One of the lost masterpieces

One of the lost masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art from the Nebamun tomb-chapel.
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How it would be hacked and stolen from Egypt (Thebes ).
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Sometime in 1820, on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, a young Greek fortune seeker made the greatest discovery of his life -- an ancient tomb, seemingly undisturbed for centuries, with magnificent rich decorations almost as fresh as the day they were created more than 3,000 years before. 

The vivid paintings that he would roughly hack from the tomb walls would eventually come to be regarded as possibly the greatest pictures we have from ancient Egypt, and among the greatest treasures of the British Museum.

But How and Why these paintings were created, how they were subsequently appropriated by European museums, and how they became the subject of political and religious censorship. 

The early nineteenth century was an age of nationalist adventurers and the rapid growth of museums. At this time, museums generally built their collections by purchasing items from private individuals, rather than conducting their own institutional digs. There was little appreciation of cultural patrimony or the rights of the country of origin – rather, the seizing and export of cultural artifacts was likened to having “a lost child restored to the great family of science and art, which is of no country, whose home is the world” . Such noble internationalist sentiments were, of course, not applied to European artworks, but rather to those classed as primitive, backward, exotic or native, and therefore open to appropriation by the more “civilised” countries. 

In view of the potential rewards, there was naturally great rivalry – even violence -- between private collectors, and between nationalities. This applied particularly in Egypt, which was enjoying a sudden surge in interest, following Napoleon’s occupation of that country in 1798 and the general opening up of the country by the Egyptian authorities . In the potential treasure troves of the Thebes Valley, some 500 km south of Cairo, the chief rivalry was played out between the English, who predominantly favoured the west bank of the Nile, and the French on the East Bank. 

On the English side, one of the main players was Henry Salt, the British Consul-General , who had been encouraged to collect by Sir Joseph Banks, a trustee of the British Museum at the time. From 1819, Salt’s agent was a young Greek, Giovanni (Yanni) d’Athanasi . It was during his excavations on Salt’s behalf that d’Athanasi would make his momentous discovery.