A contemporary and colleague of John Gardner Wilkinson, Prisse d'Avennes was a remarkable man: "d’Avennes had a mission. He wanted to save the stones of Karnak from being used to build the Pasha’s saltpeter factory. His determination provoked several violent incidents. He was beaten, stabbed and jailed, but still would not give up. One of his young assistants, George Lloyd de Beynestyn, having been assailed by a fellah, used the butt of his gun in self-defense, but accidentally shot himself instead." See this article for more - it is a great story about an early attempt to conserve the archaeology of Egypt.
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