Sir Charles Marston

Abstract

SIR CHARLES MARSTON died at Bournemouth on May 21 at the age of seventy-nine. Sir Charles, who had for long been the head of extensive business interests connected especially with the motor industry, was a liberal supporter of archæological excavation in Egypt and the Middle East. He was also, himself, responsible for two important expeditions for archæological excavation in Palestine. Of these the first was Prof. John Garstang's excavation on the site of the ancient city of Jericho, which produced much new evidence on the activities of Egypt in Palestine in the days of Amenhotep III. His second expedition was directed to the exploration of the mound of Tell Duweir, identified as the site of the ancient city of Lachish. This expedition he organised and financed, in the first season with some assistance from America, and in its later stages with the co-operation of the late Sir Henry Wellcome. The excavation produced some remarkable results, throwing much new light on Hebrew history and culture from early times to the Assyrian and Babylonian incursions. The expedition was lavishly equipped for complete efficiency. Permanent camps and field laboratories were constructed with a view to the complete excavation of the mound, a task which it was anticipated would take many years. It was tragically interrupted. In January 1938, Mr. J. Starkey, the field-director, was assassinated by Arabs while on his way to Jerusalem, and shortly after the close of the season's operations the camp was wrecked and the equipment looted or destroyed, a total loss of many thousands of pounds.