Charles Tilstone Beke
Encyclopedia
Charles Tilstone Beke was an English
traveller, geographer
and Biblical critic. Born in Stepney
, London
, the son of a merchant in the City of London
, for a few years Beke engaged in mercantile pursuits. He later studied law at Lincoln's Inn
, and for a time practised at the Bar
, but finally devoted himself to the study of historical, geographical and ethnographical subjects.
The first fruits of Beke's researches appeared in his work Origines Biblicae or Researches in Primeval History, published in 1834. An attempt to reconstruct the early history of the human race from geological
data, it raised a storm of opposition on the part of defenders of the traditional readings of the Book of Genesis; but in recognition of the value of the work the University of Tübingen conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D.
.
Between 1837 and 1838, Beke held the post of acting British consul
in Saxony
. From that time until his death, his attention was largely given to geographical studies, chiefly of the Nile valley. Aided by private friends, he visited Ethiopia
in connection with the mission to Shewa
sent by the Indian government under the leadership of Major (afterwards Sir) William Cornwallis Harris
, and explored Gojjam
and more southern regions up to that time unknown to Europe
ans. Among other achievements, Beke was the first to determine, with any approach to scientific accuracy, the course of the Abay River (Blue Nile). The valuable results of this journey, which occupied him from 1840 to 1843, he gave to the world in a number of papers in scientific publications, chiefly in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
.
On his return to London, Beke re-engaged in commerce, but devoted all his leisure to geographical and kindred studies. In 1848 he planned an expedition from the mainland opposite Zanzibar
to discover the sources of the Nile
. A start was made, but the expedition accomplished little. Beke's belief that the White Nile was the main stream was, however, shown to be accurate by subsequent exploration.
In 1856, he endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to establish commercial relations with Ethiopia through Massawa
. In 1861-1862 he and his wife travelled in Syria
and Palestine
, and went to Egypt
with the object of promoting trade with Central Africa
and the growth of cotton
in the Sudan
. In 1865, he attempted to visit Ethiopia to negotiate from Emperor Tewodros
the release of the British captives. On learning that the captives had been released, Beke turned back, but Tewodros afterwards re-arrested the party. To the military expedition
sent to effect their release, Beke furnished much valuable information, and his various services to the government and to geographical research were acknowledged by the award of £500 in 1868 by the secretary for India, and by the grant of a civil list pension of £100 in 1870. In his 74th year he undertook a journey to Egypt for the purpose of determining the real position of Mount Sinai
. He conceived that it was on the eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba
, and his journey convinced him that his view was right. It has not, however, commended itself to general acceptance. Beke died in Bromley
, in Kent
.
, and for his contributions to the knowledge of Ethiopia received its gold medal, and also that of the French Société de Géographie
. But as a result of a controversy over the statements of a rival Ethiopian explorer, Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie
, Beke returned the French medal.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
traveller, geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and Biblical critic. Born in Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of a merchant in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, for a few years Beke engaged in mercantile pursuits. He later studied law at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, and for a time practised at the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
, but finally devoted himself to the study of historical, geographical and ethnographical subjects.
The first fruits of Beke's researches appeared in his work Origines Biblicae or Researches in Primeval History, published in 1834. An attempt to reconstruct the early history of the human race from geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
data, it raised a storm of opposition on the part of defenders of the traditional readings of the Book of Genesis; but in recognition of the value of the work the University of Tübingen conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
.
Between 1837 and 1838, Beke held the post of acting British consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. From that time until his death, his attention was largely given to geographical studies, chiefly of the Nile valley. Aided by private friends, he visited Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
in connection with the mission to Shewa
Shewa
Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...
sent by the Indian government under the leadership of Major (afterwards Sir) William Cornwallis Harris
William Cornwallis Harris
Major Sir William Cornwallis Harris was an English military engineer, artist and hunter.-Life and career:...
, and explored Gojjam
Gojjam
Gojjam was a kingdom in the north-western part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Marqos. This region is distinctive for lying entirely within the bend of the Abbay River from its outflow from Lake Tana to the Sudan...
and more southern regions up to that time unknown to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans. Among other achievements, Beke was the first to determine, with any approach to scientific accuracy, the course of the Abay River (Blue Nile). The valuable results of this journey, which occupied him from 1840 to 1843, he gave to the world in a number of papers in scientific publications, chiefly in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London
The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London was a scholarly geographic journal published by the Royal Geographical Society from 1831 to 1880....
.
On his return to London, Beke re-engaged in commerce, but devoted all his leisure to geographical and kindred studies. In 1848 he planned an expedition from the mainland opposite Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
to discover the sources of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
. A start was made, but the expedition accomplished little. Beke's belief that the White Nile was the main stream was, however, shown to be accurate by subsequent exploration.
In 1856, he endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to establish commercial relations with Ethiopia through Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
. In 1861-1862 he and his wife travelled in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, and went to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
with the object of promoting trade with Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
and the growth of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. In 1865, he attempted to visit Ethiopia to negotiate from Emperor Tewodros
Tewodros II of Ethiopia
Tewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....
the release of the British captives. On learning that the captives had been released, Beke turned back, but Tewodros afterwards re-arrested the party. To the military expedition
1868 Expedition to Abyssinia
The British 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia was a punitive expedition carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire...
sent to effect their release, Beke furnished much valuable information, and his various services to the government and to geographical research were acknowledged by the award of £500 in 1868 by the secretary for India, and by the grant of a civil list pension of £100 in 1870. In his 74th year he undertook a journey to Egypt for the purpose of determining the real position of Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
. He conceived that it was on the eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In pre twentieth-century and modern sources it is often named the Gulf of Eilat, as Eilat is its predominant Israeli city ....
, and his journey convinced him that his view was right. It has not, however, commended itself to general acceptance. Beke died in Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
Writings
Beke's writings are very numerous. Among the more important, besides those already named, are An Essay on the Nile and its Tributaries (1847), The Sources of the Nile (1860), and The British Captives in Abyssinia (1865). He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, and for his contributions to the knowledge of Ethiopia received its gold medal, and also that of the French Société de Géographie
Société de Géographie
The Société de Géographie , is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 . Since 1878, its headquarters has been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gigantic caryatids representing Land and Sea...
. But as a result of a controversy over the statements of a rival Ethiopian explorer, Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie
Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie
Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie d'Arrast was a French and Basque explorer, geographer, ethnologue, linguist and astronomer notable for his travels in Ethiopia during the first half of the 19th century...
, Beke returned the French medal.