Archeology in Iraq: still Judenrein?

The continuing exclusion of Jews by the archeological gatekeepers of Iraq (and other Arab nations) was noted in the article discussed in our previous post. It has also been the subject of an inquiry by Jim Davila to the IraqCrisis discussion group; he promises to report any responses. Davila's concern was prompted by a disturbing article by Mark Geller, director of the Institute of Jewish Studies at University College, London; excerpts follow:

Last summer, I was surprised to receive a telephone call from a senior journalist from The Guardian newspaper, asking me if I knew that my name was mentioned in official correspondence in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. I was sent a copy of the letter in Arabic, and there was my name, written in Latin characters, together with the name of Professor Shaul Shaked from the Hebrew University. The letter was written by Donny George, Director of Research at the Iraq Museum, and he accused Mark Geller, 'the Jew', of intending to come to Baghdad with the American army in order to steal antiquities, and Shaul Shaked 'the Jew' was accused of planning to come to the Museum to spy out their collections for objects that particularly interested him. Shaul Shaked is Chairman of the Humanities and Social Sciences Section at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and President of the International Union of Academies. Neither he nor I have ever been to Baghdad, nor do either of us have plans to visit Baghdad in the future.

I cannot explain why this letter was written or the background to the accusations, but the anti-Semitic character of this letter points to a darker side of the current debate about cultural heritage and the handling of stolen antiquities . . .

During this past summer, Dr. Donny George of the Iraq Museum appeared in London at an international conference, and one of my colleagues from the USA went up to him and asked him directly when Jews will be able to work in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. He simply shrugged his shoulders and replied, 'it's not my decision'.

The article also discusses at some length the hundreds of late antique Jewish Aramaic incantation bowls found in Iraq in recent years, of which only those smuggled out as part of the antiquities trade have been made available to scholars:

These studies show how much of Jewish cultural heritage is preserved on these incantation bowls, since they have some of the earliest examples of Hechalot or Jewish mystical texts, and even passages of the Shema prayer or extracts from the classic text of the Mishnah have been discovered. Jewish rabbis, Jewish demons, Jewish legal practices can all be found in these bowls, and many verses from the Hebrew Bible are quoted in full.

ADDENDUM: For a brief introduction to incantation bowls, take a look here (scroll down to the first entry under March 26).

Posted by David on June 29, 2004 10:16 PM