold purpose, as follows:
- 1.
- To have freedom to establish, for its own national
collections and in conformity with scientific interests in
general, complete and logical series of antiquities
representing Egyptian civilization as a whole;
- 2.
- To recognize the endeavors manifested by learned societies
in the discovery, study and publication of documents
concerning Egyptian history and civilization;
- 3.
- To facilitate the study of Egypt in the university centres
of foreign countries, by having the said civilization
represented there by objects.
In commenting on this letter, various leading American scientists
interested in the question have indicated that, while welcoming the
declaration of the Director General, they find it not wholly
reassuring in view of the generality of its terms and in view of the
fact that, although apparently indicative of the attitude of the
Director General, it has never been officially set forth as a
declared policy of the Egyptian Government. They feel consequently a
natural anxiety that the Egyptian Government should make known
officially in public and permanent form its policy regarding the
future régime to be applied to foreign archaeological explorations
in Egypt. Doubt and uncertainty in this regard, which has existed
for the past two years, has already resulted in a curtailment of the
archaeological programs of certain of the foreign expeditions and,
in the case of one of the largest American expeditions, in a
complete suspension of its excavations.
In bringing these matters to the attention of my Government, the
interested American institutions have expressed their fullest
concurrence in the objects which it is sought to realize as a result
of the application of the new regulations governing the issuance and
enjoyment of authorizations to undertake archaeological excavations
in Egypt, and I am directed by my Government to make clear to Your
Excellency that these institutions do not in any way advocate or
desire to return to the former inflexible and unscientific basis of
equal division of archaeological finds. As already indicated,
however, they have, at the same time, expressed the earnest hope
that the Egyptian Government will be able to see its way to giving
to all foreign archaeological expeditions in Egypt certain important
assurances regarding the interpretation of Article 10 of the new
form of excavation permit. It should be added also in this
connection that, before soliciting the support of the United States
Government in this matter, they first entered into detailed
discussions with the
[Page 62]
Director General of Antiquities, discussions which indicated that
there was general agreement in the view that Article 10 of the new
form of permit could usefully be supplemented by a statement of
principles in the following form:
In explanation of its intentions as thus expressed, the
Egyptian Government declares that scientific principles
clearly require that the Service des Antiquities shall
reserve freely for itself all material which it does not
already possess. But this same scientific interest requires
equally that it shall give largely in the case of all
material which it already possesses.
The Service does not wish to keep material for purposes of
sale, a course which would be in all respects unfair to
excavators. It wishes only to retain such objects as should
definitely form a part of the Egyptian public domain.
Likewise it does not wish to keep duplicates or equivalents
already well represented in the national collection, since
it is not free to sell them. In the same way it does not
wish to keep duplicates in order to form reserves which
shall serve to reimburse one excavator with the duplicates
found by another.
Under these conditions the Government ought logically to give
to excavators all material of which it has no need. This
implies: (1) that the Government will give even objects of
first importance if it already has the equivalent in its
collections (the word equivalent is clearer than the word
duplicate); (2) that it will give all objects which it does
not wish to keep, whether or not in excess of the half of
the objects found.
These principles, as they are here expressed, are in full accord with
the position taken in this matter by the interested American
scientists and archaeologists. I am therefore directed to express to
Your Excellency my Government’s hope that appropriate steps will be
taken to introduce these principles into the present form of
excavation permit, immediately following and in explanation of
Article 10, thereby constituting the desired official recognition by
Your Excellency’s Government of the assurances sought by the
American excavators and museums.
In making the foregoing suggestions I am directed further to make
known to Your Excellency that, in the opinion of my Government, an
opinion it believes Your Excellency’s Government will share, the
work of American nationals in the field of Egyptian archaeology is
of such a character as to merit the friendly encouragement and
cordial support of the two Governments, an encouragement and support
which may, in part, be evidenced in an interpretation of Article 10
of the present form of excavation permit in accordance with the
suggestions set forth above. It is with this belief ever in mind
that my Government has directed me to address Your Excellency in
this matter.
