The idea of Babylon : archaeology and representation in Mesopotamia
This thesis presents a new approach to the history of archaeology in Iraq. The representation of Babylon is taken as a case study through which social, political and cultural factors in the formation and development of European archaeology in Iraq are examined. Babylon's history as the subject of scholarly, religious and moral thought, and of artistic and literary representation, allows the development of archaeological research on the city to be analysed in relation to these other approaches. The thesis demonstrates that the production of knowledge about the past within modem archaeological discourse is inseparable from a range of non- archaeological epistemologies and traditions of representation, and that the history and historiography of archaeology are therefore vital to the understanding and evaluation of interpretative methods and disciplinary structures in the present. A diverse group of sources on Babylon are brought together, placing the rise of archaeological approaches to ancient Mesopotamia in their cultural context: well known biblical and classical sources, travel writing, poetry, theatre and fine art are all examined in terms of their impact on awareness and understanding of Babylon in modern
Seymour, Michael
The idea of Babylon : archaeology and representation in Mesopotamia. This thesis presents a new approach to the history of archaeology in Iraq. The representation of Babylon is taken as a case study through which social, political and cultural factors in the formation and development of European archaeology in Iraq are examined. Babylon's history as the subject of scholarly, religious and moral thought, and of artistic and literary representation, allows the development of archaeological research on the city to be analysed in relation to these other approaches. The thesis demonstrates that the production of knowledge about the past within modem archaeological discourse is inseparable from a range of non- archaeological epistemologies and traditions of representation, and that the history and historiography of archaeology are therefore vital to the understanding and evaluation of interpretative methods and disciplinary structures in the present. A diverse group of sources on Babylon are brought together, placing the rise of archaeological approaches to ancient Mesopotamia in their cultural context: well known biblical and classical sources, travel writing, poetry, theatre and fine art are all examined in terms of their impact on awareness and understanding of Babylon in modern
idea archaeology representation mesopotamia present_new history_archaeology iraq representation take case_study social_political cultural_factor formation development european_archaeology iraq examine history subject scholarly religious moral thought artistic literary_representation allow development archaeological city analyse relation approach demonstrates production knowledge past within modem archaeological_discourse inseparable range non archaeological epistemology tradition representation history historiography archaeology therefore vital evaluation interpretative method disciplinary structure present diverse_group source bring_together place rise archaeological_approach ancient_mesopotamia cultural_context well_know biblical classical_source travel writing poetry theatre fine_art examine term impact awareness modern