Sumeromania: The History of the British Museums Girsu Collection / Sebastien Rey.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rey, Sébastien, editor.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (316 p.)

Place of Publication:

University Park, PA Penn State University Press, [2026]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Sumeromania uncovers the dramatic and complex story behind one of the British Museums most important holdings: its vast collection of objects from the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu (modern Tello, Iraq). From statues of rulers to thousands of cuneiform tablets, these artifacts entered the museum during a period of fierce competition among empires, archaeologists, and dealers. Drawing on an extraordinary archive of correspondence, reports, and trustees minutes, the book reconstructs how these objects were unearthed, purchased, and transported between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It reveals the entanglements of Ottoman authorities, French excavators, British officials, and an international network of antiquities dealers, while also tracing the museums evolving accession practices. By linking archival documents with objects in the collection, Sumeromania not only provides a reassessment of provenance but also resituates these materials within their archaeological and geopolitical contexts. In doing so, the book offers a major contribution to the study of the history of archaeology, museum collecting, and imperialism. It reconfigures our understanding of how modern institutions came to shapeand distortthe material record of ancient Mesopotamia. Specialists in ancient Near Eastern studies, Assyriology, and archaeology will find new insights into Girsus recovery, while scholars of museum studies, the history of collecting, and British imperial history will discover a case study rich in archival detail and contemporary resonance.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE / Sebastien Rey

ABBREVIATIONS

Chapter 1 Prologue: The Recovery of Ancient Sumer

Chapter 2 Girsu: The First Evidence of a Lost Civilisation

Chapter 3 Imperial Geopolitics and the Growth of Systematic Archaeology in Southern Iraq

Chapter 4 Nineteenth- Century Encounters with Gudea

Chapter 5 George Smith: An Untimely and Irreparable Loss

Chapter 6 Sarzec and Rassam in Tello: Rivalry and Deceptions

Chapter 7 The Pivotal Role of E. A. Wallis Budge

Chapter 8 Sarzecs Return to Tello and an Extended Absence: 1880 to 1891

Chapter 9 A Flood of Tablets!

Chapter 10 Budge Keeps Afloat: British Museum Purchases in 1895

Chapter 11 The Insatiable Appetite for Tablets from Tello: 1896 and 1897

Chapter 12 The Baghdad Dealer Network Expands: British Museum Purchases in 1898 and 1899

Chapter 13 Budges Activities in the Post- Sarzec Era: 19001903

Chapter 14 British Museum Purchases During the Renewed French Excavations: 1903 to 1933

Chapter 15 Epilogue: The Hands of the Gudea Colossus

REFERENCES

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed March 17 2026)

ISBN:

1-64602-373-0