Nathaniel Davison (about 1736 – February 23, 1809) was an English diplomat and writer who wrote about Egyptian archaeology. He found a room in the Great Pyramid, which is now called "Davison's Chamber" or "first relieving chamber."

Life

He was the fourth son of George Davison, who lived in Little Mill, Longhoughton, Northumberland. His sister Jane was the mother of John Yelloly, a physician. He served as the British consul in Nice, holding special rights as a consul beginning in September 1769. Later, he worked in Algiers from 1778 until 1783. He had hoped to work in Naples and asked Thomas Percy to use the influence of the Duke of Northumberland to help him. In 1786, he received a government pension.

Davison rented a house in Twickenham, where his son Nicholas Francis was born, from Daniel Twining, a merchant and father of Thomas Twining. He died in Alnwick on February 23, 1809, at age 72 or 73, and was buried in Longhoughton. Sir Henry Taylor, who grew up in County Durham and whose father was friends with Davison, remembered that Davison wore a pigtail, a style that few of his generation still used. He sold the home farm at Little Mill to Lord Grey.

Travel writings

In 1763, Davison traveled to Egypt with Wortley Montagu, whom he met through Thomas Becket, a London bookseller. As Montagu's secretary, Davison recorded their travels for the Royal Society. Montagu and Davison left Livorno in April 1763, heading to Alexandria. Montagu visited Rosetta in the spring of 1764. Davison spent 18 months in Alexandria, then another 18 months in Cairo, and also visited the pyramids.

In 1765, Davison explored the Great Pyramid after hearing an echo in the Grand Gallery. He crawled through a narrow passage filled with bat dung for 24 feet and discovered a space above the King's Chamber. Later, in a 1779 letter to Joseph White, Davison guessed about the purpose of the chamber he found. His ideas were similar to those later written by Richard William Howard Vyse.

An engraving based on Davison's drawing of the Great Pyramid's interior was included in the second volume (1807) of Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt by Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt. The book was published with the help of Louis Joseph d'Albert d'Ailly, the Duc de Chaulnes. However, Davison claimed the Duc obtained his drawings, including others, without permission.

In 1817, Robert Walpole published parts of Davison's journals in his book Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey. These excerpts described the chamber, the vertical shaft in the Great Pyramid, and the catacombs in Alexandria.

Family

Davison married Margaret Thornton on July 9, 1787, in London. Their son, Nicholas Francis, became a physician. Their third daughter, Margaret, married Edward John Howman in 1822. The fourth daughter, Eleanor, married Adam Atkinson of Lorbottle.

Davison also helped raise his nephew, John Yelloly, after John's father passed away.