Harry Pirie-Gordon and the Palestine Guide-Books

Gill, D. W. J. 2013. "Harry Pirie-Gordon and the Palestine Guide Books." Public Archaeology 11: 169-78.

Abstract
Harry Pirie-Gordon (1883–1969) was responsible for the preparation of a series of guidebooks published by the Palestine News immediately after the First World War. The information had been prepared for the British attack on Palestine. Pirie-Gordon first went to Syria in 1908 ostensibly to study Crusader castles. He took part in the survey of the Syrian coast around Alexandretta and worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times. Pirie-Gordon was commissioned in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and initially worked through the Arab Bureau in Cairo. After a spell in Salonica, he was commissioned in the Army, returned to Cairo, and took responsibility for the publication of the Palestine News for the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Allenby’s campaign in Palestine drew on the developing technology of aerial photography to prepare accurate maps of troop dispositions.

[DOI]

Sifting the Soil of Greece: Student Biographies

Sifting the Soil of Greece contains three sets of short biographies:

• i. Trustees of the British School at Athens
• ii. Members of the Managing Committee of the British School at Athens
• iii. Directors and students at the British School at Athens

Sifting the Soil of Greece

David W.J. Gill, Sifting the Soil of Greece: the Early Years of the British School at Athens (1886-1919). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, suppl. 111. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 2011. ISBN 978-1-905670-32-1. £38. xiv + 474 pp.
[WorldCat]

The British School at Athens opened in 1886 “to promote all researches and studies” which could “advance the knowledge of Hellenic history, literature, and art from the earliest age to the present day”. Over the next thirty years the School initiated a major programme of excavations, initially on Cyprus, then at Megalopolis, on Melos, and at Sparta. School students took part in the work of the Cretan Exploration Fund and in the major regional surveys of the Asia Minor Exploration Fund.

Most of the students who were admitted to the School in this period had been educated at either Cambridge or Oxford. Women, mostly from Cambridge, took part in the School’s activities including the excavations at Phylakopi. The students’ research interests included Greek pottery, Aegean prehistory, and epigraphy. The experience of Greece prepared the students for later work in British universities and in other professions. Many extended their archaeological experience in Greece to fieldwork in Britain, Egypt, and India.

During the First World War former students were involved in intelligence work in the eastern Mediterranean through the activities of the Arab Bureau in Cairo.

Ordering
Email: icls.publications@sas.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7862 8705
Website: Institute of Classical Studies
Book details and online ordering: ICS

Students at the British School at Athens (1918-23)

Students admitted under Alan Wace:

• Harold Collingham: 1919-20 (Craven Student). Queens' College, Cambridge.
  
• M. Tierney: 1919-20. University of Ireland.
  
• Arnold Walter Lawrence (1900-91): 1919-20 (Craven Fund); 1921-22; 1924-25 (Craven Fellow). New College, Oxford. [ODNB]
  
• J.B. Hutton: 1920-21 (Carnegie Trustees).
  
• Frank Laurence Lucas (1894-1967): 1920-21 (School Student). Trinity College, Cambridge [ODNB]
  
• Bernard Ashmole (1894-1988): 1920-21, 1921-22 (Craven Fellow). Hertford College, Oxford. [ODNB]
• Henry Theodore Wade Gery (1888-1972): 1920-21; 1921-22, 1922-23. New College, Oxford. [DBC]
  
• J.J.E. Hondius: 1920-21 (Foreign Student). University of Utrecht.
  
• C.A. Boethius: 1920-21, 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Upsala.
  
• L.ilian Chandler (Mrs Batey): 1920-21 (Gustav Sachs Memorial Studentship). University of Sheffield.
  
• Mary A.B. Herford (Mrs Gustav E.K. Braunholtz): 1920-21. University of Manchester; Somerville College, Oxford.
  
• Winifred Lamb (1894-1963): 1920-21; 1921-22, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30, 1930-31. Newnham College, Cambridge. [ODNB]
  
• M.A. Hondius-Van Haeften: 1920-21 (Foreign Student). University of Utrecht.
  
• Walter Abel Heurtley (1882-1955): 1921-22, 1922-23. Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge; Oxford (Diploma of Archaeology). [DBC]
  
• Richard Wyatt Hutchinson (1894-1970): 1921-22; 1930-31. St John's College, Cambridge. [DBC]
  
• J.E. Scott: 1921-22. Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
  
• E. Smith: 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Christiana.
  
• A. Smith (Mrs E. Smith): 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Christiana.
• E. Kjellberg: 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Lund.
  
• J. Waldis: 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Zurich.
  
• G. Snijder: 1921-22 (Foreign Student). University of Utrecht.
  
• John Bell (1890-1958): 1922-23. Balliol College, Oxford. [Obituary: The Times 9 May 1958]
  
• Stewart Studdert Clarke (1897-1924): 1922-23, 1923-24 (Craven Fellow). Balliol College, Oxford. Drowned off Salamis. [Obituary: The Times 6 May 1924]
• Bertrand Leslie Hallward (1901-2003): 1922-23 (School Student). [ODNB]
  
• Duncan Campbell MacGregor (c. 1889-1939): 1922-23. Edinburgh University; Trinity College, Oxford. [Obituary: The Times 14 March 1939]
• Jocelyn Mary Pybus (Mrs A.M. Woodward) (d. 1974): 1922-23. Newnham College, Cambridge.
  
• A.G. Russell: 1922-23 (Sachs Student). University of Liverpool.
  
• Charles Theodore Seltman (1886-1957): 1922-23 (Prendergast Student). Queens' College, Cambridge. [DBC]
  
• O.J. Todd: 1922-23. University of British Columbia.
  
• J. Webb: 1922-23. University of Melbourne.
  

BSA Students and Folklore

Folklore was an element of student research. The Cambridge emphasis can probably be traced back to J.G. Frazer (himself a student at the BSA) and to William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950). One of the earliest discussions is by Edward E. Sikes of St John’s, who worked on folklore elements in Hesiod in the early 1890s. Sikes drew on contemporary folklore studies and interpretations. John C. Lawson of Pembroke College was interested in the traditions of Skyros, and studied ‘folk-lore and traditional beliefs of the Greek people’ drawing on ‘oral as well as literary sources’. F.W. Hasluck of King’s College collected folk-lore traditions in Anatolia. R.M. Dawkins of Emmanuel College recorded folk-tales and noted carnivals. A.J.B. Wace also collected folk-tales and reworked them in a series of short-stories. One of the few non-Cambridge students to work in this area was Mary Hamilton of St Andrews, who researched Greek saints and explored continuity from pre-Christian times.

Select bibliography
Casson, S. 1913. "The dispersal legend." Classical Review 27: 153-56. [JSTOR]
—. 1927. "The growth of legend." Folklore 38: 255-71. [JSTOR]
Dawkins, R. M. 1904. "Greek and Cretan epiphany customs." Folklore 15: 214. [JSTOR]
—. 1924a. "Ancient statues in mediaeval Constantinople." Folklore 35: 209-48.
[JSTOR]
—. 1924b. "Ancient statues in mediaeval Constantinople: additional note." Folklore 35: 380.
—. 1929. "Presidential address: folklore and literature." Folklore 40: 14-36.
[JSTOR]
—. 1930. "Presidential address: folk-memory in Crete." Folklore 41: 11-42.
[JSTOR]
—. 1942a. "Folklore in stories from the Dodecanese." Folklore 53: 5-26. [JSTOR]
—. 1942b. "Soul and body in the folklore of modern Greece." Folklore 53: 131-47.
[JSTOR]
—. 1944. "A modern Greek folktale and comments." Folklore 55: 150-61. [JSTOR]
—. 1949a. "The story of Griselda." Folklore 60: 363-74. [JSTOR]
—. 1949b. "Obituary: Margaret Masson Hasluck." Folklore 60: 291-92. [JSTOR]
—. 1951. "The meaning of folktales." Folklore 62: 417-29. [JSTOR]
—. 1951b. "Obituary: W. H. D. Rouse." Folklore 62: 269-70. [JSTOR]
—. 1951c. "Recently published collections of modern folktales." Annual of the British School at Athens 46: 53-60.
—. 1952. "The silent princess." Folklore 63: 129-42. [JSTOR]
—. 1953a. "In a Greek village." Folklore 64: 386-96. [JSTOR]
—. 1953b. Modern Greek Folktales. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Halliday, W. R. 1910a. "The force of initiative in magical conflict." Folklore 21: 147-67. [JSTOR]
—. 1910b. "A spitting cure." Folklore 21: 388. [JSTOR]
—. 1912a. "A Greek Marriage in Cappadocia." Folklore 23: 81-88. [JSTOR]
—. 1912b. "Folklore scaps from Greece and Asia Minor." Folklore 23: 218-20. [JSTOR]
—. 1912c. "Modern Greek folk-tales and ancient Greek mythology." Folklore 23: 486-89. [JSTOR]
—. 1913. "Cretan folklore notes." Folklore 24: 357-59. [JSTOR]
—. 1914. "Modern Greek folk-tales and ancient Greek mythology: Odysseus and Saint Elias." Folklore 25: 122-25. [JSTOR]
—. 1919. "A sailor's saying." Folklore 30: 316-17. [JSTOR]
—. 1920. "Obituary: F.W. Hasluck." Folklore 31: 336-38. [JSTOR]
—. 1920. "The story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves." Folklore 31: 321-23. [JSTOR]
—. 1921. "Snake stones." Folklore 32: 262-71. [JSTOR]
—. 1922. "Snake stones." Folklore 33: 118-19. [JSTOR]
—. 1923. "Notes upon Indo-European folk-tales and the problem of their diffusion." Folklore 34: 117-40. [JSTOR]
—. 1924a. Folklore studies: ancient and modern. London: Methuen.
—. 1924b. "Passing under the yoke." Folklore 35: 93-95. [JSTOR]
—. 1924c. "The Mithraic grade of "Eagles"." Folklore 35: 381. [JSTOR]
—. 1930. ""The Superstitious Man" of Theophrastus." Folklore 41: 121-53. [JSTOR]
—. 1933. Indo-European folk-tales and Greek legend. Gray lectures; 1932. Cambridge: The University Press.
—. 1950. "A motif found in Moslem legend." Folklore 61: 218. [JSTOR]
Hasluck, F. W. 1911/12. "Plato in the folk-lore of the Konia plain." Annual of the British School at Athens 18: 265-69.
—. 1912/13. "Studies in Turkish history and folk-legend." Annual of the British School at Athens 19: 198-220.
—. 1919. "Prentice Pillars: the architect and his pupil." Folklore 30: 134-35. [JSTOR]
Hasluck, F.W. (eds. M.M. Hasluck, R. M. Dawkins). 1926. Letters on religion and folklore. London: Luzac & Co.
Hasluck, F. W. (ed. M. M. Hasluck). 1929. Christianity and Islam under the Sultans. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hasluck, M.M. ‘The significance of Greek personal names’, Folklore 34, 2 (1923) 149-154, 249-251. [JSTOR]
—. 1925. "Ramadan as a personal name." Folklore 36: 280. [JSTOR]
—. 1926. "A lucky spell from a Greek island." Folklore 37: 195-96. [JSTOR]
—. 1927. "The basil-cake of the Greek New Year." Folklore 38: 143-77. [JSTOR]
—. 1949. "Oedipus Rex in Albania." Folklore 60: 340-48. [JSTOR]
Lawson, J. C. 1910. Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: a study in survivals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sikes, E. E. 1893. "Folk-Lore in the 'Works and Days' of Hesiod." Classical Review 7: 389-94. [JSTOR]
—. 1909. "Four-footed man: a note on Greek anthropology." Folklore 20: 421-31. [JSTOR]

BSA Students and Coins

The main research topics for students were on pottery and sculpture. However several worked on coins. Among the Cambridge students, Francis Brayne-Baker of Christ’s College studied coins from Asia Minor. Sidney W. Grose also of Christ’s College worked on the McClean coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum and subsequently became honorary keeper there. Alan Wace of Pembroke College published a coin hoard of Hellenistic coins found at Sparta.

Among the Oxford students, Joseph G. Milne of Corpus Christi College excavated in Egypt (publishing coins from the Faiyum), and subsequently became deputy keeper of coins in the Ashmolean Museum (1931-51). John W. Crowfoot of Brasenose College worked on the iconography of Thracian coins, linking them to specific inscriptions from Athens. E.S.G. Robinson of Christ Church worked on numismatics in the collections at Athens, and collected coins on his journey through Lycia and Pamphylia. He subsequently became assistant keeper, and then keeper, in the department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum.

Select Bibliography
Baker, F. B. 1892. "Coin-types of Asia Minor." Numismatic Chronicle 12: 89-97.
—. 1893. "Some rare or unpublished Greek coins." Numismatic Chronicle 13: 21-35.
Crowfoot, J. W. 1897. "A Thracian Portrait." Journal of Hellenic Studies 17: 321-26.
Grenfell, B. P., A. S. Hunt, D. G. Hogarth, and J. G. Milne. 1900. Fayum towns and their papyri. Egypt Exploration Fund. Graeco-Roman branch. Memoirs, vol. 3. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.
Grose, S. W. 1915. "Croton." Numismatic Chronicle 15: 179-91.
—. 1916a. "A dekadrachm by Kimon and a note on Greek coin dies." Numismatic Chronicle 16: 113-32.
—. 1916b. "Some rare coins of Magna Graecia." Numismatic Chronicle 16: 201-45.
—. 1917. "Primitiae Heracliensis." Numismatic Chronicle 17: 169-89.
—. 1920. "The Balliol College collection." Numismatic Chronicle 20, 4th ser.: 117.
—. 1923. Catalogue of the McClean collection of Greek coins [in the] Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Milne, J. G. 1905a. "A hoard of coins from Egypt of the fourth century B.C." Revue archéologique 5: 257-61.
—. 1905b. "Roman coin-moulds from Egypt." Numismatic Chronicle: 342.
—. 1908a. "The copper coinage of the Ptolemies." Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology 1: 30-40.
—. 1908b. "The leaden token coinage of Egypt under the Romans." Numismatic Chronicle: 287.
—. 1911a. "The Dadia hoard of the coins of Knidos." Numismatic Chronicle: 197.
—. 1911b. "Hoard of silver coins of Knidos." Numismatic Chronicle: 197.
—. 1912. "Two hoards of coins of Cos." Numismatic Chronicle: 14.
—. 1913. "Coutermarked coins of Asia Minor." Numismatic Chronicle: 389-98.
—. 1914. "A hoard of coins of Temnos." Numismatic Chronicle: 260.
—. 1916. "A hoard of bronze coins of Smyrna." Numismatic Chronicle: 246.
—. 1917. "The Alexandrian coinage of the early years of Hadrian." Numismatic Chronicle 17: 31.
—. 1917. "Some Alexandrian coins." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 4: 177-86.
—. 1920. "Two Roman hoards of coins from Egypt." Journal of Roman Studies 10: 169-84.
—. 1922. "The coins from Oxyrhynchus." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 8: 158-63.
—. 1929. "Ptolemaic coinage in Egypt." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 15: 150-53.
—. 1931. "Woodeaton coins." Journal of Roman Studies 21: 101-09.
—. 1933. "The Beni Hasan coin-hoard." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 19: 119-21.
—. 1935. "Report on coins found at Tebtunis in 1900." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 21: 210-16.
—. 1936. "Pliny on the First Coinages at Rome." Classical Review 50: 215-17.
—. 1938. "Roman literary evidence on the coinage." Journal of Roman Studies 28: 70-74.
—. 1940. "The "Philippus" coin at Rome." Journal of Roman Studies 30: 11-15.
—. 1943. "Pictorial coin-types at the Roman mint of Alexandria." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 29: 63-66.
—. 1945. "Alexandrian coins acquired by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 31: 85-91.
—. 1946. "The problem of the early Roman coinage." Journal of Roman Studies 36: 91-100.
—. 1950. "Pictorial coin-types at the Roman mint of Alexandria: a supplement." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 36: 83-85.
—. 1951. "Pictorial coin-types at the Roman mint of Alexandria: a second supplement." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 37: 100-02.
Robinson, E. S. G. 1914. "Coins from Lycia and Pamphylia." Journal of Hellenic Studies 34: 36-46.
—. 1946. "Rhegion, Zankle-Messana and the Samians." Journal of Hellenic Studies 66: 13-20.
—. 1951. "The coins from the Ephesian Artemision reconsidered." Journal of Hellenic Studies 71: 156-67.
Wace, A. J. B. 1907/08. "Laconia I. Excavations at Sparta, 1908. § 8. A hoard of Hellenistic coins." Annual of the British School at Athens 14: 149-58.

Parental Background of BSA Students (1886-1914)

I was struck by the background of the fathers of students admitted to l'École française d'Athènes (EfA) in its first half century (1846-96). Here is a selection:

• teachers in secondary education: 22%
• doctors / pharmacists: 11%
• legal profession: 9%
• academics: 9%
• financial sector: 2%

Contrast this with the 133 students from the BSA for the period 1886-1914:

• clergy: 17%
• legal profession: 11%
• landed / farmers: 9%
• financial sector: 6%
• merchants: 6%
• craftsmen: 6%
  
• school teachers: 5%
• academics: 4%
• medical: 4%

Several of the school teachers were also ordained (usually in the Church of England). The fathers of three of the women were university academics, three were ordained ministers, and three were merchants. It has not been possible to identify the parental backgrounds for all the BSA students.

References
Valenti, C. 1996. "Les membres de l'École française d'Athènes: étude d'une élite universitaire (1846-1992)." Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 120: 157-72. [Cefael]