Iraq· 2026Q2
ANTIQUITIES DEALERS IN BAGHDAD AND CUNEIFORM TABLETS FROM KISH IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
- 1citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Cuneiform tablets from Kish were circulating on the antiquities market from 1910, before official French excavations began in 1912, indicating prior exploration by local Iraqi teams.
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Key points
- Cuneiform tablets from Kish were on the antiquities market starting in 1910, prior to formal excavations.
- Local Iraqi teams likely explored the Kish site before official French excavations began in 1912.
- The article traces the dispersal of Kish artefacts through the correspondence of antiquities dealer Ibrahim Elias Gejou (1909-1935).
- The findings emphasize the understudied role of independent Iraqi archaeological work in the history of the Kish site.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
When Kish began to be excavated by the French archaeologist Henri de Genouillac in 1912, cuneiform tablets from Tell Uhaimir had already been in circulation on the antiquities market since 1910. Offers made by dealers in Baghdad and Paris in this period indicate that the site was being explored by local teams even before then. In an attempt to rebuild a timeline of the appearance of Kish artefacts on the antiquities market in the early 20th century, this article delves into the correspondence of the antiquities dealer Ibrahim Elias Gejou. It follows his offers of Kish tablets through letters currently held in three institutions, the British Museum, the Yale Babylonian Collection, and the Louvre Museum. The story of these artefacts’ dispersal between 1909 and 1935 highlights an understudied facet of explorations at Kish, and places the independent archaeological work of Iraqis at the heart of this site’s modern history.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Iraq, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Anthropology
AnthropologySocial Sciences