Archaeology In Iraq Research Articles

Apotropaic Figurines from Nimrud (Calah) in the Australian Institute of Archaeology Collection

There are two clay figurines in the Australian Institute of Archaeology’s collection, which were excavated by the British School of Archaeology in Iraq in the 1953 season at Nimrud (ancient Calah/Kalḫu). The figurines were discovered in the foundations of the Burnt Palace and date approximately to the reign of Adad-nīrārī III (810–783 BCE). Their function was a part of an apotropaic ritual to protect places of residence from evil spirits and enemies. This paper aims to bring to light these figurines in the Institute’s collection by offering a descriptive catalogue and an explanation of their use in Assyrian magic for the journal’s readership.

'The Sting' at Adab: Edgar James Banks and Early American Archaeology in Iraq

This article examines the specifically American cultural features of the archaeological expedition to Adab/Bismya sponsored by the University of Chicago from 1903 to 1906. In particular, the motivations of the University and of the University's field director at Adab, Edgar James Banks, and Banks's relationship with the University, are investigated. These factors crucially influenced what Banks found at Adab, a site we are unlikely to learn more about because of its near destruction by illegal digging after the 2003 War.

Assyrian Nimrud and the Phoenicians

The first ivories at the Assyrian imperial capital of Kalhu/Nimrud in northern Iraq were found by Henry Layard in the mid-19th century. Max Mallowan and David Oates (both professors at the Institute of Archaeology), together with the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, worked there from 1949–1963 and found literally thousands more, both in the palaces of the acropolis and in a large outlying building known as Fort Shalmaneser. During the last 50 years the majority has been published in the Ivories from Nimrud series, so that it is now possible to look at this remarkable corpus as a whole. It immediately becomes evident that most were not made in Assyria, but imported from the states conquered by the Assyrian kings in the early 1st millennium BC. Many show a debt to the art of Egypt and can be assigned to the ‘Phoenician tradition’, thus recording the otherwise little-known art of the Phoenicians, long famed as master craftsmen. ‘Syrian-Intermediate’ ivories are versions of Phoenician ivories and may represent the art of the recently-arrived Aramaean kingdoms, while the very different ‘North Syrian’ ivories derive from earlier Hittite traditions.

The Published Ivories from Fort Shalmaneser, Nimrud: A Scanned Archive of Photographs. By Georgina Herrmann, Helena Coffey, and Stuart Laidlaw. London: Institute of Archaeology, University College and British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2004. Pp. 183 + 1 CD. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., P.O. Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewThe Published Ivories from Fort Shalmaneser, Nimrud: A Scanned Archive of Photographs. By Georgina Herrmann, Helena Coffey, and Stuart Laidlaw. London: Institute of Archaeology, University College and British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2004. Pp. 183 + 1 CD. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., P.O. Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779].Davide NadaliDavide NadaliUniversità di Roma “La Sapienza.” Search for more articles by this author Università di Roma “La Sapienza.”PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 69, Number 2October 2010 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/658949 Views: 8Total views on this site © 2010 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Nineveh: Papers of the XLIXeRencontre Assyriologique Internationale, London, 7–11 July 2003 Vols. 1 and 2.. Edited by Dominique Collon and Andrew George. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2005. Vol. 1, pp. xiv + 264 + figs.; vol. 2, pp. 265– 427 + figs. $140 (both vols.). [Distributed in North America by the David Brown Book Co., POB 511,

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewNineveh: Papers of the XLIXe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, London, 7–11 July 2003 Vols. 1 and 2.. Edited by Dominique Collon and Andrew George. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2005. Vol. 1, pp. xiv + 264 + figs.; vol. 2, pp. 265– 427 + figs. $140 (both vols.). [Distributed in North America by the David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779].Piotr MichalowskiPiotr MichalowskiUniversity of Michigan Search for more articles by this author University of MichiganPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 68, Number 2April 2009 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/604676 Views: 5Total views on this site * Permission to reprint a book review in this section may be obtained only from the author.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Archaeological Heritage of Iraq in Historical Perspective

Ongoing interest in the fate and state of the archaeological and historical heritage of Iraq is vividly attested by a spate of publications that shows no sign of drying up (the literature since 2003 is too vast even to summarise here. For this year alone see the following major studies: Emberling and Hanson, 2008; Rothfield, 2008; Stone and Bajjaly, 2008). What more could there be to say on this subject? In this article, written by a recent Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of the Government of Iraq and the Chairman of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, we examine the development of the discipline of archaeology in Iraq from its origins to the present day. We assess the current state of damage and survival of sites and monuments in Iraq, and we attempt to situate the current condition of archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq in a long-term perspective.

Excavations at Tell Brak 2006–2007

Excavations at Tell Brak in 2006–7 explored two key episodes in Mesopotamian political and social history, developing early social complexity in the fifth to fourth millennia BC and the shift from territorial state to early empire in the second millennium BC. Late Chalcolithic complexity is represented in Area TW on the main mound and at the outlying sub-mound of Tell Majnuna, while investigation of the Old Babylonian to Mitanni state-to-empire transition involved excavation in Areas HH and HN (Fig. 1). Both sets of excavations tie into our exploration of larger issues of the creation and maturation of past urban landscapes, for which Tell Brak provides a great depth of data.We would like once again to express our warmest gratitude to Dr Bassam Jamous, Director General of Antiquities and Museums, to Dr Michel Al-Maqdissi, Director of Excavations, to all their staff in Damascus, and to Sd Abdul Messih Baghdo, Director of the Antiquities Office in Hasseke, for their constant and friendly support. Financial support for the excavations was generously provided by the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration (2006), the Society of Antiquaries of London (2007), Newnham College, Cambridge and the University of Cambridge. We are extremely grateful to all those who have made this research possible.

Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994–1996. Edited by Roger Matthews. Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 4. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq and Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2003. Pp. xviii + 446 + 331 figs. $135.

<i>Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994–1996</i>. Edited by Roger Matthews. Excavations at Tell Brak, vol. 4. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq and Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 2003. Pp. xviii + 446 + 331 figs. $135.

Artefacts of Complexity: Tracking the Uruk in the Near East. Edited by J. N. Postgate. Iraq Archaeological Reports 5. Warminster, England: Aris &amp; Phillips for the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2002. Pp. vi + 258 + 52 figs. $99. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

<i>Artefacts of Complexity: Tracking the Uruk in the Near East</i>. Edited by J. N. Postgate. Iraq Archaeological Reports 5. Warminster, England: Aris &amp; Phillips for the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2002. Pp. vi + 258 + 52 figs. $99. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

The Nimrud Letters, 1952. Edited by Henry W. F. Saggs. Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud, vol. 5. [London]: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2001. Pp. 327 + 62 pls. $70. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

<i>The Nimrud Letters, 1952</i>. Edited by Henry W. F. Saggs. Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud, vol. 5. [London]: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2001. Pp. 327 + 62 pls. $70. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

Comment on "Present and Future of the British Schools, Institutes and Societies Abroad"

What we write is always coloured by personal experience – an unimaginably dull world would otherwise result. Prior to joining the Institute of Archaeology, UCL (IoA), in 2001, I had spent my entire professional archaeological career, since 1986, as a fulltime employee of two of the bodies here the subject of discussion, directing the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (BSAI) from 1988 to 1996 and the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (BIAA) from 1995 to 2001. My default view of the British institutions abroad is that they are immensely valuable and productive organisations that provide a rich array of services and facilities to the British and international academic communities while at the same time conducting first-rate research in the field, in libraries and in museums, as neatly summarised here in Bill Finlayson’s thorough overview. Perhaps above all, they provide an intellectual focus for British and other scholars to interact at a range of levels with the academic communities of their host countries, and thus to generate, facilitate and execute truly international and trans-disciplinary projects that have a major impact in the world of archaeology and beyond. In what, according to our daily media, appears to be an increasingly polarised world, the role of the British institutions abroad in nurturing academic relations between British and hostcountry scholars, even or especially in circumstances where a physical presence in that host country is not currently possible (e.g. Iraq), is of incalculable value.

Excavations at Tell Brak. Vol. 2. Nagar in the Third Millennium BC. By David Oates, Joan Oates, and Helen McDonald. McDonald Institute Monographs. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2001. Pp. xxiii + 643. $150. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

<i>Excavations at Tell Brak. Vol. 2. Nagar in the Third Millennium BC</i>. By David Oates, Joan Oates, and Helen McDonald. McDonald Institute Monographs. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2001. Pp. xxiii + 643. $150. [Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co., POB 511, Oakville, CT 06779.

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq

The heritage of Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia, has suffered devastating blows in recent months, and continues to suffer at a truly grievous level. The looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad and of other regional museums, as well as ongoing illicit digging at archaeological sites, particularly in the south of the country, are steadily depleting a rich and varied heritage resource that can be matched in value and historical significance by few countries in the world. Through extensive coverage in press and web-site media (e.g. Brodie 2003; Fisk 2003), these events are known to all and are almost universally condemned as appalling, the more so when viewed as probably avoidable. In this paper I do not propose to cover once more the ground of what happened in Iraq during those few days in April 2003 when the Iraq Museum fell prey to wreckers and looters as the regime of Saddam Hussein collapsed. Much ink has been spilt on this subject and there is little more to add unless and until fresh evidence appears (for a recent summary see Lawler 2003). Nor do I wish to consider in detail ways in which scholars and interested parties of the world might assist our Iraqi colleagues in the long and arduous task of repairing damage done to buildings, sites and artefacts caught in the crossfire of war. There are many better qualified than I to tackle that subject, and they are already bending their skills and energies to that end in difficult and dangerous circumstances. What I wish to discuss here is the broader and longer-term question of how the archaeology of Iraq, as a practice and as an academic discipline, might develop in the years ahead. The archaeology of Iraq, once one of the most thriving and vibrant regional archaeologies of the world, is perforce in disarray, and it is little exaggeration to say that the discipline must start again from Year Zero. Here I argue that while participating in the universal mourning for the terrible losses and setbacks suffered by the heritage of Iraq, we should at the same time strive to take advantage of a unique opportunity to start afresh in our academic engagement with the discipline of Mesopotamian archaeology. We are now at liberty to reformulate a discipline that has developed in a largely haphazard fashion over the past 150 years, principally in contexts of imperial exploitation, colonial administration, and more recently, post-colonial angst (Bahrani 1998; Matthews 2003). We are free, should we wish, to turn our backs on that past, while perhaps appreciating its achievements, and to construct a new framework for the future. What then might be a manifesto for a new archaeology in Mesopotamia? It is likely to be some time before foreign archaeologists return en masse to work in Iraq. Following a long period of disciplinary development, particularly in the period between 1950 and 1990, the years following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: Some Additional Comments

Roger Matthews has raised a number of fundamental issues, and I would like to augment one or two of the points he has made before going on to look in more detail at the future of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (BSAI). A new start is desperately needed in Iraq: such a start needs, among many other things, to include a massive training programme for existing staff in the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage. International sanctions have prevented Iraqis from attending any form of training or education outside their own country. Their access to new technology, especially computer-based technology has been virtually nil. When the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage is up and running again and has had the time to decide on its priorities, it is very much to be hoped that the international community will facilitate further training in a wide variety of areas. These will probably include conservation, computer studies, new surveying and GIS techniques, and a raft of museum and heritage studies. Some plans are already in place, but practical difficulties – in getting travel documents for example – and in acquiring basic foreign languages, mean that no training has yet taken place. When the security situation improves it may prove more cost-effective for people to travel to Baghdad to provide introductory courses there, and the BSAI would hope to be involved in any such programme.

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Response to Matthews

The thought-provoking paper by Roger Matthews addresses issues that by far surpass the boundaries of Iraq, but the ongoing destruction of the cultural heritage of that country is indeed a good occasion to reappraise the attitudes of archaeologists working in the developing world toward their host countries. Matthews addresses important aspects of the ethics of archaeology, a topic that is often ignored and where scholarly practice shows remarkable callousness. It is hard to disagree with any of the comments made in this paper, and I will try here to nuance them somewhat and place them in the perspective of someone who is not an archaeologist but an historian of ancient Iraq.

Write Once, Run Everywhere: How the Right Technology Might Get Funded – A Response to Matthews

As I read Matthews’ paper, Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq, I kept asking myself two questions: How can technology help stimulate greater appreciation for and study of Iraq’s cultural heritage, improve communication between archaeologists and the local communities surrounding field projects, publish and publicise new findings more quickly, build a library of works translated into Arabic, and give new relevance to the Islamic era of Iraq? And who is most likely to fund it?

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Reply

I am extremely grateful to my colleagues for producing these stimulating comments and ideas in reply to my paper. It is encouraging to see that there is general agreement on the thrust of my arguments, in particular as regards the need for integrated joint research programmes, for improved education at the local and global scales, for significant improvements in publication strategies and for an appreciation and incorporation of Iraqi views of the past into constructed historical trajectories. I now take each respondent in turn.

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Response to Matthews

The term ‘Year Zero’ could equally apply to Iraqi archaeology in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Prior to then, Iraqi archaeologists, most of whom were graduates of Baghdad University, excavated numerous sites and were in contact with western archaeologists; many continued their studies in Europe and the United States. However, during the Iraq/Iran war (1980-1988), western expeditions were few, the political regime did not encourage contact with foreigners and the purchase of books was discouraged. Contact with international academics came nearly to an abrupt end in 1991, and almost no new publications reached the Iraq Museum Library after the first Gulf War and the imposition of sanctions.

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Reply

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Reply

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Response to Matthews

Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: A Response to Matthews