Domesticating the Sumerians in Mandate Iraq: Contextualising Woolley's excavations at Ur (1922-1934)

The project will explore the motivations and methods in Middle Eastern archaeology at the nexus of the infancy of modern, scientific archaeology and the birth of the modern nation state of Iraq, and the lasting impact of these excavations on public understanding of the past. The project will take as primary case study Leonard Woolley's important archaeological expedition to the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq (1922-34). It will benefit from the Ur of the Chaldees project, currently underway at the British Museum and Penn Museum, which is providing integrated digital access to the complete finds and records of Woolley's excavations.

This project sits at the intersection of new approaches to the study of Mandate Iraq, and to the history of archaeology. Given the vast range of sources, and possible approaches to them, there will be ample opportunity for the student to tailor the project to their own strengths and interests. The project will support a minimum of one funded trip to Philadelphia to consult the archives there; there is also the potential for a short trip to Ur itself (security circumstances permitting).