Return to Babylon Travelers, Archaeologists, and Monuments in Mesopotamia

This revised and updated edition of Brian Fagan's 1979 classic chronicles an archaeological history steeped in excitement, danger, and international competition, when extraordinary men and women, working in delbilitating heat amidst feuding tribes and bands of thieves, made stupendous discoveries at ancient cities such as Babylon, Nineveh, and Ur. Fagan tells the story of archaeological travel and excavation in Iraq'then Mesopotamia'from the time of the great Ara + geographers to the devastation of the Iraq Museum. The excavators were sometimes gifted scholars and sometimes unscrupulous amateurs who looted sites for national museums and even used bribery or force to achieve their goals. Fagan tells the stories of both the famous and the infamous. Bringing this remarkable history up to date, he chronicles the development of scientific archaeology in Mesopotamia, the growing Iraqi involvement in archaeology, and the tragic events of recent years.Fagan, Brian M. is the author of 'Return to Babylon Travelers, Archaeologists, and Monuments in Mesopotamia', published 2007 under ISBN 9780870818677 and ISBN 0870818678.