Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Ottoman official

Said Pasha

fl. 1866–1871 · Ottoman

Ottoman Governor-General of Cyprus around 1869 and 1870, who dealt with Luigi Palma di Cesnola over the Dali digs and, on Cesnola's account, the Golgoi export.

Biography

Said Pasha was Ottoman Governor-General of Cyprus when Luigi Palma di Cesnola dug at Dali and Golgoi, and nearly everything recorded about him comes from Cesnola's own book. Cesnola says that the Governor-General, Saïd Pasha, had strongly recommended the Cadi of Dali not to interfere with his excavations1. Cesnola also tells how Greek diggers carrying baskets of skulls were stopped by the Cadi and the Hodja, who sent the skulls to the Governor-General as evidence that graves were being desecrated. In his account Said Pasha came to Dali, heard Cesnola's explanation, joined in his laugh and reprimanded the two men1,2.

Cesnola's passages on the Golgoi dig of 1869 and the shipment of 360 cases of antiquities speak only of "the Governor-General", who forwarded his council's advice to stop work, lent tents, and later told Cesnola that his firman did not allow export. Cesnola says that Said Pasha, recalled to Constantinople, said at Larnaca that he had heard nothing of the shipment and that it was "most cleverly managed"1,2.

R. H. Lang, writing from Larnaca on 28 April 1870, praised Said Pasha's personal supervision of the destruction of locust eggs3. Aziz Pasha later served as Governor-General after him2. His full name and his dates of birth and death are not recorded.

Life and work

  1. c. 1869
    Told the Cadi of Dali not to interfere with Cesnola's excavations at Dali, saying he did not want to be involved in any difficulty with the American Consul (Cesnola's report of it).

    DaliCesnola 1878Marangou 2000, p. 186

  2. c. 1869
    After the Cadi and Hodja had seized baskets of skulls carried by diggers and sent them to the Governor-General as proof that Cesnola paid Christians to desecrate graves, Said Pasha came to Dali, accepted Cesnola's explanation that the graves pre-dated Islam, laughed it off and, Cesnola says, reprimanded the Cadi and Hodja.

    DaliCesnola 1878

  3. c. 1870
    When the Porte forbade export, Cesnola shipped 360 cases of antiquities on a chartered schooner by sending a petition in the name of the Russian consul. Said Pasha, Cesnola says, claimed to have heard nothing until he reached Larnaca on his way to Constantinople, whither he had been recalled, and declared it 'most cleverly managed' and 'a pity I had not been born a Turk'.

    LarnacaCesnola 1878Marangou 2000, p. 208

  4. 28 April 1870
    R. H. Lang, writing from Larnaca, praised Said Pasha's personal supervision of the weighing and destruction of locust eggs, and reported the locusts effectively eradicated.

    CyprusLang 1878

Connections

2 people

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.L. P. di Cesnola (1878). Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples.
  2. 2.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
  3. 3.R. H. Lang (1878). Cyprus: Its History, Its Present Resources and Future Prospects. London, Macmillan.