Nippur, Part IV
Category: Expedition & Excavation Footage
Length: 13:57
| Film ID | F16-0556 |
| Film Description | Unedited Excavation footage in desert environment. [1951-1952] Previously misidentified as Tell Billa, Iraq, now correctly identified as Nippur, Iraq by Dr. Eleanor Robson of the University College, London. This mid 20th century phase of the dig was led by the expedition team follows: Field Director: Dr. Donald McCown, Associate Professor of Archaeology of the Oriental Institute Assistant Field Director and Epigrapher: Dr. Francis R. Steele, Assistant Curator of the Babylonian section of the University Museum Anthropologist: Dr. Carleton S. Coon, Curator of Ethnology, University Museum Archaeology Architect: Mr. Joseph Caldwell, Junior Archaeologist of the Smithsonian Institution. Mrs. McCown acted as registrar and housekeeper. Mrs. Coon helped Mr. Coon and drew pictures of finds. Seyyid Fuad Safar joined as archaeologist of the Directorate General of Antiquities. (Right side of frame soft in focus, possibly mis-registered in camera.) Evening or underexposed footage of digging Men arriving at site with bags across shoulders. Continuous dumping dug out sand and soil at pit offsite. The site with pits and a building structure emerging. Many shots demonstrating the large scale of the work, many workers and labor intensive process to remove sand and debris. Child as seen in F16-0555 (Nippur, Part III) pointing out an architectural element. Using a land camera to take still photographs of the site. (Female member of party, to be identified). Child again The lady of the party closing the land camera. More photography, this time by a man of the party, (to be identified) Arranging vases and bowls found at the site in a cupboard indoors. Various artifacts, finds of the site on a table being displayed. Setting up finds for photography outdoors in a courtyard. Sign says TB. Level IV Iraqi official [possibly Seyyid Fuad Safar] and unidentified archaeologist joke about artifacts, especially a sculpture being photographed. |
| Video Category | Expedition & Excavation Footage |
| Topics | Fieldwork, Archaeological fieldwork, Nippur, Bashiqa, Iraq |