Letter from Schaeffer to Megaw and Dikaios on Dussaud's report to the Académie des InscriptionsClaude Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer

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able scientific opposition, and having offered you in the interest of Cyprus archaeology, to share in its exploration without regard to the benefit of my own scientific work, I think I am entitled to be immediately informed of all major finds made during the excavations of the Cyprus branch of our combined expedition, as you are informed of the details of my work at Enkomi. As to how I handle information given to me by a colleague, Dikaios may remember the discovery of the important finds at Ambélikou of which he informed me during the war and allowed me to visit, and to which I have not referred before his own publication (see Stratigraphie Comparée p.577.).

You will both understand, I hope, that having spent on the identification of the site a considerable amount of money of the French Scientific research funds and spent it for the great part on the rather unproductive excavations of the town perimeter and various soundings, I cannot agree to separate publication especially in such a well-known paper with large circulation, as the Illustrated London News, as long as my own discovery of the town site and some finds of the French expedition, as well as the reasons which have guided me to organise a combined expedition, have not been brought to the knowledge of the scientific and scientifically-interested public. I would give the impression to my board here that I have disregarded French scientific interest at the moment when I was on the point of gathering the fruits of an effort which is the outcome of research going back as far as 1934, and having ever since been financed by French Taxpayers money. (See Missions en Chypre, p.67 & ss.)

I hope therefore, you will reconsider my propositions and refrain at present from any separate publication until the scientific publication of the combined expedition has been published. There is no need for Dikaios to produce the manuscript of his contributions before let us say, june or july. I think that is sufficient time to produce a report on his Baal statue and his other finds. Volume I will contain also my report on my 1949 expedition. Concerning the material, I want to include also part of our 1947 and 1948 studies together with those of Dussaud and Coche de la Ferté; the Cyprus government will not be called upon to help to finance this part of the publication, because you will have only to pay for the printing of those articles of the combined publication which have been written by Dikaios and yourself.

I would like to have your views.

Yours sincerely,

Handwritten: signature