Archaeology Magazine - Passport to Antiquity - Adventure in the Desert

Breasted's 1919 expedition took him, at times, into precarious situations

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Breasted and Arab tribe (Courtesy Oriental Institute)

While in Mesopotamia in 1920, Breasted and his team made an attempt to visit the remote site of Umma (an important Sumerian city) that could only be reached by a five-hour horseback ride across the desert. Here is his own account of the adventure.

The mounds of Yokha are of vast extent, the strong N wind was driving the sand into our eyes, and besides this it was too late to make our usual sketch plan of the extent of the ruins. Shelton had managed to hang pretty close to our flanks, and he soon came over to us. A moment later he plucked my sleeve and said, "Who are all these?" Looking where he pointed I saw a body of 30 or 40 Arab horsemen sweeping up the slope of the mound directly upon us. Crawford was 50 paces away and did not see them. I walked over to him and asked him to look round. His face never changed and with the utmost composure he asked our Arabs who these horsemen were. They replied they were the Bne Ghweinon. In a moment they halted, drawn up in an impressive line, like a platoon of cavalry on parade. The Bne Ghweinon had been recently bombed by British airmen; their sheikh and many of his followers had been outlawed, and there were the men before us, a hundred paces away. Crawford was splendid. He folded his arms and quietly contemplated the horsemen. We had 5 rifles and they had 30 or 40. We were completely at their mercy far out in the Arab wilderness. Crawford said afterward, "I thought we were surely done in." He is 26, but he has a wound in one leg not yet entirely healed, part of his right hand shot away, and a bullet through his stomach. Needless to say a volley from the outlaws would not have disturbed him! Four sheikhs dismounted from their horses, left them in the line, and came forward to us. The Sheikhs in our party introduced them and they all stepped forward and kissed Crawford's right shoulder, at the same time dropping from their heads their rope-like agalas arranged in coils over their head cloths. To let the agala fall thus to the shoulders is a token of complete submission. It was quite evident that this had all been arranged beforehand by the sheikhs who accompanied us. Crawford told Sheik Mizal he must come along with him to Kalat es-Sikkar and afterwards to headquarters at Nasariyeh to make his formal submission there and stand his trial for his misdeeds. Mizal was not expecting this and the palaver which followed was long and interesting as one sheik after another took up the word. Mizal did not assent but rode with us nevertheless to the tents of his tribe, a two hour's ride – eastward toward the river, the Arabs shouting, racing at wild speed, caracoling their horses in wide curves and brandishing their rifles.

Breasted and his colleagues arrived at the encampment of Sheik Mizal at about 4:30 and were at once taken to the madhif (guest tent) of the Sheik Mutlaq, Mizal's brother, where they had a banquet of roast sheep, mutton, chicken, rice, and "Arab" bread.

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Breasted at tribal feast (Courtesy Oriental Institute)

There was now a stir in the assembly and suddenly where the big tray had just stood, appeared two holy men (sayyids) accompanied by Sheikh Mizal. All three knelt before Crawford, and Mizal at once prostrated himself with his forehead to the ground and with words of contrition, begged forgiveness, while the two holy men also interceded on his behalf. An Arab is a very proud man, and it was an extraordinary sight to see a Sheikh thus humiliate himself before his whole tribe. Along the open side of the tent the tribesmen pressed anxiously forward, an array of expectant faces which quite surpassed description in the divergent features of the highly varied and picturesque types. Other Sheikhs also pleaded for Mizal, but Crawford was quite unyielding. The sheik must ride with him to K. es-S., and afterwards stand trial at Nazarieh. The scene went on thus for half an hour. This imperturbable young Englishman sitting here unarmed in the midst of a wild Arab tribe who outnumbered us 50 to one, and could have slaughtered us all in a few minutes, swayed them like a king. As he concluded the interview by rising and going out to his horse, the whole tribe surged about us, and all at once they opened a passage and five women passed rapidly up to us. They were Mizal's four wives and his mother, coming out to plead for him. I mounted my horse and rode out of the press to snap a photograph of the extraordinary scene. As I rode away I found Mizal's mother and one of the wives at my elbow wailing out appeals for the outlaw. We all rode off rapidly, Crawford looking back at intervals to see if Mizal was following. His people were evidently advising him not to go and we saw no more of him.

View Breasted's passport stamps

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