Seton Lloyd
Encyclopedia
Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, CBE
(May 30, 1902, Birmingham
, England–January 7, 1996, Faringdon
, England), was an English
archaeologist. He was President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (President, 1948–1961), Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology, University of London
(1962–1969).
After school at Uppingham
, Lloyd studied at the Architectural Association in London and qualified as an architect in 1926. He gained his first archaeological experience at Tel el Amarna, which Henri Frankfort
was excavating for the Egypt Exploration Society
. In 1930 Lloyd was invited by Frankfort to join latter's next excavation, under the auspices of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
, of a series of sites in the Diyala
valley (1930–1937). In 1937–1939 he excavated with John Garstang
at Mersin
, in southern Turkey
, for the University of Liverpool
. In 1939 Lloyd was appointed Archaeological Adviser to the Directorate of Antiquities in Iraq
, where he helped to establish the Iraq Museum
and reorganize the Gertrude Bell
Museum. He trained Iraqi archaeologists and participated with Iraqi colleagues in several major excavations, notably at ‘Uqair
and Eridu
, at Assyria
n Khorsabad, the Aqueduct
of Sennacherib
at Jerwan. He succeeded Max Mallowan
as the President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
. In 1948, he became Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. He excavated with, among others, James Mellaart
, one of the first scholars at the Ankara School, the mound at Beycesultan
, in western Anatolia
, and also conducted excavations at Polatli
, Haran
, Sultantepe
and other Anatolian sites.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(May 30, 1902, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England–January 7, 1996, Faringdon
Faringdon
Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...
, England), was an English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
archaeologist. He was President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (President, 1948–1961), Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
(1962–1969).
After school at Uppingham
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
, Lloyd studied at the Architectural Association in London and qualified as an architect in 1926. He gained his first archaeological experience at Tel el Amarna, which Henri Frankfort
Henri Frankfort
Henri 'Hans' Frankfort was a Dutch Egyptologist, archaeologist and orientalist.-Biography:Born in Amsterdam, Frankfort studied history at the University of Amsterdam and then moved to London, where in 1924, he took an MA under Sir Flinders Petrie at the University College. In 1927 he gained a...
was excavating for the Egypt Exploration Society
Egypt Exploration Society
The Egypt Exploration Society is the foremost learned society in the United Kingdom promoting the field of Egyptology....
. In 1930 Lloyd was invited by Frankfort to join latter's next excavation, under the auspices of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, of a series of sites in the Diyala
Diyala River
The Diyala River after Darban-e Khan Dam:Kurdish: Sirwan, سيروان, , Persian: سیروان دیاله, is a river and tributary of the Tigris that runs mainly through Eastern Iraq but also Western Iran. It covers a total distance of ....
valley (1930–1937). In 1937–1939 he excavated with John Garstang
John Garstang
John Garstang was a British archaeologist of the ancient Near East, especially Anatolia and the southern Levant....
at Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
, in southern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, for the University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
. In 1939 Lloyd was appointed Archaeological Adviser to the Directorate of Antiquities in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, where he helped to establish the Iraq Museum
National Museum of Iraq
The National Museum of Iraq is a museum located in Baghdad, Iraq. It contains precious relics from Mesopotamian civilization.-Foundation:...
and reorganize the Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...
Museum. He trained Iraqi archaeologists and participated with Iraqi colleagues in several major excavations, notably at ‘Uqair
Tell Uqair
Tell Uqair is a tell or settlement mound northeast of Babylon and about south of Baghdad in modern Babil Governorate, Iraq.-History:...
and Eridu
Eridu
Eridu is an ancient Sumerian city in what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. Eridu was considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, and is one of the oldest cities in the world...
, at Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n Khorsabad, the Aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
of Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
at Jerwan. He succeeded Max Mallowan
Max Mallowan
Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan, CBE was a prominent British archaeologist, specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history, and the second husband of Dame Agatha Christie.-Life and work:...
as the President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
British School of Archaeology in Iraq
The British Institute for the Study of Iraq is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia....
. In 1948, he became Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. He excavated with, among others, James Mellaart
James Mellaart
James Mellaart is a British archaeologist and author who is noted for his discovery of the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. He was also expelled from Turkey suspected of involvement with the antiquities black market and was involved with the so-called Mother goddess controversy in...
, one of the first scholars at the Ankara School, the mound at Beycesultan
Beycesultan
Beycesultan is an archaeological site in western Anatolia, located about 5 km southwest of the modern-day city of Çivril in the Denizli Province of Turkey. It lies in a bend of an old tributary of Büyük Menderes River ,-History:...
, in western Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, and also conducted excavations at Polatli
Polatli
Polatlı is a city and a district in Ankara Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, 80 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara, on the road to Eskişehir. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 117,473 of which 98,605 live in the city of Polatlı...
, Haran
Haran
Haran or Aran is a figure in Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim , the son of Terah and thus a descendant of Shem. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham and Nahor...
, Sultantepe
Sultantepe
The ancient temple-complex, perhaps of Huzirina, now represented by the tell of Sultantepe, is a Late Assyrian archeological site at the edge of the Neo-Assyrian empire, now in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey...
and other Anatolian sites.
Selected works
- Sennacherib's Aqueduct at Jerwan, with Thorkild JacobsenThorkild JacobsenThorkild Jacobsen was a renowned historian specializing in Assyriology and Sumerian literature.He was one of the foremost scholars on the ancient Near East.-Biography:...
(1935) - Mesopotamia: Excavations on Sumerian Sites (1936)
- Pre-Sargonid Temples in the Diyala Region, with Pinhas Delougaz (1942)
- Ruined Cities of Iraq (1942)
- Twin Rivers: A Brief History of Iraq from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (1943)
- Foundations in the Dust: A Story of Mesopotamian Exploration (1947, revised edition 1980)
- Early Anatolia: A Description of Early Civilisation in Asia Minor, As Revealed by the Last Half-Century of Excavating and Exploration (1956)
- The Art of the Ancient Near East (1961)
- Beycesultan, with James MellaartJames MellaartJames Mellaart is a British archaeologist and author who is noted for his discovery of the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. He was also expelled from Turkey suspected of involvement with the antiquities black market and was involved with the so-called Mother goddess controversy in...
(1962–1965) - Mounds of the Ancient Near East (1963)
- Early Highland Peoples of Anatolia (1967)
- Private Houses and Graves in the Diyala Region, with Pinhas Delougaz and Harold D. Hill (1967)
- Ancient Architecture: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Greece, with Hans Wolfgang Müller and Roland MartinRoland MartinRoland Martin may refer to:* Roland Martin , host of American fishing show on TV channel Versus* Roland S. Martin, American author and syndicated columnist...
(1974) - The Archaeology of Mesopotamia from the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest (1978)
- The Interval (1986)
- Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History of Anatolia (1989)
Further reading
- Daniel, Glyn Edmund; Chippindale, Christopher. The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 0500050511).