Mercantile networks and the export of antiquities from Egypt in the mid nineteenth century: A case study of Menkaure's sarcophagus and the Beatrice

Abstract

The export of antiquities from Egypt to the United Kingdom during the mid nineteenth century required an extensive network of cultural, diplomatic and mercantile actors, including private shipowners. While much previous research has focused on the political stakeholders in the process, as well as the archaeologists conducting excavations in Egypt, the attempted export of Menkaure's sarcophagus from Giza to the British Museum in 1838 allows for a closer examination of one of the private shipowners who was involved in this process – namely, Captain Richard Mayle Whichelo of the merchant vessel Beatrice. This article investigates the diplomatic processes that were required for the export of the sarcophagus and provides an overview of the history of the Beatrice and of Captain Whichelo, placing this within the broader context of the transport of antiquities during the nineteenth century.