Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq

4. MANDATED ARCHAEOLOGY: The Creation of the Museum and the Vibrant Archaeological Scene (1921–1932)

MANDATED ARCHAEOLOGY The Creation of the Museum and the Vibrant Archaeological Scene (1 921–1 932) 4 T he new political reality in Iraq was a boom for archaeologists. With sympathetic British administrators overseeing archaeological matters, the conditions were ripe for productive and fruitful research. During the years between 1921 and 1932 all major archaeological excavations were foreign, though antiquities were becoming more institutionalized on the Iraqi political and cultural landscape. A new, more scientific methodical emphasis characterized archaeology during the Mandate years. This novel approach resulted in several long-running archaeological projects. During these years, the American, British, and Germans all invested considerable time and energy in extensive missions. Bell was careful to allow only those who had considerable experience and institutional support behind them to engage in archaeological activities in Iraq.1 The new legislation and the general scientific ethos prevented or discouraged random scrambles for specific trophies. Nevertheless, a different sort of race, or competition, emerged among archaeologists. This competition centered around who could find the oldest artifacts from the oldest civilizations or who could discover new, theretofore unknown cultures. Therefore, most sites that were excavated in this period were Sumerian sites, considered to represent the oldest civilization, such as Ur and Warka. Related to this quest was also a desire to unearth evidence of theretofore relatively unknown civilizations, such as those of the Amorites and the Hurrians, which became the preoccupation of several archaeologists and their missions. Hence, a different sort of scramble took place during the Mandate period, a more scientific and less destructive one, invigorated by the competitive spirit of institutions and the egos of the archaeologists in question. Owing to their superior financial situation following World War I, American institutions played a prominent role in the ensuing interwar period.2 During these years, several American institutions sought cooperation with British institutions, given their proximity to British politicians and thus, ultimately, to the Iraqi government. It was a mutually beneficial relationship: The Americans supplied the necessary capital, while the British in most cases contributed the primary personnel and goodwill among the authorities in Iraq. In fact, the first two excavation missions sent to Iraq after the war were both products of AngloAmerican cooperation: the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania at Ur and Oxford University and Chicago’s Field Museum at Kish.3 The cooperation between the British and the Americans was particularly successful at the long-standing excavations at Ur. In May 1922, G. B. Gordon of the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) wrote to BM officials proposing a joint expedition to Iraq. Penn had already acquired some experience, albeit not very positive, in sending expeditions to Iraq, specifically to Nippur in the nineteenth century.4 Perhaps because of Penn’s prior misfortunes in the area, Gordon was seeking an experienced and well-connected ally, stating that Penn had at its disposal $2,500 and would be prepared to bear most of the expense “in return for the advantages to be derived from the prestige of the British Museum and its influence with local authorities .”5 The BM suggested an archaeological mission to Iraq headed by Leonard Woolley to “complete the excavation of Tell Obeid begun by Mr. Hall in 1919” and to “continue the excavation of Tell Muqayyar [Ur of the Chaldees] at which some work was done by Mr. Campbell Thompson”6 Incidentally, Penn also had engaged in some minor work at Ur in the late nineteenth century and was therefore eager to return to that site. Among those accompanying Woolley was Sidney Smith, of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the BM, who later became honorary director of antiquities in Iraq.7 Once again, Penn’s involvement in Mesopotamian archaeology did not begin fortuitously. An American named Hunter who was sent to London from Philadelphia to accompany Woolley to Iraq suffered a nervous breakdown while in London and was admitted to a mental MANDATED ARCHAEOLOGY 131 hospital and eventually returned to the States.8 As a result, during the first season at Ur, no Americans were present. Nevertheless, the first season was productive, or “eminently satisfactory,”9 as the annual British Administrative Report labeled it. The archaeologists were able to uncover foundations of a temple, along with a headless statue of Ur-Nanshe and large quantities of jewelry of the Achaemenid period.10 The Penn-BM mission to Ur was hugely successful...