He was a
British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey...best known for his work at Lachish, where he excavated under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund between 1932 and 1938, when he was robbed and killed on his way to Jerusalem. Starkey was a student of Petrie's and Albright's; and an associate of Olga Tufnell. One of the important discoveries at Lachish made by Starkey and Tufnell were the Lachish ostraca, describing the impending fall of the city.
That Lachish find was the ‘Lachish Letters’ - a series of ostraca with Hebrew script written shortly before the Babylonian conquest of 586/7 BC
His end?
Here:
In January 1938, at the age of 43, Starkey’s career was tragically cut short. His good relations with the workmen and people from the surrounding villages were well known, so it came as a great shock when he was murdered by a group of Arab militants en route to the opening of the new Palestine Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem. He was buried in the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion, Jerusalem
Ah, yes. "Militants". I think that term is a bit anachronistic. In the 1930s, they were called "terrorist gangs".
Well, not by the Mandate officialdom:
Starkey was robbed and killed by Arab bandits near Bayt Jibrin on a track leading from Bayt Jibrin to Hebron."Language laundering", I guess. An Arab a "terrorist"? My gosh, no.
But so you shouldn't leave disappointed, here are some pictures of the Tel of Lachish just before the excavations (thanks to Ben R.) and you'll notice how densely populated the countryside is and how built up it is. Naw, just kidding. This was empty "Palestine".
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4 comments:
He was killed- and dismembered- by the Arabs (pre-occupation in 1938, how is that possible??) apparently because his long white beard made them think he was a Yid, and it was on the way to the opening of the Rockefeller Museum.
The opening was delayed.
Those Lachish 'letters' were the subject of a book by Benny Begin, his theory that they were probably written by a commander at the Maresha post that the lights of Azeka were no more- and so they were next for Nebuchadnezzer's army. This was in 586 BCE, by the way, after it was rebuilt since Lachish had been destroyed by Senncharib in 701, an event documented by the Lachish Reliefs, found in the 19th century in Nineveh and now (after being stolen by the British) residing - most of the panels- in London's British Museum. A nice copy is at Hebrew University Mt. Scopus.
In an ironic twist, Lachish is the area about to be populated by the exiled Gush Katifers.
And the beat goes on.
Sorry for the delayed comment here. I just found this Blog. My Grandfather had been warned by many including his wife, not to grow a beard but he did anyway. This was the first season that his family and not made the trip with him to Plalestine and the beard grew as a result of my Grandmother's absence.
He was robbed and shot in the back despite the plea of his Christian/Arab driver that he was "Starkey" ,by bandits. Some of these "bandits" were later caught and hanged.
Leslie Starkey
Thanks. Leslie, for the additional information.
Just thought you would like to correct some errors in your blog.
My grandfather did not have a long white beard - his beard was black. His body was not dismembered or interfered with and according to his death certificate which I have he was shot twice in the chest. His expedition to Lachish was funded by the Wellcome Trust et al, not the Palestine Exploration Fund. The Rockerfella Museum in Jerusalem showcases much of his finds at Lachish. He was on his way to its opening ceremony the next day.
Wendy
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