Of goats, monuments and men: George Jeffery and the early management of Waqf-owned medieval monuments in British Cyprus

Basri, Pertev

Abstract

Despite spending his early life as a domestic and ecclesiastical architect, George Jeffery (1855–1935) is most famous for his impressively long tenure as the first Curator of Ancient Monuments in Cyprus. Chiefly interested in medieval architecture, from the beginning of his tenure as Curator, Jeffery found himself having to negotiate with Evkaf, the central administration of Islamic pious foundations (waqfs), which had come to possess the majority of the island’s medieval buildings following the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1570–1571. An investigation of the Evkaf Archives, which only recently have begun to be opened to researchers, has revealed new information on Jeffery’s early activities on the island. For instance, certain Evkaf documents show that one of Jeffery’s first conservation projects concerning the ruined churches in Famagusta faced bureaucratic problems owing to their status as waqf properties. Another file has led to the rediscovery of a now demolished Lusignan ruin within the walled city of Nicosia which, according to contemporary sources, was the last survivor of its kind featuring the arms of the Lusignan kings of Cyprus in the capital. The conservation of this monument became the subject of a dispute between Jeffery and Major Tankerville Chamberlayne, a fellow colonial official and antiquarian. Whilst Chamberlayne believed that the building should be restored, Jeffery argued that the best way to ensure the survival of its archaeologically significant elements was through their removal to his medieval stone collection. The ruin was ultimately stripped of its noteworthy features and demolished, thus becoming yet another small case study on the bureaucratic and personality-driven complexities of conservation practices in Cyprus during the British colonial period

Citation

Basri, P. (in press). Of goats, monuments and men: George Jeffery and the early management of Waqf-owned medieval monuments in British Cyprus. In L. Crewe, A. Reeve, & T. Kiely (Eds.), Empire and excavation. Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878–1960 (183-199). Sidestone Press Academics. https://doi.org/10.59641/h6k2e3f4g5

• Deposit Date: Dec 12, 2024
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 183-199
• Book Title: Empire and excavation. Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878–1960
• Chapter Number: 10
• ISBN: 9789464271140
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.59641/h6k2e3f4g5
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3214998
• Publisher URL: https://www.sidestone.com/books/empire-and-excavation