Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- Jun 1934 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 folder 6 items handwritten, typed and printed
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Theodor Gaster was a British-born American Biblical scholar working in the field of comparative religions. He was the son of Moses Gaster, the folklorist, and he was educated and received his first degree in London, before moving to America to pursue his doctorate, and where he pursued the majority of his academic career.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He developed his interest in Egyptology while still at school and he pursued his career within that field and acted as an advisor when the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Florence Melian Stawell, youngest daughter of Sir William Foster Stawell, was born in Melbourne in 1869. She first went to the University of Melbourne before attending Newnham College, Cambridge, where she subsequently became a don. Ill-health forced her retirement but she continued to publish books and pursue classical scholarship.
Repository
Archival history
The letter and decipherment were written by Theodor Gaster.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The letter was sent by Thoedor Gaster to the Royal Asiatic Society with his decipherment. It is unknown how the newspaper cuttings became part of the collection. It is possible Colonel Hoysted acquired them after receiving the letter.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
In 1934, a vase was unearthed in excavations at Tell ed-Duweir (Tell Lachish) in an expedition led by James Leslie Starkey. Theodor Gaster undertook to decipher the inscription on the vase, but before his decipherment was announced in The Times Newspaper the decipherment had been attributed to another. The items that comprise this collection are:
- Letter from Theodor Gaster to Colonel Hoysted, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to lodge with him a 'lettre cachée' with his decipherment of the new script found on the vase. He claimed that he had originally communicated the decipherment to James Starkey but had suppressed its publication until the discovery of the ewer had been announced in The Times. However, in that time, another had been attributed with the decipherment. He was therefore sending a copy of his letter to Starkey, as proof of his claim, to both the Royal Asiatic Society and the Palestine Exploration Fund. With the letter is his copy of the decipherment and an envelope labelled 'Lettre cachée deposited with the R.A.S. by Theodor Gaster on 12.6.34'.
- "Discovery at Tell Duweir: Identification of the Characters" - letter to the Editor printed in The Times, 12 June 1934, written by Theodor Gaster.
- "Discovery at Tell Duweir: Early Alphabets" - letter to the Editor printed in The Times, 13 June 1934, written by Alan H. Gardiner disputing the decipherment.
- "Discovery at Tell Duweir: A Translation of the Inscription" - letter to the Editor printed in The Times, dated 20 June 1934, written by F. Melian Stawell to add her contribution to the decipherment.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Gaster Theodor Herzl 1906-1992 (Subject)
- Gardiner Alan H. 1879-1963 (Subject)
- Stawell F. Melian 1869-1936 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
The material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.