The French Connection: Charles Clermont-Ganneau and the Antiquities Trade Network in the Late Ottoman Levant
In: Journal of Ancient JudaismSearch for other papers by Michael Press in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Charles Clermont-Ganneau is widely recognized by scholars for his contributions to the archaeology, epigraphy, and historical geography of Israel/Palestine and the broader Middle East. But Clermont-Ganneau was also a major contributor to antiquities trade networks between the Levant and France in the Late Ottoman period. For a period of more than 35 years, he served variously as finder, agent, consultant, buyer, and dealer of ancient artifacts of all types. This article looks at Clermont-Ganneau’s involvement in antiquities trafficking and how it was intertwined with his scholarly career. A close study of his activities suggests that Clermont-Ganneau’s career is a paradigmatic example of academic reliance on the antiquities trade.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
“Annual General Meeting of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Held at the Royal Institution, 29th June, 1871.” PEFQS n.s. 3 (August 1871): 139–56.
-
Aristarchi Bey, Grégoire. Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autre documents officiels de l’Empire ottoman. Troisième partie: droit administrative. Constantinople: Bureau du Journal Thraky, 1874.
-
Avigad, Nahman. “The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village.” IEJ 3.3 (1953): 137–152.
-
Bahrani, Zainab, Zeynep Çelik, and Edhem Eldem, eds. Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753–1914. Istanbul: SALT, 2011.
-
Bergman, Sidney. “Azeez Khayat (1875–1943): A Noted Collector of Ancient Glass.” Carnegie Magazine 48.6 (1974): 238–244.
-
Bonora Andújar, Isabel. “Charles Clermont-Ganneau et la redécouverte de la stèle de Mésha.” Pages 97–138 in Nouvelles recherches autour de la stèle de Mésha = Neue Forschungen zur Mescha-Stele: Kolloquium des Collège de France, des Musée du Louvre und des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas anlässlich der 150. Wiederkehr der Entdeckung der Mescha-Stele, 2. und 3. Oktober 2018, Collège de France, Paris. Edited by Herbert Niehr and Thomas Römer. Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 51. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2021.
-
Brodie, Neil. “Cuneiform Exceptionalism? Justifying the Study and Publication of Unprovenanced Cuneiform Tablets from Iraq.” Pages 103–117 in Crime and Art: Sociological and Criminological Perspectives of Crimes in the Art World. Edited by Naomi Oosterman and Donna Yates. Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market 1. Cham: Springer, 2021.
-
Burton, Richard F. “The Moabite Stone, II,” Athenaeum, April 20, 1872, pp. 498–500. Reprinted in Richard F. Burton and Charles. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. Unexplored Syria: Visits to the Libanus, the Tulúl el Safá, the Anti-Libanus, the Northern Libanus, and the ’Aláh, vol. 2. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872, pp. 330–345.
-
Büssow, Johann. Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of Jerusalem, 1872–1908. The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage: Politics, Society and Economy 46. Leiden: Brill, 2011.
-
Cagnat, René. “Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau.” Journal officiel de la République française, November 22, 1924, 10305–10307.
-
Cassimatis, Hélène. “Melchior de Vogüé et alii and Cyprus: Monsieur Péretié.” Pages 216–221 in Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction: Papers of the 22nd British Museum Classical Colloquium, December 1998. Edited by Veronica Tatton-Brown. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2001.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Correspondance.” Revue de l’instruction publique en France et dans les pays étrangers, February 17, 1870, p. 738 (letter of October 20, 1869).
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. La stèle de Mesa, roi de Moab, 896 av. J.C.: Lettre à M. le Cte de Vogüé. Paris: J. Baudry, 1870 (letter of January 16, 1870).
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “The Moabite Stone.” London Times, March 21, 1870, p. 4. Reprinted in PEFQS 5 (1870): 175–177 (letter of March 2, 1870).
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “The Moabite Stone.” Athenaeum, May 7, 1870, p. 613 (letter of April 3, 1870).
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Une stèle du temple de Jérusalem.” RAr 2nd ser. 23 (1872): 214–234.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Recherches et découvertes de M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau en Palestine.” RAr n.s. 23 (1872): 398–404.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “The Shapira Collection.” Athenaeum, May 9, 1874, 629–630. Reprinted in PEFQS July 1874: 201–207 (letter of March 30, 1874).
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Études d’archéologie orientale, t. 1. Bibliothèque de l’École des hautes études, Sciences philologiques et historiques 44. Paris: F. Vieweg, 1880-1895.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Premiers rapports sur une mission en Palestine et en Phénicie entreprise en 1881.“ Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires 3.9 (1882): 277–321.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Sceaux et cachets israélites, phéniciens et syriens, suivis d’épigraphes phéniciennes inédites sur divers objets, et de deux intailles cypriotes, Journal asiatique 8th ser. 1 (1883): 123–159.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Genuine and False Inscriptions in Palestine.” PEFQS January 1884: 89–100. Reprinted from London Times, December 26, 1883, p. 10, and December 27, 1883, p. 10.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Les fraudes archéologiques en Palestine suivies de quelques monuments phéniciens apocryphes. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1885.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Rapports sur une mission en Palestine et en Phénicie entreprise en 1881: cinquième rapport.” Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires 3rd ser. 11 (1885): 157–251.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “The Moabite Stone.” The Contemporary Review, August 1887, 169–183.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 1. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1888.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Archaeological Researches in Palestine during the Years 1873–1874, trans. John Macfarlane. 2 vols. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1896–1899.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Études d’archéologie orientale, t. 2. Bibliothèque de l’École des hautes études, Sciences philologiques et historiques 130. Paris: Émile Bouillon, 1897.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 2. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1898.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. “Note sur la création, en Syrie, d’une station d’archéologie orientale dépendant de l’École du Caire.” RAr 3rd ser. 35 (1899): 165–168. Reprinted in Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t.3, 319–322.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 3. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1900.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 4. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1901.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 5. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1903.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 6. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1905.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles. Recueil d’archéologie orientale, t. 7. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1906.
-
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles, et al. “The Shapira Collection.” PEFQS April 1874: 114–124. Reprinted from the Athenaeum, January 24 and March 7, 1874.
-
Cobbing, Felicity. “The Palestine Exploration Fund, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, and the Discovery of the Mesha Stela.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Chicago, IL, November 17, 2012.
-
“Correspondances étrangères.” Journal officiel de l’Empire français, February 5, 1870, p. 245 (letter of January 18, 1870).
-
Darricarrère, Théodore-Henri. “Lettre à M. Clermont-Ganneau sur une monnaie inédite de Joppé.” RAr 2nd ser. 43 (1882): 74–75.
-
Davidson, A. B. “Palestine Exploration and the Moabite Stone.” The British and Foreign Evangelical Review 20 (1871): 136–163.
-
Dussaud, René. Musée du Louvre, Département des antiquités orientales: Les monuments palestiniens et judaïques (Moab, Judée, Philistie, Samarie, Galilée). Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1912.
-
Dussaud, René. “Les travaux et les découvertes archéologiques de Charles Clermont-Ganneau (1846–1923).” Syria 4.2 (1923): 140–173.
-
Eliav, Mordechai. Britain and the Holy Land: 1838–1914: Selected Documents from the British Consulate in Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1997.
-
“Extrait de procès-verbaux du 1er trimestre de 1894: séance du 10 janvier 1894.” Bulletin de la société nationale des antiquaries de France 1894, 58–70.
-
Fawaz, Leila Tarazi. Merchants and Migrants in Nineteenth-Century Beirut. Harvard Middle Eastern Studies 18. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.
-
Fontan, Elisabeth. “Deux famillles du Liban qui ont enrichi le Musée du Louvre: les Durighello et les Farah.” Archaeology & History in Lebanon 16 (2002): 115–123.
-
Froehner, Wilhelm. “F. de Saulcy.” Annuaire de la société française de numismatique et d’archéologie 5 (1881): 582–594.
-
Gibson, Shimon. “Conrad Schick (1822–1901), the Palestine Exploration Fund and an ‘Archaic Hebrew’ Inscription from Jerusalem.” PEQ 132.2 (2000): 113–122.
-
Ginsburg, Christian D. The Moabite Stone; A Fac-simile of the Original Inscription, with an English Translation, and a Historical and Critical Commentary. 2nd rev. ed. London: Reeves and Turner, 1871.
-
Grafton, Anthony. Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity in Western Scholarship. London: Collins & Brown, 1990.
-
Gran-Aymerich, Ève. “Diplomatie et archéologie: Charles Clermont-Ganneau (1846–1923) au Proche-Orient.” Pages 197–213 in Archéologie dans l’Empire ottoman autour de 1900: entre politique, économie et science. Edited by Véronique Krings and Isabelle Tassignon. Institut historique belge de Rome, Études de philologie, d’archéologie et d’histoire anciennes 40. Brussels: Belgisch Historich Instituut te Rome, 2004.
-
Guthe, Hermann. Fragmente einer Lederhandschrift enthaltend Mose’s letzte Rede an die Kinder Israel. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1883.
-
Guthe, Hermann. “Das Schicksal der Siloah-Inschrift.” ZDPV 13 (1890): 286–288.
-
Harris, J. Rendel. “The Inscription of Siloam.” The Sunday School Times, December 6, 1890, p. 771.
-
Hyamson, Albert M. The British Consulate in Jerusalem in Relation to the Jews of Palestine, 1838–1914. Part II, 1862–1914. London: Edward Goldston, 1941.
-
Iliffe, J. H. “The ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ Inscription from Herod’s Temple.” QDAP 6 (1938): 1–3.
-
Kautzsch, Emil and Albert Socin. Die Aechtheit der Moabitischen Alterthümer. Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, 1876.
-
Klein, F. A. “The Moabite Stone.” Pall Mall Gazette, April 20, 1870, p. 3. Reprinted as “The Original Discovery of the Moabite Stone.” PEFQS 6 (1870): 281–283 (letter of March 23, 1870).
-
Lenormant, François. Essai sur la propagation de l’alphabet phénicien dans l’ancien mode, t. 1. Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie, 1872.
-
Levy, M. A. “Eine neue nabathäische Inschrift aus Ammonitis.” ZDMG 25.3 (1871): 429–434.
-
Lisovoj, N. N. and R. B. Butova, eds. The Diary of Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin): The Year 1881. Moscow: Indrik, 2011 [Russian].
-
“Liste des associés correspondants nationaux et étrangers au 2 mai 1894.” Bulletin de la société nationale des antiquaries de France (1894): 14–35.
-
Lozachmeur, Hélène. La collection Clermont-Ganneau: Ostraca, épigraphes sur jarre, étiquettes de bois, 2 vols. Mémoires de l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 35. Paris: De Boccard, 2006.
-
Lumley, Henry. “New Moabite Stone.” London Times, January 26, 1872, p. 6.
-
Lumley, Henry. “The Last New Moabite Stone.” London Times, January 27, 1872, p. 8.
-
Masson, Olivier. “Cretica.” BCH 103.1 (1979): 57–82.
-
Masson, Olivier and Joyce Reynolds. “Clermont-Ganneau’s Visit to Cyrenaica in 1895.” Libyan Studies 9 (1978): 19–25.
-
Münchhausen, Thankmar von. “The Moabite Pottery.” Athenaeum, January 26, 1878, 122-123. Reprinted in PEFQS April 1878: 95–98 (letter of January 11, 1878).
-
Neubauer, Adolf. “The Shapira MSS. of Deuteronomy.” Athenaeum, August 18, 1883, p. 116 (letter of August 13, 1883).
-
“Partie officielle.” Journal officiel de la république française, April 14, 1875, p. 1.
-
Petermann, Heinrich. “Ueber die Auffindung der Moabitischen Inschrift des Königs Mesa.” ZDMG 24.4 (1870): 640–644.
-
Pickard, J. G. “The Samaritan Stone at Gaza.” PEFQS October 1873: 157–158.
-
Press, Michael. “The Career of Moses Shapira, Bookseller and Antiquarian.” PEQ, published online March 15, 2022. doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2022.2050075
-
Reinach, Salomon. “Chronique d’Orient: Fouilles et découvertes: Règlement sur les antiquités,” RAr 3rd ser. 3 (1884): 336–345.
-
Renan, Ernest. Mission de Phénicie. Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1864–1874.
-
Renier, Léon. “Inscription inédite de Beyrouth.” Pages 299–303 in Mélanges publiés par la section historique et philologique de l’École des Hautes Études pour le dixième anniversaire de sa foundation. Bibliothèque de l’École des hautes études, Sciences philologiques et historiques 35. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1878.
-
Saulcy, Félicien de. “Trouvaille de Iafa de Galilée, près Nazareth.” Annuaire de la société française de numismatique et d’archéologie 3 (1868–1870): 350–369.
-
Saulcy, Félicien de. “Numismatique palmyrénienne.” RAr n.s. 22 (1870–1871): 291–303.
-
Saulcy, Félicien de. Numismatique de la Terre Sainte. Paris: J. Rothschild, 1874.
-
Saulcy, Félicien de. Carnets de voyage en Orient (1845–1869). Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1955. Dupont-Sommer, André. “Un dépisteur de fraudes archéologiques: Charles Clermont-Ganneau (1846–1923), membre de l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres.” CRAI 118.4 (1974): 591–609.
-
Sayce, Archibald H. “The Shapira MSS. of Deuteronomy.” Athenaeum, 18 August 1883, pp. 116–117 (letter of August 13, 1883).
-
“Séance du 13 novembre 1885.” Journal asiatique 8.6 (1885): 546–551.
-
“Séance du 8 novembre 1895.” Journal asiatique 9.6 (1895): 549–556.
-
“Séance du vendredi 9 novembre 1900.” Journal asiatique 9.16 (1900): 532–540.
-
Shepherd, Naomi. The Zealous Intruders: The Western Rediscovery of Palestine. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987.
-
Stremmel, Fabian. “The Creation of Christian and Muslim Urban Identities: French and German Schools in Fin de Siècle Beirut.” Pages 169–188 in The Mediterranean Cities between Myth and Reality. Edited by Federica Frediani. Lugano: Nerbini International, 2014.
-
Tchekhanovets, Yana. “New evidence regarding the provenance of the Uzziah tablet.” Jerusalem Orthodox Seminar 7 (2017): 9–18 [Russian].
-
Tchekhanovets, Yana and Leonid A. Belayev. “The Palestinian Museum of Antonin Kapustin: Current State and Perspectives of Research.” Byzantina Chronika 103 (2019): 228–255 [Russian].
-
Ussishskin, David. The Village of Silwan: The Necropolis from the Period of the Judean Kingdom. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1993.
-
Warren, Charles. “Inscriptions and Masons’ Marks.” PEFQS 6 (1870): 324–330.
-
Weser, Hermann and Konstantin Schlottmann. “Eine antiquarische Consular-Untersuchung in Jerusalem: Bericht die behauptete Fälschung der Moabitischen Thonsachen betreffend.” ZDMG 28 (1874): 460–480.
-
Willert, Sebastian. “Die Erwerbung der Mescha-Stele: Osmanische Herrschaft und der europäische Wettstreit um antike Objekte im 19. Jahrhundert.” Pages 51–95 in Nouvelles Recherches autour de la Stèle de Mésha = Neue Forschungen zur Mescha-Stele: Kolloquium des Collège de France, des Musée du Louvre und des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas anlässlich der 150. Wiederkehr der Entdeckung der Mescha-Stele, 2. und 3. Oktober 2018, Collège de France, Paris. Edited by Herbert Niehr and Thomas Römer. Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 51. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2021.
-
Yazbak, Mahmoud. Haifa in the Late Ottoman Period, 1864–1914: A Muslim Town in Transition. The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage: Politics, Society and Economy 16. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 457 | 252 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 147 | 25 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 248 | 55 | 0 |
The French Connection: Charles Clermont-Ganneau and the Antiquities Trade Network in the Late Ottoman Levant
In: Journal of Ancient JudaismSearch for other papers by Michael Press in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Charles Clermont-Ganneau is widely recognized by scholars for his contributions to the archaeology, epigraphy, and historical geography of Israel/Palestine and the broader Middle East. But Clermont-Ganneau was also a major contributor to antiquities trade networks between the Levant and France in the Late Ottoman period. For a period of more than 35 years, he served variously as finder, agent, consultant, buyer, and dealer of ancient artifacts of all types. This article looks at Clermont-Ganneau’s involvement in antiquities trafficking and how it was intertwined with his scholarly career. A close study of his activities suggests that Clermont-Ganneau’s career is a paradigmatic example of academic reliance on the antiquities trade.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 457 | 252 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 147 | 25 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 248 | 55 | 0 |