This talk is retrospective, reporting on what has happened to the site and its antiquities since 1990, and what might happen in future.

Assyrian palace art is some of the most striking imagery to survive from anywhere in the ancient world. These monumental carvings are powerfully effective, aesthetic masterpieces of an exquisitely detailed beauty.

Dr Gareth Brereton on Assyria and the West: archaeologists, diplomats and adventurers in 19th century Mosul.

Held in memory of the late Dr Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr (1938-2019), a founding FOBM Trustee and BISI Honorary member and advisor, who played a pivotal role in the establishment and success of the new museum for Basra.

This talk presents the context and importance of the Najaf Sea; shell and heavy mineral analyses and optically-stimulated luminescence dating results.

The chance to refurbish the Ancient Near East gallery at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has offered opportunities to rethink what stories are told and also who tells them.

Childhood and boyhood memoir of growing up in a Jewish household in Baghdad in the 1940s and early 50s, with particular reference to food and drink.

Taking a modern conflict approach, this talk will explore the material remains of the war, their interaction with more ancient heritage sites, and the potential significance of conflict heritage in Iraq, both now and in the future. 

In the nineteenth century, Christian communities used amulets in their daily lives: to combat ailments and illnesses, to bless crops, for protection in travel and assistance in political feuds.

Stephanie speaks about her ground-breaking, illustrated account of The City of Babylon: a history c.2000 BC to AD 117

In this lavishly illustrated talk, it will be shown that the archaeological record indicates the existence of a Saluki-like hunting hound in Mesopotamia from at least the 6th millennium BCE.

This talk reveals how the idea of a Sumerian people was assembled from archaeological and textual evidence uncovered in Iraq and Syria over the last 150 years.