
Empires Of Antiquities Is A History Of The Rediscovery Of Civilizations Of The Ancient Near East In The Imperial Order That Evolved Between The Outbreak Of The First World War And The 1950s. It Explores The Ways In Which Near Eastern Antiquity Was Redefined And Experienced, Becoming The Subject Of New Regulation, New Modes Of Knowledge, And International And Local Politics. A Series Of Globally Publicized Spectacular Archaeological Discoveries In Iraq, Egypt, And Palestine, Which The Book Follows, Made Antiquity Visible, Palpable And Accessible As Never Before. The New Uses Of Antiquity And Its Relations To Modernity Were Inseparable From The Emergence Of The Post-war World Order, Imperial Collaboration And Collisions, And National Aspirations. Empires Of Antiquities Uniquely Combines A History Of The Internationalization Of A New Regime Of Archaeology Under The Oversight Of The League Of Nations And Its Web Of Institutions, A History Of British Passions For Near Eastern Antiquity, On-the-ground Colonial Mechanisms And Nationalist Claims On The Past. It Points To The Centrality Of The Mandate System, Particularly Mandates Classified A, In Mesopotamia/iraq, Palestine And Transjordan, Formerly Governed By The Ottoman Empire, And Of Egypt, In A New Culture Of Antiquity. Drawing On An Unusually Wide Range Of Archives In Several Countries, As Well As On Visual And Material Evidence, The Book Weaves Together Imperial, International, And Local Histories Of Institutions, People, Ideas And Objects And Offers An Entirely New Interpretation Of The History Of Archaeological Discovery And Its Connections To Empires And Modernity.
This book investigates how the rediscovery of ancient Near Eastern civilizations between World War I and the 1950s was fundamentally shaped by the imperial order, international politics, and the emergence of modern nation-states. Billie Melman, a historian of modern culture and imperialism, utilizes a vast array of international archives, visual records, and material evidence to construct her argument. She posits that the archaeological boom in regions like Iraq, Egypt, and Palestine was not merely a scientific endeavor but a political project deeply intertwined with the League of Nations' mandate system and the shifting power dynamics of the post-war era.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of how imperial powers utilized the past to legitimize their presence in the Middle East. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the breadth of archival research presented by the author.
Page Count:
416
Publication Date:
2020-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192558005
ISBN-13:
9780192558008
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