Lamia Al-Gailani Werr (, 8 March 1938 – 18 January 2019) was an Iraqi

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

specialising in

ancient Mesopotamia The Civilization of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writ ...

n antiquities. Al-Gailani was born in Baghdad and completed her education in Iraq and the United Kingdom. Her doctoral study of Old Babylonian

cylinder seal A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in width, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

s was considered a landmark in the field. Based in London, in her later career she was known for maintaining links between British and Iraqi archaeology under the Saddam Hussein regime, and her efforts to preserve cultural heritage in the aftermath of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. She was closely involved in the reconstruction of the

National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum () is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq. The Iraq Museum contains precious relics from the Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations. It was loo ...

, where she had worked as a curator in the 1960s, and the founding of the Basrah Museum. She was awarded the fifth Gertrude Bell Memorial Gold Medal by the

British Institute for the Study of Iraq The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) (formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq) is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia. It was founded in 1932 and its ai ...

in 2009.

Education and career

Al-Gailani was born in Baghdad on 8 March 1938. She studied at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

for a year, then completed her bachelor's degree at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In 1961, she began working as a curator of the

, the institution that would be the focus of much of her later career. She returned to Britain in the 1970s, to complete a master's degree at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, and then a PhD at the Institute of Archaeology in London. Her PhD thesis, supervised by Barbara Parker-Mallowan, was a study of

Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Enc ...

s at the Iraq Museum. Published after much delay in 1988, Dominique Collon, curator of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum, described the work as a "succinct and informative discussion" that should "serve as a model for all future studies." After obtaining her PhD in 1977, Al-Gailani remained in London as an honorary research associate at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and a research associate at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

(SOAS). She returned to Iraq frequently, working to maintain contact between Iraqi archaeologists and the wider academic world under the Saddam Hussein regime. In 1999, she and Salim al-Alusi co-authored ''The First Arabs'', a popular account in Arabic of the archaeology of early Arab culture in Mesopotamia. From 2003, her work focused on the preservation of antiquities in Iraq. She helped rebuild the Iraq Museum after it was looted and damaged in the 2003 American-led invasion and was a frequent commentator on the difficulties faced by museums and heritage protection in postwar Iraq. She was a consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and was closely involved in the reopening of the Iraq Museum in 2015 and the founding of the Basrah Museum in 2016. At the time of her death in 2019, Al-Gailani held a research fellowship at the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

in New York, where she was writing a book on the history of the Iraq Museum.

Personal life

A member of a prominent Iraqi family, Al-Gailani's lineage included

Abdul Qadir Gilani Abdul Qadir Gilani (; ; c. 1077/78 – 1166) was a Hanbali scholar, preacher, and Sufi leader who was the eponym of the Qadiriyya, one of the oldest Sufi orders. He was born c. 1077/78 in the town of Na'if, Rezvanshahr in Gilan, Persia, ...

, the founder of the Qadiri Sufi order, and

Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani Qutb-ul Aqtaab Naqib Al Ashraaf Syed Abd ar-Rahman al-Qadri al-Gillani (; 11 January 1841 – 13 June 1927) was the first prime minister of Iraq. He was an important figure during the Ottoman and the British Eras, and he had an important role in ...

, the first

prime minister of Iraq The prime minister of the Republic of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minist ...

. Her parents were Ahmad Jamal Al-Din Al-Gailani and Madiha Asif Mahmud Arif-Agha. Al-Gailani married twice. Her first husband, Abd al-Rahman Al-Gailani, was an Iraqi historian of

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...

. Her second husband was George Werr, a Jordanian businessman who died in 2003. She had three daughters: Noorah Al-Gailani, Azza Al-Gailani and Hesn Werr. , Noorah Al-Gailani was the Curator of Islamic Civilisations at the

Glasgow Museums Glasgow Museums is the group of museums and galleries owned by the City of Glasgow, Scotland. They hold about 1.6 million objects including over 60,000 art works, over 200,000 items in the human history collections, over 21,000 items relating to ...

Death and legacy

Al-Gailani died in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

on 18 January 2019. She was interred in the Mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani (her ancestor) in Baghdad, following a funeral procession from the Iraq Museum. She was the only lifetime honorary member of the

and was awarded its Gertrude Bell Memorial Gold Medal in 2009.

References

External links

"The First Arabs in the Fertile Crescent" by Dr. Lamia al-Gailani Werr

Lamia Al Gailani Werr: Four Wars and the Museums in Iraq

When words fail: Iraq's lost heritage and efforts to save it

Iraqi archaeologist discusses ISIL's destruction of antiquities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gailani Werr, Lamia 1938 births 2019 deaths People from Baghdad Iraqi archaeologists Iraqi women archaeologists Iraqi Assyriologists Archaeologists of the Near East University of Baghdad alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology Academics of the UCL Institute of Archaeology Academics of SOAS University of London