Bemerkung zu zwei Mischwesen in der späturukzeitlichen Rollsiegelmotivik

This contribution explores two exceptional motifs in Late Uruk glyptic that have been identified as demons. Introducing the concept of pareidolia in Mesopotamian archaeology, a different perception of these motifs is suggested, according to which they might present representations of two entangled human beings.

Mr. Taylor in Chaldaea.

The very first reports on excavations at sites in southern Sumer appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1855 under the name of ‘J. E. Taylor, Esq.’ A typographer's misreading thus gave Taylor the wrong initials under which he is usually mentioned. His middle name was in fact George. It may, of course, seem surprising that the author himself did not bother to correct the error. One can only suppose that, postal communications being what they were at the time (see below, §6), he never had a chance of seeing his articles in proof. Very little seems to be known of John George Taylor's life and career. According to information kindly supplied by Miss S. Johnson, India Office Records, he was the son of R. Taylor, “almost certainly Colonel R. Taylor”, Rawlinson's predecessor at Baghdad. If so, it is remarkable that the latter does not seem to mention the fact in his correspondence with the British Museum. What is certain is that J. G. Taylor was The Hon. East India Company's Agent and H.M. Vice-Consul at Basrah from 1851 to 1859. In 1853 he started his explorations of the “Chaldaean Marshes” for and on behalf of the British Museum under the very strict instructions and supervision of Rawlinson who, as The Hon. East India Company's Political Agent in Turkish Arabia and H.M. Consul-General at Baghdad, was then presiding over Mesopotamian archaeology with truly vice-regal grandeur and an almost proprietary interest.

Mesopotamian Archaeology: a review

It is a mark of a discipline's maturity when scientists begin to show an interest in I the history of their science. This book by a distinguished archaeologist.might then be welcomed if only as a mark that archaeology has reached that degree of maturity. But of course the book's merits go far beyond that and will indeed appeal to many who are not archaeologists in any sense.The story of archaeological exploration in Mesopotamia is highly instructive and romantic, but also tragic. The author tells it well in an attractive prose style with a few happily chosen illustrations reproduced from early 19th century originals. More than half the volume is occupied by biographical accounts of those who laid the foundations of Western knowledge of the monuments of Iraq, from 16th century merchant-voyagers who casually mentioned them to Botta and Layard who began to excavate them. Lloyd has the power to pick out and vividly recapitulate such incidents in the actors’ lives as shall bring out their characters without distracting attention from the central theme. At the same time he uses their descriptions of scenery and customs, often sharply contrasted with those he knows so well today, to build up a rich and variegated panorama of the natural and human background of Mesopotamian archaeology. Students of Near Eastern civilization who have not themselves had the opportunity of visiting even Mosul, Baghdad, Ur and Basra will find these passages, in which 19th century observations are illuminated by comparison with contemporary experiences, extremely helpful.