Negotiating for the Past: Archaeology, Nationalism, and Diplomacy in the Middle East, 1919-1941

308 Pages·2007·5.19 MB·English

by  James F. Goode

NEGOTIATINGFORTHEPAST
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Archaeology,
Nationalism,
NEGOTIATING
and Diplomacy
FOR THE PAST
in the Middle East,
1919–1941
James F. Goode
UniversityofTexasPress
Austin
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Firstedition,2007
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Goode,JamesF.,1944–
Negotiatingforthepast:archaeology,nationalism,anddiplomacyin
theMiddleEast,1919–1941/JamesF.Goode.—1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn-13:978-0-292-71497-7(cloth:alk.paper)
isbn-10:0-292-71497-1(alk.paper)
isbn-13:978-0-292-71498-4(pbk.:alk.paper)
isbn-10:0-292-71498-x(alk.paper)
1.MiddleEast—Antiquities. 2.Archaeology—MiddleEast.
3.Archaeologicalthefts—MiddleEast. 4.Nationalism—Middle
East. I.Title.
ds56.g55 2007
939'.4—dc22 2006037510
ToourArab,Persian,andTurkishfriends,formanykindnesses
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1.EndoftheOldOrder 19
2.TheSardisAffair 31
3.HeirsoftheHittites 43
4.EgyptAwakening 67
5.HousingEgypt’sTreasures 99
6.France’sClosedDoor 127
7.WinningPersepolis 141
8.TroublesoverIran 167
9.ArchaeologyasUsual 185
10.TheReignofSati(cid:3)al-Husri 203
11.ANewEra 223
12.Reflections 229
viii NegotiatingforthePast
Notes 235
Bibliography 267
Index 281
PREFACE
Myintroductiontothissubjectwasserendipitous.Whiledoingresearch
inU.S.StateDepartmentrecordsattheNationalArchives,Irepeatedly
cameacrossreferencestoPersepolisandanongoingcrisisinU.S.-Iranian
relationsduringthe1930s,whicharousedmycuriosity.AsaPeaceCorps
volunteerinIran,IhadvisitedPersepolisin1969andagainin1971,butI
hadneverconnecteditinanywaytoforeignaffairs.Idecidedtoinvesti-
gateoncethecurrentresearchwascompleted.
Thatwaswelloveradecadeago,andIhavebeenengagedonthisproject
eversince.Iquicklydiscoveredatriadofactorsinvolvedinthatandother,
similarregionalcrises.TherewereU.S.diplomatssupportingAmerican
archaeologists,whoencounteredincreasingchallengesfromlocalnation-
alists.Thesethreegroupshaveprovidedthesubtitleand,moreimportant,
thesubstanceofthisstudy.
Originally,IintendedtofocusonIran,butgraduallytheprojectspread
beyonditsborderstoincludeTurkey,Egypt,andIraq,forthemoreIre-
searched,themoreclearlyIcouldseesimilaritiesandlinksbetweendevel-
opmentsinthesefourcountries.Mycareerpathledmetothreeofthese
nations,firstthelongresidenceinIran,thenayearlongFulbrightgrantin
Turkey,andfinallynumerousvisitstoEgyptasdirectorofstudy-abroad
programs.Thishasaffordedopportunitiestovisitarchives,museums,and
sites and to interview several archaeologists. Upon reflection, I suppose
thebroadscopeofthisstudywasalmostpredestined,forIhavealwayshad
a keen interest in thevarious peoples of the Middle East, especially the
Arabs,Persians,andTurks,andanappreciationforthemanyparallelsin
theirhistories.
Other works have taken up the subject of the intersection of archae-
ologyandnationalism,buttheyhavedonethisalmostexclusivelywithin
thebordersofasinglenation.Ofthisgenre,DonaldReid’sfinestudyon
Egypt, Whose Pharaohs? (2002), and more recently Magnus Bernhards-
son’s Reclaiming a Plundered Past (2006) on Iraq come readily to mind.