Wednesday, May 21, 2025 @ 6:00 pm-8:00 pm

Lecture

Dr Sébastien Rey and Dr Ebru Torun on ‘The Girsu Project in Iraq: A holistic approach to heritage management combining archaeological research, training and site conservation’

The Girsu Project is a British Museum’s collaborative venture with the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in Iraq. It combines research, on-site training and heritage management of one of the world’s oldest cities. The Sumerian site of Girsu (modern day Tello) is one of the great treasures of Iraqi heritage. Revered in the 3rd millennium BC as the sanctuary of the Sumerian heroic god Ningirsu, Girsu was a megacity covering hundreds of hectares at its peak. Today, the site is marked by huge excavation pits and spoil heaps − the remnants of 19th- and early-20th-century lootings and excavations that lacked a methodological approach to fieldwork. Many architectural features were exposed too quickly and poorly documented, meaning the spectacular finds from the site, now in museums around the world, lack archaeological context. The Girsu Project is responding to these urgent issues through new rescue excavations, site conservation and complete documentation of the site using cutting-edge technology. This talk outlines the project’s methodology and latest achievements.

Dr Sébastien Rey is the curator for ancient Mesopotamia at the British Museum and director of the Girsu Project in Iraq. Doctor in Archaeology from the Panthéon–Sorbonne University in Paris, he has excavated at sites including Ugarit and Mari in Syria and has been the director of Tello (ancient Girsu) in Iraq since 2015.

Dr Ebru Torun is an architect (Middle East Technical University, Ankara) specializing in conservation and heritage management and holds a PhD in Archaeology from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). Over the past 25 years, she has worked at archaeological sites in Türkiye—serving as deputy director at Sagalassos—as well as at Aphrodisias and Komana. Her experience also includes work in Egypt, specifically at Myos Hormos and Sikait. Ebru is the site conservator and heritage manager of the Girsu Project in Iraq since 2018.