Max Mallowan

 

It is only fair now that we've covered the late, great Ms Christie, that we also look to her beloved husband who is buried with her as he of course was a Sir in his own right.

Max was an archaeologist and a successful one at that and that is how he went on to meet his wife as she was present during an excavation he was on. He was born in London on this day back in 1904 to an Austrian father and a French mother. He excelled in his school life, attending the University of Oxford and gaining Fourth-class and Third-class honours before becoming an apprentice to Leonard Woolley.

He worked under Woolley at Ur between 1925 and 1930 which at the time was thought to be the capital of Mesopotamia. It was during his final year here that he met Ms Christie and they must have hit it off as they married the same year despite the age difference in her favour. We remember covering this during her post and how she was reluctant to marry him because of this but they remained together for the rest of her life, although the speedy marriage to his second wife who was also his secretary does make us wonder if perhaps history repeated itself in terms of Christie's luck with husbands, or in fact he was simply lonely.

In 1932 the Mallowans briefly moved on to Nineveh with Reginald Campbell Thompson. It is recorded that during this dig Mallowan made a 21 meter deep shaft down to the natural level in the Kuyunjig tell which impressed quite a few people as he then went on to become field director for several expeditions for the British Museum and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq. During this time he excavated the prehistoric village at Tell Arpachiyah, the sites of Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak and the Upper Khabur which is now Syria. He is recorded as the first to excavate sites in the valley of the river Balikh and was eleccted Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1933. All the while his wife was taking these experiences in her stride and gathering knowledge for her famed books which becomes increasingly apparent as she travelled the world and the influences are clear for all to see.

Unfortunately, WWII soon came and although we know Agatha took war service in her stride, we didn't realise her second husband did too. Max had to put a stop to his expeditions to serve with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in North Africa. On the 11th of February 1941 he was under probation as a Pilot Officer in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch and was promoted to Flying Officer on the 18th of August of the same year. He was based at the ancient city of Sabratha in Libya for some of 1943 and was also promoted to Flight Lieutenant and then Wing Commander in the same year. He then moved onto the RAF and was a Liaison Officer with the allied forces and then progressed during the war to Civilian Affairs Officer in North Africa. He resigned on the 10th of February 1954 but was allowed to retain his rank of Wing Commander.

In 1947 he became Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology at the University of London, during this time until 1961 he also served as Director of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq and was responsible for resuming their work at Nimrud. He then published Nimrud and its Remains in 2 volumes in 1966, but this wasn't the first or the last account of his time there that was published as both he and his wife wrote of it in other books. Between these years he gained some other professional honours, 1954 brought the election as a Fellow of the British Academy, 1962-1963 brought a vice-presidency of the British Academy, and then in 1962 after leaving the University of London he became a fellow of All Souls College in Oxford. He was knighted for his services to archaeology in 1968 which is how he and his wife gained their titles. Agatha was Lady Mallowan from this point onward, of course still using her professional name for her books.

He lost Agatha in 1976 and a year later he married Barbara Hastings Parker who remained his wife until his death on the 19th of August 1978. She was Secretary of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq and his Epigraphist at Nimrud so suspicion stands if they were ever closer than it seemed during his marriage to Agatha, or if he was lonely and so married someone he was comfortable with, or even if he just wished for a nurse as it was clear he was near the end of his life. He died at Greenway House, his first wife's beloved vacation home in Devon and was buried with her. 

We looked into this actually as it unsettled Ren greatly at the fact yet another husband may have betrayed Agatha, but we've found out that our loneliness theory was correct. Max was very lonely toward the end of his life and obviously upset at losing his first wife which may contribute to why he did not last much longer after her and arrangements were made for him to be with her in death. It seems his marriage to Barbara was actually a marriage of practicality. She had been severely underpaid in what was often seen as a 'man's world' of excavation and by marrying her she received the title of Lady Mallowan and financial security, although none of Ms Christie's property or wealth as this went to her daughter. He was no longer lonely and the relationship was comfortable as it was a professional one. This puts our mind at rest somewhat and we conclude that Max was a good man, an interesting man, and we are pleased he came into Agatha's life as he made her happy and their life together inspired so much of her work.