T. E. Lawrence to his family

Carchemish

 October 8, 1912

You will not (I hope) have expected a letter from me these first days of the dig. What with accounts to make out, men to see, visitors, disputes, and a mosaic pavement in addition to the ordinary work of excavation, I have had little time to compose anything worth writing. And even this is the first copy, which I must send you for lack of time to revise.

We got to Carchemish on Friday, and the men lit a huge bonfire on the top of the citadel, and fired about 300 shots that evening in our honour. It was the biggest noise ever heard in Jerablus since the defeat of Pharaoh Necho by Nebuchadnezzar in 614, and was seen and heard from Biredjik and Tell Ahmar, and inland for nearly eighteen miles: The Germans were rather upset about it, since the Arabs tried to shoot one of them about a fortnight ago, and a Basje sheikh of 4,000 Kurds had two days before offered to the government in Biredjik to wipe out the railway settlement. He stipulated that the English excavators should be left undisturbed!

The Kala'at was glorious in the blaze and the Euphrates became a twisting river of liquid gold. We wanted 200 men this year and have written every other man who came to us. The railway works (which were before undermanned) are now suspended, while the chief engineer wires to Aleppo for labourers. The man in charge of the Bridge works had assured me of the utter impossibility of our finding more than 50 local men (and those the wasters): I told him we would have 300 men the day we came: and at the bonfire that night Woolley gave away 11 boxes of 25 cigarettes each: one to each man. I told you of my row with the chief engineer when he began to take away the walls of the Kala'at. Well, to return that compliment we took all his workmen, down to his grooms, his night-watchers and his carriage drivers and masons. Then we sent back those we found unsuitable. He was rather crushed. The weather is cool in the evenings, and over-hot at midday: and we have so many men, and so many calls, that we have no time to enjoy it. However the cheeriness and good spirits of the men are incomparable. It was amusing today, when time went at the end of work, to see the two gangs of 100 racing across the rocky ground to see which should be first to lay down his tools in store.

I have got your parcels from Woolley, excellently preserved. The quinine only overstocks an overloaded market - but the studs and stocks are precious. I have bought a little carpet (3 feet by 2) which is lovely: and Woolley has its fellow: we saw them by accident in Aleppo.

L.