Antonio Lebolo | |
|---|---|
 Lebolo (the first standing from the left) with Drovetti (standing, center) in Egypt in 1819 | |
| Born | Castellamonte, Italy |
| Died | unknown, or(1830-02-19)19 February 1830 Castellamonte, or Trieste, Italy |
| Occupation(s) | Excavator, adventurer |
| Known for | Joseph Smith Papyri |
Antonio Lebolo (died 19 February 1830?) was anItalian antiquities excavator and adventurer, best remembered for having stolen theJoseph Smith Papyri, a collection of documents he took from a burial site in Egypt.
Born inCastellamonte in the kingdom ofPiedmont-Sardinia, Lebolo became agendarme during theNapoleonic occupation of Italy; after theRestauration he fled toEgypt where he became an agent ofBernardino Drovetti, who was the FrenchConsul-General of Egypt as well as an ardent antiquities collector.[1]Lebolo oversaw many excavations mainly in the zone ofLuxor, usually on behalf of Drovetti and sometimes for himself. He apparently was as ruthless as his boss Drovetti, asGiovanni Battista Belzoni reported during one of his excavations atKarnak in 1818 and later: along with another Piedmontese agent named Rosignani, Lebolo harassed and maybe even tried to murder Belzoni, and later managed to steal some of his finds excavated atPhilae.[2]
Between 1817 and 1821[1] Lebolo found amummy cache in ashaft tomb atSheikh Abd el-Qurna. The finest mummies were given to Drovetti and are now in theEgyptian Museum of Berlin (no. 504, 505), others were sold toHeinrich Menu von Minutoli,Giovanni Anastasi,Frédéric Cailliaud andHenry Salt; Salt placed the objects he bought in theBritish Museum (no. 6705, 6706, 6708 and likely 6950). Lebolo kept the remaining mummies for himself.[2]
Lebolo died some years after these events, possibly on February 19, 1830 in Castellamonte[1] or in an unknown date inTrieste.[2]
A few years later, a man named Michael H. Chandler claimed to be Lebolo's nephew and demanded Lebolo's goods in inheritance. In 1833 he obtained the inheritance and took the mummies and some accompanying papyri to theUnited States, selling them during his travels. In 1835, Chandler metJoseph Smith, the founder ofMormonism, and some of his affiliates.[1] Since Smith claimed to be able to translateEgyptian hieroglyphs, Chandler showed him the papyri. Smith purchased the mummies and papyri, and interpreted some of the writings and scenes as some life events of the two patriarchsAbraham andJoseph. The papyri were soon called theJoseph Smith Papyri and formed the core of Smith'sBook of Abraham.[1]
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