Menkaure's Sarcophagus: a previous search and the mystery of 200 boxes

I have just discovered the briefest mention of a previous search for the sarcophagus of Menkaure carried out off the coast of Cartagena in Spain.

The details are found in an 'overview' of the Cartagena-based Museo Nacional de Arqueología Marítima y Centro de Investigaciones Arqueológicas Subacuáticas complied by the director Dr Iván Negueruela.

The search took place in early 1997 and involved the museum and Centro de Buceo de la Armada (the Centre for Navy Diving). The search took place in Cartagena Bay between Las Algamecas and Faro de Navidad (Christmas Lighthouse).

Nothing was found of the Beatrice, the ship that was carrying the sarcophagus back to the British Museum, although a previously unknown wreck of a ship dated to the second half of the 19th Century was found near the lighthouse.

On 6th June 2008, the Spanish newspaper La Verdad (see here ) interviewed Dr Negueruela who humorously highlighted the poor resources devoted to the 1997 expedition.  The search, said Dr Negueruela, was carried out using a boat which was about to be scrapped and 'a flashlight'. Modern technology would make the search much easier.

However, Dr Negueruela went on to say that he believes the sarcophagus lies somewhere between Murcian coastal towns of Cabo de Palos and Mazarrón.

A look at a map will show just big an area this is. The newspaper also quotes Spanish underwater archaeologist Daniel Alonso as saying any search would be "technically complex" and would have "a low probability of success."

In the another article in the edition of the newspaper (see here) Dr Negueruela, discusses the scientific importance of the sarcophagus but then adds that of "equal or greater value could be the objects that sank in over two hundred boxes" also on the Beatrice when it sank in October 1838. " Yes, there may be some surprises," he says.

Unfortunately, he does not explain where this information comes from. However, its seems that there are quite a few local legends about what other Egyptian anitiquities cpould have been onboard the Beatrice. The newspaper mentions "pink granite sphinxes and coveted gold pieces."

For more on the story of the Lost Sarcophagus see

The Lost Sarcophagus

Is there a map showing the whereabouts of Beatrice and the Lost Sarcophagus? 

Lost Sarcophagus: Search Update

Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure

Or take this boat trip around Cartagena Harbour:
 

Is there a map showing the whereabouts of Beatrice and the Lost Sarcophagus?

I have just discovered an intriguing piece of information - admittedly 15 years old now - which suggests a map exists which could pinpoint the whereabouts of the wreck of the Beatrice and the lost sarcophagus of Menkaure.

Briefly, the ship vanished in the autumn of 1838 while bringing back the sarcophagus from Egypt to its new home in the British Museum. Many theories have been put forward as to what happened and many wreck sites have been claimed. But I have never seen it suggested that a map exists of the wreck site - and from what seems to have been a reputable source.

The Museo Egipcio de Barcelona (The Egyptian Museum in Barcelona) is a private museum financed and run by the Jordi Clos Foundation. Every so often, stories arise that the Foundation is preparing to search for the sarcophagus. Its favoured location for the wreck is the near the Spanish deepwater port of Cartagena.

In May 1995, the director of the Clos Foundation, Adolf Luna, was interviewed in the Spanish newspaper El Pias. While discussing a plan to search for the wreck he speculates that there may have been other Egyptological treasures on the doomed Beatrice.

He says the planned hunt is "serious, is not a treasure hunt." The newspaper says the Foundation has a document - a map - which tells them where the wreck is. (La fundación, dice, dispone de un documento, "un mapa", que les ofrece garantías sobre el lugar del naufragio).

Luna is then quoted as saying: "If I did not have reliable data, we would not risk it." ("Si no fuera porque disponemos de datos fiables, no nos arriesgaríamos.")

Map or no map, for whatever the reason the search did not happen. Whether this map actually exists remains, for the moment, unknow.

See El sarcófago de Micerino (El Pais)  and El mapa de la 'Beatrice' (El Pais)

For the story so far, see The Lost Sarcophagus, Ancient Egypt magazine. December/January 2009.

See also:  The Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure: a novel approach to the mystery and Lost Sarcophagus: Search Update

Escape to the sun

It's holiday time so Egyptology News Network won't be so active over the next week or so - but it will continue to be updated. Check for more on the Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure - is there a map of the wreck site? - and the start of regular posts about Lady Valerie Meux, the banjo-playing barmaid turned Egyptologist.

Meanwhile, as ENN nearly notches up two months on the internet, thank you for all your support. We now have visitors from the US, Canada, The Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, Germany, France, Ireland, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Australia, as well as the United Kingdom. But we're still looking for our first visitor from Egypt. We also have a growing band of followers on Twitter.

If you want to make sure you keep in touch, sign up as a follower of the site, register for the newsletter or follow on Twitter.

If you would like to contribute to ENN - articles, news, photographs, or even just comment on the posts - don't be shy, get in touch and you too could be posting in days.

For UK-based supporters - and that probably means London - I'll be organizing a get together some time in mid- to late-August. I'll announce a venue via this site and the newsletter. Keep an eye on the Face-to-Face gadget on the site where details will also be announced. Perhaps we'll meet in the shadow of Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment.

Meanwhile, have a great summer.

Paul

The Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure: a novel approach to the mystery

I have just discovered there is a fictional account of the search for the lost sarcophagus of Menkaure written by the historian and author Jean-Jacques Fiechter (pictured left).

The novel - "A la recherche du sarcophage perdu de Mykérinos" (which translates as "In search of the lost sarcophagus of Menkaure" - was published by Maisonneuve and Larose, Paris, in 2005.

The French synopsis of the book reads:  "Octobre 1838. La 'Béatrice', un brick marchand anglais, s'abîme en mer, alors qu'il ramenait à Londres le sarcophage du pharaon Menkauré, le bâtisseur de la troisième pyramide de Gizeh. Mis au courant de son existence par une lettre de sa mère, décédée dans d'étranges conditions, un jeune universitaire part à la recherche du sarcophage englouti."

In English, this roughly translates (I think ) as: "October 1838. The 'Beatrice', an English merchant brig, is wrecked at sea, while it was returning to London with the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Menkaure, the builder of the third pyramid of Giza. Upon learning of its existence in a letter from his mother, who died under mysterious circumstances, a young scholar goes in search of sunken sarcophagus."

Jean-Jacques Fiechter is also the author of "Egyptian Fakes: Masterpieces that Duped the Art World and the Experts Who Refuted Them". He is also the author of "Death By Publication", which was awarded France's Grand Prize for Detective Fiction, the equivalent of the Edgar Award. Fiechter was formerly head of a famous Swiss watch company and lives outside Geneva.

It will be interesting to see how much of the book is based on the known historical facts about the missing artifact.

Lost Sarcophagus: Search Update

Visitors may be interested in an update on proposals to search for and recover the sarcophagus of the pharaoh Menkaure which vanished when the ship transporting it to the British Museum sank in a storm in the autumn of 1838, probably off the coast of Spain near the port of Cartagena (see The Lost Sarcophagus, Ancient Egypt magazine December 2008/January 2009).

The summer of 2008 saw a rash of press speculation that the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities was trying to raise funds to search for the sarcophagus. The names of undersea explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, and French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio, had been tentatively linked to the project.

However, such a search has already been carried out. In 2007 and 2008, the US-based oceanographic exploration, education and archaeological organisation The Aurora Trust, in association with the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia Maritima y Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Arqueologicas Submarinas (National Centre for Underwater Archaeology of Spain and the National Museum for Underwater Archaeology), carried out large scale archaeological surveys of the seabed off Cartagena harbour.

Although not specifically intended as a search for the sarcophagus, the surveys aimed to find and map what the Trust describes as “targets and anomalies” and create “an archive of cultural assets present on the seafloor.”

Sadly, the Aurora Trust’s Director of Archaeology, Timmy Gambin, confirms the surveys have failed to find any evidence of the Beatrice, although he adds that it was “possibly outside our survey area”.

However, the 2,200-year-old wreck of a Roman vessel was discovered outside the harbour, complete with thousands of amphora of wine, still carefully packed in the hold of the ship (see photograph).

The Aurora Trust, a not-for-profit oceanographic exploration, education and archaeological organisation, has its logistics base in Malta. The Trust has undertaken a number of projects throughout the Mediterranean over the last five years, working with government agencies, academic institutions and fellow non-profit organisations.

For the Trust, Saab Seaeye's highly successful Falcon ROV (remotely operated vehicle) has proved a vital tool in their ocean exploration work.

Pictures: Couresty of Saab Seaeye Ltd

The search for an Egyptian Pharaoh off Cartagena
Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard called to find lost sarcophagus
Egypt, Spain to use underwater robot to search for ancient Egyptian king sarcophagus
Cleopatra's Alexandria
Topography and Excavation of Heracleion-Thonis and East Canopus (1996-2006): Underwater Archaeology in the Canopic region in Egypt (OCMA Monograph)
Weisses Gold: Versunken, entdeckt, geborgen (German Edition)Lost Temple to the Gods
Griffin: On the Route of an Indiaman
Royal Captain: A Ship Lost in the Abyss
The Lost Ships of Robert Ballard: An Unforgettable Underwater Tour by the World's Leading Deep-Sea Explorer
Titanic Revealed

Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure

Having further thoughts about the Lost Sarcophagus of Menkaure. Just where is it? What are the chances of recovering from it's watery resting place.

I came across a piece of internet chitter chatter the other day which stated that the sarcophagus was unloaded in Cyprus. No evidence was given to back this up and I suspect it is untrue. Also saw post that said divers had recovered the bell from the wreck of the Beatrice which had been carrying the sarcophagus back to England. Again, I think this is wrong.

My favoured spot for the wreck of the Beatrice is off Cartagena, Spain. I do know that a partial seabed survey was carried out last year outside the harbour and (they say) nothing was found. This search was not specifically to find the Beatrice but I am pretty sure finding the wreck was on the unwritten agenda.

Actually, I must see what the latest is on the supposed National Geographic funded search for the sarcophagus.

If you come across any references to the sarcophagus, please contact me through Egyptology News Network.

For the story so far, see  The Lost Sarcophagus, Ancient Egypt magazine. December/January 2009.