Venue
Jerusalem was an important centre for archaeological research in Palestine during the British Mandate (1920-1948). In particular the suburb of Sheikh Jarrah, on the hills above Herod’s Gate and the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now Rockefeller Museum), was home to the British, French and American archaeological institutes. This network of archaeological missions had a significant impact on the way archaeology was conducted in Palestine, and also wielded considerable diplomatic influence. The neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah was also home to many Mandate officials, including JH Iliffe, first Keeper of the Palestine Archaeological Museum.
To mark the end of the RD Milns Antiquities Museum's exhibition “Contested Histories: Photographs from Mandate Palestine in the JH Iliffe Collection”, join a panel of international scholars as they consider the unique intersection of archaeology, culture and politics in Jerusalem’s historic Sheikh Jarrah, and the influence of history and archaeology on modern Palestine.
Panellists
Sarah Irving is a scholar of the history of Ottoman and Mandate Palestine. She is currently a Leverhulme early career fellow at Edge Hill University and Editor of the journal Contemporary Levant (CBRL).
Mathilde Sigalas researches archaeology and diplomacy in Palestine and Iraq after the First World War. She is completing her PhD at the Department of General History at the University of Geneva.
Sary Zananiri is a researcher exploring photography and visual culture in Palestine, and in particular the way photography of Palestine is consumed in the West. He is a postdoctoral fellow at Leiden University and at the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO).
About the JH Iliffe Collection
JH Iliffe was the first keeper of the Palestine Archaeological Museum and a prolific amateur photographer. His extensive archive of photographs, documents and ephemera, along with three antiquities, were acquired by The University of Queensland in 2013 from members of his extended family who live in Queensland. Iliffe also worked extensively in Cyprus and Liverpool after 1948. You can explore photographs from his collection on UQ eSpace.
"Contested Histories" is presented in Partnership with the Fryer Library, The University of Queensland Library.