Giovanni Anastasi

Who was Giovanni Anastasi?

Giovanni Anastasi was born to an Armenian family from Damascus. He established himself as a wealthy merchant and antiquarian. Anastasi served as a Swedish-Norwegian Consul-General from 1828 until his death. He sold large collections of antiques to the Dutch government in 1828, now in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, including the Ipuwer Papyrus, to the British Museum in 1839 and to the French in 1857. In 1839, the British Museum acquired from Anastasi's collection ostracon of Sinuhe.