Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Archaeologist · Scholar

Stephan Hanna Stephan

d. 1949

Palestinian museum officer and historian who died in 1949 leaving unfinished notes on a Muslim tombstone at Paphos, which A. H. S. Megaw published in 1950.

Biography

The article on a Muslim tombstone at Paphos appeared in 1950 under A. H. S. Megaw's name, from the notes of Stephan Hanna Stephan, who had died the year before1. Stephan had been a long-time employee of the Palestine Archaeological Museum, where he was assistant librarian and archaeological officer, and was respected as a historian and ethnographer1.

In 1948 he and his family fled to Lebanon, and a passport belonging to one of his sons records repeated journeys between Beirut and Cyprus1. In Cyprus he began to study a Muslim monument at Paphos for the Department of Antiquities, and he thanked Megaw and Loizos Philippou, honorary curator of the Paphos District Museum, for their help1.

He died of a heart attack in 19491. The article opens by saying that "Mr. St. H. Stephan" began to study the monument but died before he had finished the work1.

Life and work

  1. 1948
    Became a refugee with his family, who fled to Lebanon; a son's passport shows repeated journeys between Beirut and Cyprus

    BeirutIrving 2025, p. 127 ; p. 134

  2. 1948–1949
    Began studying a Muslim tombstone at Paphos for the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, with thanks to A. H. S. Megaw and Loizos Philippou, honorary curator of the Paphos District Museum

    PaphosIrving 2025, p. 128 ; p. 134

  3. 1949
    Died of a heart attack

    Irving 2025, p. 134

  4. 1950
    Megaw published the tombstone article, credited to Megaw but based on Stephan's notes (opening: Mr. St. H. Stephan began to study this monument but died before he had finished the work)

    PaphosIrving 2025, p. 128

Connections

2 people

Sales, gifts & bequests

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.S. Irving (2025). “Archaeological entanglements: Palestinian refugee archaeologists in Cyprus, Libya and Jordan”. Empire and Excavation: critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 127-. Brill.
  2. 2.A. H. S. Megaw (1950). “Article on a Muslim tombstone from Paphos, based on notes by St. H. Stephan”.
  3. 3.unknown (JSTOR 10.2307/3209179). “Account mentioning Stephan advising on the Dead Sea scrolls”. p. 6.
  4. 4.unknown. Book on the Dead Sea scrolls (doi 10.5040/9780567669858). p. 66.
  5. 5.unknown. Book mentioning the JPOS circle (doi 10.7560/760806). p. 142.