Dr Dominique Collon

Dr Dominique Collon

1940-2026

By Dr John Curtis

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It is with great sadness that BISI notes the passing of Dominique Collon on 27th July 2026 at the age of 86 after a long illness. She was widely recognised as the foremost expert in the world on the seals and sealings of Mesopotamia and surrounding areas and throughout her career she was involved with the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (later BISI). From 1979 to 2010 she was the co-editor of our journal Iraq, and she was a member of council for many years. Her contributions to the BSAI were aptly summarised in a moving ‘open letter’ to her from David Hawkins, published in Iraq vol 77 (2015). In addition to working in Turkey, Syria and Tunisia, she joined the BSAI excavations at Tell al Rimah in 1965 and the British Museum excavations in the Eski Mosul Dam Salvage Project in 1984 and at Nimrud in 1989.

From 1964-68 and again from 1977-2005 she worked in the British Museum, first as a special assistant and later as a curator. Her scholarly output was nothing short of phenomenal. She wrote no less than four volumes in the series Catalogue of Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, as well as general introductions to cylinder seals (First Impressions, 1987) and to Western Asiatic art (Ancient Near Eastern Art, 1995). Her PhD thesis at Columbia University under Professor Edith Porada had been published in 1975 under the tile The Seal Impressions of Tell Atchana /Alalakh. In addition to all this she contributed many articles to the Reallexikon der Assyriologie and to the Grove Dictionary of Art of which she was the Near Eastern editor. She also prepared for the press the British Museum’s monumental catalogue of the sculptures of Sennacherib.

For all her scholastic achievements, Dominique was no cloistered scholar. She had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, and was a generous and hospitable hostess. She was always ready to share her expertise and encouraged and helped many younger scholars. With her half-Belgian background and linguistic versatility she was a truly international scholar, and she will be much missed. BISI extends condolences to her son Gerard and her two brothers. It is intended that a memorial event will be organised as soon as possible.