Salt, Henry

(1780–1827)

   British artist and diplomat. He was born in Lichfield, England, on 14 June 1780 and trained as an artist. He accompanied George Annesley, viscount valentia, as his secretary on a tour of the East, including Egypt, Ethiopia, and India from 1802–1806. He was sent on a mission to Ethiopia from 1809–1811. In 1815, he was appointed British consul general in Egypt, arriving there in 1816. Salt showed great interest in Egyptian antiquities and employed Giovanni Battista Belzoniand other agents to form a collection while the French consul, Bernardino Drovetti, was doing likewise. Salt also helped direct excavations at Giza and Thebes. He sold his first collection to the British Museum in 1823 after some haggling, apart from the sarcophagus of Sety I, which went to Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. His second collection went to the Louvre Museum in 1826, and his third was sold at auction in 1835. He died at Desuke near Alexandria on 30 October 1827.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier