ExcavationBritish colonial and British Museum

Hala Sultan Tekke: the British Museum excavations (1897–1898)

Name: Hala Sultan Tekke: the British Museum excavations (1897–1898)
Start: 1897
End: 1898

1897–1898 · Hala Sultan Tekke

Also known as Dromolaxia: British Museum excavations at Kremnos, Angathia and Vounaropoulos

Two short British Museum campaigns at Hala Sultan Tekke, December 1897 and spring 1898: partly looted tombs near the mosque, ten listed by Walters and eleven recorded by Crowfoot.

Map of Cyprus

Where the work took place

Main site
Also worked at
Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m

Sites

1Hala Sultan Tekke
2Dromolaxia-Trypes (approx.)
3Dromolaxia-Kremnos (approx.)
4Dromolaxia-Angathia (approx.)
5Dromolaxia-Vounaropoulos (approx.)

Modern coastline (OpenStreetMap) and relief (Copernicus DEM).

The project

The tombs near the mosque at Hala Sultan Tekke were opened twice for the British Museum, first by Henry B. Walters at the end of December 1897 and then in spring 1898 under J. W. Crowfoot, a student sent by the British School at Athens.^1,2

Walters worked for seven days with a workforce that Fischer and Bürge report as not more than 40. He found partly looted tombs and cursorily listed the contents of ten, Tombs I–X. Fischer and Bürge report that this material belongs mainly to Late Cypriot II.¹ Crowfoot's campaign lasted just over a week according to Ulbrich and Kiely; Fischer and Bürge give eight days. He reopened 50–60 previously looted tombs, and notes were made for eleven, Tombs 1–11, whose recorded material Fischer and Bürge date mainly to Late Cypriot II–III.^1,2

Fischer and Bürge suggest that the main objective was to find rich tombs for the British Museum's collections, as an inference, and they judge the scientific standard of the work to have been low while acknowledging its historical context. The exact area dug is uncertain; they consider it possible that Walters's marked area included part of the southern City Quarter 1, though their comparison does not establish the location.¹

The British Museum registered a rectangular gypsum mould with carved figures, 1898.12–1.213, together with objects from Tomb IV; Karageorghis notes that it is not certain the mould itself came from that tomb. It is now in the museum.³ D. M. Bailey catalogued the British Museum material from both campaigns in 1976, in Hala Sultan Tekke 1: Excavations 1897–1971.⁴

Directors and team

Directed by

Henry Beauchamp Walters1897
J. W. Crowfoot1898

Institutions

British MuseumSponsor
British School at AthensPartner

Other projects of the British Museum Turner Bequest Excavations in Cyprus · 7

Other fieldwork at Hala Sultan Tekke · 9

References

1.Peter M. Fischer, Teresa Bürge, 2017, Tombs and Offering Pits at the Late Bronze Age Metropolis of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 377.
2.Anja Ulbrich, Thomas Kiely, 2012, Britain and the Archaeology of Cyprus. I. The long 19th century, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42.
3.V. Karageorghis, 1989, A Late Bronze Age mould from Hala Sultan Tekké, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 113.
4.D. M. Bailey, 1976, The British Museum excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke in 1897 and 1898: the material in the British Museum, P. Åström, D. M. Bailey and V. Karageorghis (eds.), Hala Sultan Tekke 1: Excavations 1897–1971, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 45:1.