Magnus T. Bernhardsson. Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq.

Stone, Peter

MAGNUS T. BERNHARDSSON. Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq. 2005. xiv+328 pages, 16 plates. Austin (TX): University of Texas Press; 0-292-70947-1 hardback 28.95 [pounds sterling].

'It is evident that an important item in our job is to educate a small group of these ignorant and fanatical Iraqis, and I propose to undertake it' (p. 193).

The above is not part of an accidentally overheard conversation between Western politicians in the early years of the twenty-first century but taken from a letter written by the American archaeologist James Henry Breasted in 1935. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. In this rewrite of his 1999 PhD thesis, Magnus Bernhardsson identifies three stages in the history and practice of archaeology in Iraq: an international 'removal' stage, characterised by Western domination and extremely limited Iraqi engagement or involvement; a transitional period in which Iraqi nationals began to wrest control of archaeology from Western outsiders; and a final period between 1941 and 2003 when Iraqis had full control of archaeology in Iraq. Given the difficulty of access to necessary archival documents regarding the third stage (and no doubt the difficulty, if not futility, of interviewing Iraqis during the Saddam Hussein regime), the book concentrates on the first two stages of this history. It is a fascinating and, with the clear vision of hindsight, a salutary tale. Would that archaeologists and politicians can learn from it.

Archaeology in Iraq, in common with that of much of the non-European world, was originally carried out by European or North American specialists with funding supplied through major museums. It was an obvious prerequisite of such expeditions that most, if not all, of the major objects found during excavation would be removed from their country of discovery for display in the museum that had funded the expedition. Thus were the major Western museums filled with the treasures of ancient civilisations from around the world to the, now, obvious detriment of the source countries. To criticise those involved for the removal of archaeological artefacts would be unfair and essentially pointless. Any such attempt at retrospective criticism would be especially unfair to those working in much of the Middle East, where the local populations appear to have been uninterested in ancient history and where there were no 'indigenous' trained archaeologists. This is understandable: most of the early Western expeditions had as their research objectives to validate and shed light on the Christian Bible. Little wonder there was little interest in such activity from predominantly Muslim populations.

Bernhardsson's argument that such endemic indifference was exacerbated in Iraq by the wider political necessities of having to create a nation from scratch is very convincing. It fits precisely the wider discussion of a past excluded from school curricula that does not immediately match the political aspirations of those in power (Stone & MacKenzie 1990). Pre-Islamic archaeology was irrelevant--indeed potentially dangerous--to politicians faced with the daunting task of creating a new, Islamic, nation. No surprise then that it was left to a Westerner, Gertrude Bell, to draft, implement, and then oversee Iraqi antiquities legislation. Indeed neither should it be a surprise (which it appears to be to Bernhardsson) that the Antiquities Department was placed under the Ministry of Public Works rather than Education. This not only reflected British archaeological legislation of the time but also avoided any clash between Bell and Iraqi nationalists who would have preferred to (and subsequently did in Bernhardsson's second stage) transfer the bulk of funding from pre-Islamic excavation to the preservation of Islamic sites and monuments. Bernhardsson (p. 202) quotes Sati al-Husri, the first Iraqi Director of Antiquities, and previous Minister of Education, who noted '... to revert to those lost epochs was an attempt to revive that which is dead and mummified', and himself concludes, '... ancient history was irrelevant for the present [1940s Iraqi] population ...'.

It was only at the celebrations of the 1958 revolution that politicians began to legitimise themselves in the context of pre-Islamic civilisations. Here was the Eastern-bloc inspired political movement that concentrated on building a sovereign Iraq set apart from the pan-Arab movement that paved the way for Saddam Hussein's isolationism, and then disastrous expansionism.

Reclaiming a Plundered Past is a fascinating and extremely topical read, engagingly written and extremely thought provoking. It should be compulsory reading for all archaeologists who want to understand their wider responsibilities and the fuller implications of their work. It would be extremely useful reading for all Westerners who claim to know what is best for Iraq and the wider Middle East and its people. I look forward to a time when Bernhardsson will be able to carry out the research for his third stage. I am saddened to think that the likelihood of him doing so is some way off and wonder whether many of the archives he would like to consult will actually be there waiting for him.

Reference

STONE, P.G. & R. MACKENZIE. 1990. The Excluded Past: Archaeology in Education. London: Routledge.

PETER STONE

School of Arts and Culture, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

(Email: [email protected])