Wallis Budge's Midnight Heist: How the Book of the Dead Reached the British Museum
In the late 1800s, E.A. Wallis Budge, a curator at the British Museum, obtained the 78-foot-long Papyrus of Ani, a variant of the Book of the Dead, through a combination of archaeological expertise, bribery, and a clandestine tunnel operation. This artifact, created around 1250 BC for the scribe Ani, was rediscovered in Luxor in 1888 by illicit traders. Budge falsely claimed to have discovered it in Ani's tomb and kept it in a dealer's safehouse. Following an order from French Director Eugène Grébaut to confiscate Budge's artifacts, he was arrested but later released. He then executed a plan to tunnel into the storehouse, smuggling the scroll to Cairo, where he cut it into 37 sections for display. The Papyrus of Ani is currently housed in the British Museum. Born in 1857, Budge was knighted in 1920 and passed away in 1934. His tactics faced criticism, with anthropologist Brian M. Fagan describing him as a prominent illegal looter.
Key facts
- E.A. Wallis Budge was an Egyptologist and curator at the British Museum.
- The Papyrus of Ani is a version of the Book of the Dead, written around 1250 BC.
- The papyrus measures 78 feet (24 meters) and contains hieroglyphics and illustrations.
- It was rediscovered in Luxor in 1888 by illegal antiquities traders.
- Budge claimed to have entered the tomb of Ani and his wife Tutu to find the scroll.
- French official Eugène Grébaut attempted to seize the artifacts for the Cairo Museum.
- Budge orchestrated a midnight tunnel heist to recover the artifacts from a seized storehouse.
- The scroll was smuggled out of Egypt in the baggage of an officer friend.
- Budge cut the scroll into 37 pieces for storage and display.
- The Papyrus of Ani remains in the British Museum today.
- Budge was knighted in 1920 and died in 1934.
- Anthropologist Brian M. Fagan called Budge 'one of the major illegal looters of antiquities.'
Entities
Artists
- E.A. Wallis Budge
- Ani
- Tutu
- Eugène Grébaut
- Brian M. Fagan
Institutions
- British Museum
- Cairo Museum
- Fitzwilliam Museum
Locations
- Luxor
- Egypt
- Cairo
- London
- Baghdad
- Iraq
- England
- Upper Egypt
- Nile