Biographies of Dealers, Excavators and Patrons

A

Al-Bahath, Attiyah

Sheikh of the Dawaghel tribe in Hilla province. Sheikh Attiyah supplied the OFME with fieldworkers from 1923. With his son Mohsen, he guarded the archaeological site of Kish for OFME from early 1927 to the end of the expedition in 1933 and perhaps beyond. The SBAH archives in Baghdad show that he was perennially underpaid and under-armed for this work, so that the Department of Antiquities often had to intercede with Langdon PGP  and Watelin on his behalf.

Al-Huṣri, Saṭiʾ

(1880-1968). Educationalist, Arab nationalist, and government minister. A close ally of king Faisal, and long-time adversary of Gertrude Bell PGP , Al-Huṣri became independent Iraq's Director of Antiquities in October 1934, the first non-European to hold this position. He promoted new legislation to prevent archaeologically excavated artefacts from leaving the country. Leaders of British excavation projects, including Langdon PGP  for the OFME at Kish, used this as an excuse to boycott further work in Iraq, though lack of funding also played a major part. Al-Huṣri was expelled from Iraq in 1941 for his role in a short-lived, pro-Nazi coup against the British-supported Iraqi monarchy.

Al-Layan, Haji Menaihil

Or Miniehl. Sheikh of a tribe (name unrecorded) in Hilla province. Supplied the OFME with fieldworkers for Kish from 1927 after Mugheir's men had been removed from the project. View a photo of Haji Menaihil [/kish/fieldmus/PictureGallery/index.html#h_hajiminiehl] on the Kish Database Project's website.

Al-Salman, Mugheir

Sheikh of the Amran tribe in Hilla province (Figure 1). Supplied the OFME with fieldworkers and guards for Kish from 1923 to early 1927, when his "rivals" Haji Menaihil PGP  and Sheikh Attiyah PGP  accused his followers of selling antiquities from the site and succeeded in ousting him from this role.

B

Bedry Bey

(dates unknown). Turkish commissioner for the Imperial Museum (today the Istanbul Archaeological Museums [https://muze.gen.tr/muze-detay/arkeoloji]) in Istanbul, who participated in and oversaw numerous excavations in Iraq, including Abu Habba (ancient Sippar), Babylon, Nippur, Tello (ancient Girsu), as well as Kish (Figure 2).

Bell, Gertrude Lowthian

(1868-1926). Architectural historian, Orientalist and government official. A protegé of David Hogarth PGP  and Oxford graduate. Before the First World War Bell travelled extensively in the Middle East to document the remains of Byzantine churches and early Islamic buildings. From 1917 she served as Oriental Secretary (essentially, head of the civil service) to the British occupation of Iraq and in 1922 became the country's first Honorary Director of Antiquities. In this role, Bell drew up the country's first antiquities legislation and oversaw the OFME's excavations at Kish, along with all other archaeological projects in the country. ensuring that "her" new Iraq Museum claimed a half-share of the finds at the end of each excavation season. She held this appointment until her death, when she was succeeded by her friend Richard Cooke PGP .

Buckingham, James Silk

(1786-1855). British journalist and travel writer. Member of Parliament for Sheffield between 1832 and 1836. Renowned during his lifetime for the accounts he published of his travels through West Asia and India. Briefly visited Kish in the summer of 1816.

Budge, Ernest Wallis

(1857-1934). British Assyriologist. Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum between 1888 and 1924. Knighted in 1920. Sent to Baghdad in 1888 by the British Museum to investigate the purchase of cuneiform tablets from Abu Habba (ancient Sippar) from Baghdad's antiquities market (Ismail 2011: 229). During his three missions to Iraq, Budge befriended major dealers who sent him collections directly to the museum for the department to purchase.

Burrows, Eric

(1882-1938). British Assyriologist and Roman Catholic priest. Educated at Oxford, served at the Pontifical Biblical Insitute in Rome from 1917 to his death two decades later. Participated in the OFME's third season at Kish in 1924-25 and subsequently served as epigrapher to the British Museum's excavations at Ur, led by Leonard Woolley PGP , in 1926-30.

Buxton, Dudley

(1889-1939). British anthropologist. Tutor to Henry Field PGP  and T.K. Penniman PGP , paid by Field to accompany him on a three-week visit to Kish and Jemdat Nasr in December 1925 to January 1926. It was during this visit that Buxton and Field began the study of ancient human remains at Kish as well as the anthropometry of living Iraqis at Kish and Hillah. Appointed Reader in Physical Anthropology at the University of Oxford in 1928.

C

Clay, Albert T.

(1866-1925). American Assyriologist and clergyman. First recipient of the Laffan Professorship of Assyriology at Yale University created by the American banker John Pierpont Morgan in 1910. As curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection between 1910 and 1925, Clay purchased thousands of archaeological objects from Iraq and the region from antiquities dealers based in Baghdad, Paris, and New York. The antiquities dealers Gejou PGP  and Messayeh PGP  were among the Babylonian Collection's major suppliers.

Cooke, Richard

Adviser to the Ministry of Awqaf (charitable endowments) in Iraq until 1929. Honorary director of the Antiquities Department in Iraq in 1926 until 1928. Antiquities dealer. Caught smuggling archaeological artefacts out of Iraq in August 1930, charged in court, and expelled out of the country as a result. The scandal led Minister of Education Saṭiʾ Al-Huṣri PGP  to petition the government to expand the study of archaeology to high schools.

D

Drouin, Raoul

Architect who travelled to Kish with Henri de Genouillac PGP  to document the built remains there. Very little about him is currently known.

F

Fetto, David

(1866-1921). Prominent member of the O.M.S. Church (One Mission Society) in Mosul and Baghdad, a church led by the Church Missionary Society of England, a British Anglican mission society. Sold Syriac and Arabic manuscripts to the British Museum's Manuscript Department between 1901 and 1919. These are now in the British Library. A photographic portrait of David survives in the archive of British Library in London.

Field, Henry

(1902-1986). American anthropologist and great-nephew of the Chicago department store tycoon Marshall Field, who endowed the Field Museum of Natural History in 1893. Field paid to visit the OFME's fifth season at Kish in the winter of 1925-26 while still an undergraduate student at Oxford, accompanied by his tutor Dudley Buxton PGP . This was to be the first of three expeditions he made to Iraq and other west Asian countries over the next decade in order to collect photographs and measurements of people for the purpose of racial classification. Appointed curator of physical anthropology at the Field Museum upon graduation, his Hall of the Races of Mankind (1933-1969) fundamentally shaped American popular ideas about the supposed immutability of racial hierarchies. In 1941 Field was appointed 'Anthropologist to the President', developing a top secret project to locate under-populated areas of north Africa and west Asia where European refugees might be settled after the Second World War instead of the USA. The project was disbanded in 1944. (Laura Robson 2023: chapter 5).

Fleischmann-Holmes, Bettie

(1873-1941). American philanthropist and art collector, also known as Mrs Christian R. Holmes. Her family's money came from industrial-scale yeast production, supplying the increasingly mechanised production of bread products in the late 19th century United States. Over the years she donated over $20 million to hospitals and the arts, and amassed a large collection of Chinese art objects, which are now in museum collections all over the world. Through Arthur Upham Pope PGP  she was the primary benefactor of the OFME's final season of excavations in 1933.

Fresnel, Fulgence

(1795-1855). French diplomat and orientalist. Sent to Iraq in 1852 by the French government to lead the French "Scientific and Artistic Expedition to Mesopotamia and Media", accompanied by the Assyriologist Jules Oppert PGP , architect Felix Thomas, and Edouard Perreymond as treasurer. The 40 cases of archaeological artefacts collected during their exploration sank in the Tigris on 20 May 1855 at Al-Qurnah, a town close to Basra, an event known as the Qurna disaster. Fresnel was so enamoured with Iraq that he decided to stay when the team was called back to Paris. He unfortunately died of the plague in Baghdad soon afterwards.

G

Gejou, Ibrahim Elias

(1868-1942). Antiquities dealer. Specialised in collecting archaeological artefacts inscribed in cuneiform, and ancient manuscripts. Born in Baghdad. Permanently settled in Paris from circa 1888. Operated his business in partnership with his younger brother Isaac, also an antiquities dealer who remained in Baghdad until he died in 1930. Sold circa 18,000 archaeological artefacts to the British Museum. Circa 12% of the cuneiform tablets collection in the British Museum were purchased from Ibrahim. The Louvre bought circa 6,000 artefacts from Ibrahim. Sold widely to museums in Europe and the USA (especially to the Yale Babylonian Collection), and to numerous private collectors including Calouste Gulbenkian (whose collections are in the Gulbenkian Museum, Portugal), and to Nikolay Likhachev (whose collections of cuneiform tablets are partly in the State Hermitage Museum).

Genouillac, Henri de

(1881-1940). French Assyriologist and priest, from an esteemed Roman Catholic family from northern France. De Genouillac was appointed lead archaeologist at Kish in 1911 by the Ministry of Public Instruction (later named the Ministry of Education). The excavation was carried out between January and March 1912, and was closed due to his assault on Bedry Bey PGP 's mule-driver. Between 1929 and 1931, he returned to Iraq to lead excavations at Tello (Girsu). During his many visits to Iraq and Turkey, de Genouillac befriended several major antiquities dealers from whom he bought cuneiform tablets for years, both for his own private collection and for museums for whom he worked, primarily the Louvre Museum and the Royal Museums of Art and History of Brussels. After his death, his private collection was donated to the Museum of Rouen [https://museedesantiquites.fr/fr/collections/orient].

Gibson, McGuire

(1938– ). American archaeologist and historian of ancient Mesopotamia. It is thanks to his and Roger Moorey PGP 's extensive studies and reinvestigations of the OFME archival documents and publications that research on Kish was revived (Gibson 1972). Also led long-running archaeological excavations at Nippur for the University of Chicago.

H

Hesketh, Walter

(1872-1958). Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Army. Served in the British invasion of Iraq from February 1916. Shortly before retiring, he acted as Mackay, Ernest PGP 's deputy Field Director during the first OFME season in spring 1923, though there is no evidence of his having any interest or expertise in archaeology.

Hogarth, David George

(1862-1927). British archaeologist and military intelligence officer. Excavated extensively in the eastern Mediterranean before the First World War, including at Carchemish in northern Syria, where he led a team that included T.E. Lawrence, Leonard Woolley PGP  and Gertrude Bell PGP . Appointed as Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in 1909, but worked in British military intelligence in the Middle East from 1915 to 1919. As Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, he regularly purchased Iraqi and other Middle Eastern antiquities from dealers, travellers and archaeologists including Woolley. His desk diaries reveal that he gave extensive advice to Langdon PGP  on the set-up and running of the OFME and oversaw the cataloguing, storage and display of the expedition's finds in the museum in Oxford.

J

Jordan, Julius

(1877-1945). German archaeologist and structural engineer. Excavated at Assur, Babylon and Uruk before the First World War. Served as Iraq's Director of Antiquities from 1931 to 1934, between Smith PGP  and Al-Huṣri PGP . In this role he oversaw the conduct and closure of the OFME's excavations at Kish.

K

Kenyon, Frederic George

(1863-1952). British biblical and classical scholar. Director the British Museum (1909-31) and President of the British Academy (1917-21). In this role he chaired the Joint Archaeological Committee, which advised the British government on archaeological matters in occupied territories, including Iraq. Supported the Museum's excavations at Ur from 1917 onwards, under Leonard Woolley PGP , and advised Gertrude Bell PGP  on her oversight of the OFME's work at Kish.

Khayat, George

Antiquities dealer. Based in Baghdad. Active in the 20th century. Probably a relative of the antiquities dealer Azeez Khayat (1875-1943).

L

Lane, William Horsburgh

(1874-1946). Lieutenant Colonel. Transferred to the Indian Army Staff Corps in 1897, serving in Iraq from 1918 to 1921 as a topographer. During the British occupation of Iraq, Lane became interested in archaeology, publishing a book on Alexander the Great's route to Babylon (Lane 1923. After his regiment disbanded in 1922, Lane took part in the OFME's excavations at Kish in 1923 under Ernest Mackay PGP .

Langdon, Stephen Herbert

(1878-1937) American-British Assyriologist and protestant clergyman. Was gifted a position at the University of Oxford by the philanthropist Mary Shillito PGP  in 1907. He was briefly part-time Curator of the Babylonian Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1916-18 but resigned when called to serve in World War I and returned to a titular professorship in Oxford. Set up the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition (OFME) to Kish in 1922 despite having no experience of either archaeological fieldwork or the Middle East. Although a perennial academic outsider, he was adept at fundraising from similarly religiously-minded private philanthropists. An influential teacher and energetic researcher, very little of his thinking on Sumerian language, literature or religion has stood the test of time.

Laufer, Berthold

(1874–1934). German anthropologist and Sinologist. Emigrated to the USA in 1897 and served as Curator of Anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago from 1908 to 1934. In this role in 1922 he agreed to co-fund the OFME's excavations at Kish in return for "anthropological materials" for the Field Museum's collections.

Lawi, Selim

Iraqi administrator and Assyriologist. Served in the Department of Antiquities in Baghdad under Sidney Smith PGP , who taught him to read cuneiform, and Julius Jordan PGP  (Al-Gailani Werr 2017: 232). Liaised with members of the Kish expedition as Jordan's Deputy Director. We think he might have been the first cuneiform-literate Iraqi of the modern era.

M

Mackay, Dorothy

(1881-1953). British archaeologist. Carried out excavations in Egypt (1913), in Iraq at Kish (1923-1925), in Pakistan, and later Palestine (Gaza). Appointed assistant Keeper at the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in 1940, and later curator at the Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut (1948-1951). The map and sketches of the mounds of Kish that Dorothy produced are still in use today (Mackay 1926). Married to Mackay, Ernest PGP .

Mackay, Ernest

(1880-1943). British archaeologist. Protegé of the Egyptologist and archaeologist Flinders Petrie PGP  who trained him between 1907 and 1912. Directed excavations at Kish from 1923 to 1925 for the OFME, under Stephen Langdon PGP . Also excavated in Egypt, Pakistan (1926-1931), and Palestine. Married to Dorothy Mackay PGP .

Marston, Sir Charles

(1867–1946). British industrialist and philanthropist, who contributed funds to the OFME's excavations at Kish in the 1930s as well as to Petrie PGP 's archaeological work in Palestine. From the mid-1930s, wrote several books which used evidence from these digs and others to claim, in the words of one of his titles, that "the Bible is true" (Marston 1935).

Messayeh, Alexander

(1870-1942) Antiquities dealer. Active in the late 19th to mid-20th century. Born in Iraq. Son of the antiquities dealer David Messayeh (from the firm Messayeh & Ghanima). Like his father David, Alexander collected and primarily sold archaeological artefacts, especially objects inscribed in cuneiform. Alexander lived in Baghdad but he often stayed in Mosul where he had family. He moved to New York in 1923 to expand the family business, and operated from 661 West 149 Street. Alexander remained in New York until his death in 1942. He married Sara Gejou (1873-1943?), Ibrahim Elias Gejou's PGP  sister. When Gejou began to sell in the US from 1911, Alexander regularly helped him, storing his collections in New York.

Messayeh, Rizouk

(1878-1957). Antiquities dealer. Born in Iraq. Younger brother of Alexander Messayeh PGP . Worked as a clerk for the US consulate in Baghdad. Moved to New York in 1913, and helped to set up a branch of the family business. He was joined in New York by Alexander and by their younger brother Emile in 1923.

Meymarian, Thomas

Antiquities dealer. Active in the late 19th to mid-20th century. Operated from '8/1/40 New Street' in Baghdad in the 1920s. His letters to Henri de Genouillac PGP  between 1900 and 1929 show he sold a variety of archaeological objects in Baghdad. In 1906, his letterheading describes him as a dealer specialised in "Assyrian Archaeological Objects, Greek and Roman Medals, Oriental Carpets, etc, etc". By 1929, he then describes himself as "T. Meymarian, Carpet Merchant & All Kinds of Antiquities".

Mond, Sir Robert

(1867-1938). British industrialist and philanthropist. The family's wealth came from mass production of chemicals such as sodium carbonate; the company Mond's father co-founded is now Tata Chemicals Europe. Mond began funding and participating in British archaeological work in Egypt in the 1890s. He later supported excavations in Palestine as well as some of the OFME's final seasons at Kish.

Moorey, Peter Stuart Roger

(1937-2004), known as Roger Moorey. British archaeologist and historian of ancient Mesopotamia. Keeper of the Antiquities Department at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1961-2003). It is thanks to his and McGuire Gibson PGP 's extensive studies and reinvestigations of the OFME archival documents and publications that research on Kish was revived (Moorey 1978).

N

Naaman, Jacques Joseph

(1870-?). Antiquities dealer. Specialised in selling ancient manuscripts. Naaman was based in London from the late 19th century. He married Helen Annie Jaynes in 1918 in East Preston (UK). J.J. sold manuscripts and a few collections of cuneiform tablets to the British Museum (UK), the Victoria & Albert Museum (UK), the John Rylands Library (UK), the Bodleian Library (UK), and the Yale Babylonian Collection (USA). J.J. was Ibrahim Elias Gejou's PGP  cousin.

Nohmé, David (Daoud)

Antiquities dealer. Active in the late 19th to mid-20th century. He was based in Marseille, France, at 13, rue Fongate, and then moved to 124, Cours Lieutaud. David sold cuneiform tablets and other archaeological artefacts to the British Museum in 1910-1911. David was a friend of Ibrahim Elias Gejou PGP , and seems to have helped him picking up collections delivered from Iraq to Marseille.

O

Oppert, Jules

(1825-1905). French-German Assyriologist. Member of the French "Scientific and Artistic Expedition to Mesopotamia and Media", with architect Felix Thomas, Edouard Perreymond as treasurer, and Fulgence Fresnel PGP  as director. Excavated several sites in Iraq between 1851 and 1854, including on several mounds at Kish. Oppert was at the heart of the decipherment of cuneiform. He was one of the four scholars, with Edward Hincks, Henry Rawlinson, and Henry Fox Talbot, to take part in the famous decipherment test held at the Royal Asiatic Society in 1857. Oppert became professor at the College de France in 1869.

P

Penniman, Thomas Kenneth

(1895–1977). American-British anthropologist. Participated in 7th season of OFME's work at Kish in 1928-29 soon after graduation from Oxford, studying excavated human remains. After a decade of precarious employment at the university, Penniman was appointed Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum (1939-1963).

Petrie, Sir Flinders

(1853-1942). British Egyptologist and archaeologist. Knighted in 1923. Chair of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London (UCL), funded by Amelia Edwards. Sold his collection of Egyptian antiquities to UCL in 1913, now housed at the university in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

Petros, Salman

Alternatively, Salman, Petros. Iraqi archaeologist. Excavated at Kish with de Genouillac PGP  between January and March 1912. Based on reports of the salary he earned, Salman was probably a team leader.

Pope, Arthur Upham

(1881–1969). American art historian. After an eventful and sometimes controversial academic career, founded the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology in 1928 (later renamed the Asia Institute). Raised funds from philanthropist Bettie Fleischmann-Holmes PGP  in order to support the OFME's final season of excavations at Kish in 1933.

R

Rassam, Hormuzd

(1826-1910). British-Iraqi Assyriologist and archaeologist. Diplomat. Engaged by British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard in 1846 to assist at Nimrud. Went on to lead the excavation of many sites in Iraq for the British Museum between 1877 and 1882. Rassam made major discoveries notably at Nineveh, Borsippa, Babylon, and Sippar. Whenever he returned home to Britain, Rassam employed Daoud Toma PGP  and his brother Abdelkerim to excavate on his behalf.

Ravn, Otto

(1881–1952). Danish Assyriologist and professor at the University of Copenhagen. Participated in the OFME's sixth season of excavations at Kish in the winter of 1927-28.

Reitlinger, Gerald

(1900–1978). British art historian. Participated in, and probably contributed funds to, the OFME's ninth season of excavations at Kish, in 1930–31. Explored the outer mounds of the site, conducting surface collection of early and classical Islamic pottery, some of which he donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as well as keeping some for himself. Dug at Al-Hirah the following year. Reitlinger donated his extensive personal collection of Asian pottery, including finds from greater Kish, to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford in 1972.

Rich, James Claudius

(1787-1821). British Agent and antiquarian. Carried out excavations in Iraq during his appointment as British Resident for the East India Company. Rich bequeathed his collection of archaeological artefacts and manuscripts to the British Museum in 1925. His collection of bricks inscribed in cuneiform became the earliest such collection in a museum in Europe. Their exhibition began the fierce competition between museums in Europe to open and develop cuneiform collections.

S

Samhiry, Antone

Antiquities dealer based in Baghdad. Active in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Samhiry reports he often visited Mosul, where he had family, including a brother or uncle named Abdallah Samhiry who worked as Station Chief at the Telegraph Office in Mosul. Abdallah was married to the daughter of Fatthallah Khayat, a relative of George Khayat PGP . Antone specialised in collecting and selling archaeological artefacts, primarily objects inscribed in cuneiform. He began to sell cuneiform tablets to the British Museum in 1896 in partnership with Ferida Shamas, his aunt-in-law. Antone was also the nephew of the antiquities dealers Daud and Abdulkerim Thoma. The Thoma brothers had inherited their business from their father Thoma Shishman, a seasoned archaeologist known to have worked with Henri Layard and George Smith. Antone's letters describe his business as "Import-Export, Commission". These documents place him in Baghdad until 1933, after which time he disappears from museum archives. Antone regularly appointed Ibrahim Elias Gejou PGP  as his agent to sell his collections more widely in Europe.

Schammeri, Ali

Iraqi archaeologist. Appointed team leader during Henri de Genouillac PGP 's excavation of Kish between January and March 1912.

Scheil, Jean-Vincent

(1858-1940). French Assyriologist. Dominican priest ordained in 1887. Pupil of the French Assyriologist Jules Oppert PGP  at the College de France, Paris. Lecturer at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes from 1895, and appointed Director in 1908. Carried out excavations in Egypt, and later Iraq, in particular at Abu Habba (Sippar). Scheil was invited by the Ottoman Imperial Museum in Istanbul to assist in classifying their cuneiform collection and to prepare a catalogue of their antiquities. In his many publications, Scheil reported purchasing cuneiform tablets on the antiquities market. He regularly advised the antiquities dealer Ibrahim Elias Gejou PGP  in Paris, and his brother Isaac in Baghdad, about the historical importance of objects in their collections.

Schroeder, Eric

(1905–1971). British art historian. Participated in the OFME's fifth and sixth seasons of excavations at Kish in 1926–28 while still an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. Keeper of Islamic Art at the Fogg Museum, University of Harvard, from 1938 until his death.

Settar, Abdul

Reported by the antiquities dealer Alexander Messayeh PGP  to be the Ottoman commissioner assigned to Kish during the excavation of Henri de Genouillac PGP , after the debacle with Bedry Bey PGP .

Shillito, Mary Wallace

(1878–1938). American-French heiress and philanthropist. Endowed the Shillito Readership in Assyriology at the University of Oxford in 1907, expressly for Stephen Langdon PGP , whom she had met in Paris. Langdon regularly used her purpose-built home, the Chateau des Avenières, between Annecy and Geneva, as a writing retreat. The family's wealth derived from their ownership of Shillito's Department Store in Cincinatti, now owned by Macy's. The chateau is now a boutique hotel.

Smith, George

(1840-1876). British Assyriologist. First employed at the British Museum to repair and study cuneiform tablets at the British Museum. Famously identified the "Flood" tablet in the Epic of Gilgamesh and translated the epic. Smith was sent to Iraq for the British Museum to excavate at Nineveh and Nimrud in 1873 and 1874. While returning to Britain from his third mission in 1876, Smith died in Aleppo.

Smith, Sidney

(1889-1979). British Assyriologist at the British Museum from 1919. Served as Director of Antiquities in Baghdad in the late 1920s, between the tenures of Cooke PGP  and Jordan PGP . Returned to London in 1930 to become Keepr of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum.

T

Talbot Rice, David

(1903-1972). British art historian. Rice briefly participated in the OFME excavations at Kish in 1925, while still an undergraduate student in archaeology and anthropology at Christ Church College, Oxford.

Thureau-Dangin, François

(1872-1944). French Assyriologist. Pupil of Jules Oppert PGP . Thureau-Dangin began to work at the Oriental Antiquities department of the Louvre Museum in 1895 as an unpaid volunteer ('attache libre'). He became assistant curator in 1908, and later became the Director of the department (1925-1928). Thureau-Dangin participated in excavations in Syria and Iraq, in particular at Tello. He recommended the purchase of many cuneiform tablets to the Louvre, especially collections from the antiquities dealer Gejou PGP  , with whom he was on friendly terms for decades.

Toma, Daoud

Iraqi archaeologist. Antiquities dealer active in the late 19th century. Daoud was the son of the Iraqi archaeologist Toma Shishman, who worked on excavations with Austen Henry Layard and George Smith PGP . Daud's brothers Abdulkerim, Abdelahad, and Pierre Thoma also worked as antiquities dealers. They also guarded and led the excavations of many sites in Iraq, including Babylon, Borsippa, Kish, and Sippar, not only with and on behalf of Hormuzd Rassam PGP , but also independently to build the collections they later sold on Baghdad's antiquities market. Daoud began to sell cuneiform tablets abroad from at least 1884, notably after excavations at Borsippa and Sippar were officially closed by Rassam. The Toma family were well connected in Baghdad. Daoud's brother Abdulkerim acted as French Consul in Baghdad for a short spell in 1888. The brothers also had an import business, purchasing merchandise from Manchester (UK). The Turkish commissioner Bedry Bey PGP  was a close friend of Daoud, and reportedly even lived in one of his houses for a time. Daoud grew tired of the trade of cuneiform tablets from 1901 and tried to switch careers to become a carpet dealer.

V

Van Valzah, Robert

(1913–1983). Son of the Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who donated $1000 to the Field Museum to enable the 18-year-old budding archaeologist to participate in the OFME's tenth season of excavations in 1930–31. However, according to archival records kept in the Field Museum, young Robert was sent home early from the excavation because he was "too delicate and lifeless to stand this work and has no training".

W

Watelin, Louis Charles

(1874-1934). French archaeologist. Briefly led the Morgan Archaeological Mission in Persia in 1908. Director of the OFME Kish excavations from 1927 to 1933, after the Mackays PGP  left, accompanied by his son René. Watelin then directed an expedition on the Easter Island in March 1934. He died in Chile in June of that year during an excursion to Patagonia, where he is buried.

Weld, Herbert Joseph

(1852–1935). Also known as Herbert Weld-Blundell, to 1923 (Figure 3). British traveller, Orientalist and philanthropist. Born to a wealthy Roman Catholic family in northwest England, in the 1890s and early 1900s, Weld undertook mapping and collecting expeditions to places such as Persia (modern-day Iran), Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and north Africa (Libya and Sudan), facilitated by British diplomats. In 1901, he joined Queen's College, Oxford in order to pursue academic research on Ethiopic church history and related topics. As Langdon PGP 's primary philanthropic backer, it was Weld who went to Iraq early 1922 to identify a suitable site for excavation, recommending Kish. He funded much of the OFME's subsequent work, as well as the first volumes of the series Oxford Editions of Cuneiform Texts. He is buried in Lulworth Castle, Dorset, which he inherited in 1923, alongside his wife Theodora (1900–1928) (Figure 4).

Woolley, Charles Leonard

(1880–1960). British archaeologist. Oxford graduate and former Assistant Keeper at the Ashmolean Museum under David Hogarth PGP . Dug with Hogarth and T.E. Lawrence at Carchemish in 1912-14, then served with them and Bell PGP  in British military intelligence in the Middle East during World War One. Kenyon PGP  appointed him as Field Director to the British Museum's excavations at Ur, which he led for a decade from 1922, almost exactly contemporary with Langdon's PGP  OFME at Kish. Like Langdon and many others of his time, he argued for the literal veracity of the Old Testament on the basis of his archaeological work in Iraq (e.g., Woolley 1936). After Iraqi independence, he moved his fieldwork to Syria and then served with the so-called Monuments Men from 1943 to protect European cultural property in World War Two. Woolley was knighted in 1935.