5 Things Robert Pattinson Needs to Know About Lawrence of Arabia

4. He Was An Archaeologist First and Foremost

Lawrence later went on to work for British intelligence during the war, a role which some say was less of a choice on his part than a lack of height! But he was, first and foremost, an archaeologist. (Again, remind you of someone, dear Reader?) In the lead up to the war he was a just young archaeologist being paid a half-wage on retainer in case any real digging came up. Which it did! He and a fellow mudder were asked to complete an €˜archaeological survey of Sinai€™ aka €˜Military Survey of Sinai.€™ Whether he actually knew he was surveying the region for railways to aid a future war effort, we€™ll never know. What is evident, however, is that he€™d been fascinated by history and archaeology since he was a boy and, even though he never went back to archaeology after the war, it€™s unlikely that he was planning a life of subversive espionage from the age of 15. Though we wouldn€™t put that past him! He€™d proven that he could rough it as good as any squaddie during his undergraduate degree and this translated well into what would later prove invaluable knowledge of the area and a deep appreciation of the Arabic culture, without which he would never have been as successful a regime toppler as he managed to be! If Rpattz is going to do a quantum of justice to Lawrence then this rugged, intellectualism and cultural sensitivity has to be part of his repertoire.