Most people picture T.E. Lawrence as the dashing leader dressed in white and gold Arab robes famously portrayed by Peter O’Toole in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. Riding a camel and fighting like a Bedouin tribesman, T.E. Lawrence played a leading role as a British adviser to Prince Feisal during the Arab revolt against Turkish rule  and was clearly torn between his pro-British and pro-Arab sympathies. Much of Lawrence’s story is fairly well known, but despite all this publicity, it is sometimes forgotten that Thomas Edward Lawrence  was a very competent Middle Eastern archaeologist before the war and that his archaeological activities and Biblical interests helped shape him for the military and political role he later played. This talk is largely concerned with the back story to this incredibly complex personality.