Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr: a Legend, a Person
Words Hafsa ALKHUDAIRI
Most people know Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr as a scholar and archaeologist specializing in cylinder seals. At least that’s how most people in the field would have referred to her. Some would call her “the savior of Iraq’s heritage,” while others might have called her “the lead mind on Mesopotamian history.” It makes sense since she received degrees in archaeology from Cambridge (BA), Edinburgh (M.Litt), and the Institute of Archaeology, London (PhD), where she is an honorary Senior Associate Research Fellow, and worked in the Iraq Museum in the 1960s before returning to Baghdad in 2003-2004 (after the museum's looting) as a consultant to the Ministry of Culture. She is an expert on Cylinder Seals and has published many books and articles. She is also the editor and publisher of the archaeological series Edduba. Her research on the history of the Iraq Museum now emphasizes the role of early pioneers such as Gertrude Bell and Sati al-Husri based on the archive of the Iraq Museum. From 2003 until her passing in 2019, she had been lecturing on the looting of the archaeological sites in Iraq and the destruction of its heritage.
“She has been influential in my life and others in the most idiosyncratic ways”
The above is a list of her accomplishments easily found in many newspapers and Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr’s autobiographical references. However, the legacy she left behind is so effective and palpable to the cultural and historical communities to the extent that – according to Al-Damluji – she was regarded with so much respect and reverence in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad: although she had no official position, the professionals would listen to her instructions, and she influenced how the information about the artifacts and their historical narratives are shared with the public. She managed to call the MP during a parliamentary meeting to ask her to be more lenient in the way she argued for cultural institutions despite the argument being in her favor. It is no wonder then that during her funeral, a procession of mourners drove her flag-draped coffin from the museum to her grave in Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Gailani Mosque and Mosuleum (of whom she is a descendent). The event was streamed live on television, and her family around the world who couldn’t attend in person were able to witness her legacy and share their tears with the people of Iraq.
Before the war, Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr agreed to attend meetings to ensure that the historical sites and the museums were not looted or destroyed. So her disappointment is understandable when the Iraq Museum was looted in 2003. She was one of the people who spoke up about the systematic way it was done and continued throughout the chaotic years that followed, ending with the televised ISIL destruction where she was quoted saying (to the BBC), “They are erasing our history… I wish it was a nightmare and I could wake up.” Despite the darkness of that time, she worked hard subsequently to find the lost pieces, encouraging the employees in the museum and the heritage spaces to continue their work. She also was considered the “bridge” between Iraq and the West, according to Dr. John Curtis, President of the BISI, CEO of the Iran Heritage Foundation, and previously Keeper of the Middle East collections at the British Museum (with special interests in Iraq and Iran). Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr translated content from Arabic to English and vice versa and republished them under Nabu Publications. Her efforts led her to be awarded the Gertrude Bell Memorial Gold Medal “for outstanding services to Mesopotamia archaeology” in 2009.
“She had the best sense of humor and she was so humane”
Although she specialized in cylinder seals and has co-written a research book outlining the first mentions of Arabs in history, Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr’s most significant legacy within her professional realm was the Basrah Museum. She fought hard to make it a reality with her co-worker and co-champion Kahtan Alobeid, who described her as an academic and field archeologist. He witnessed her negotiate the transfer of historical pieces from Baghdad to Basrah which, according to all the archeologists interviewed and Al-Damluji, would not have happened without her name being associated with this project. The museum was difficult, as every detail was a war of wits. For example, in an anecdote shared by Alobeid, when they were trying to design and build the displays for the artifacts, they needed the dimensions, weights, and conservation conditions. However, their counterpart couldn’t give them the specifics, saying build it and then the items would be provided. Al-Gailani-Werr was confident in her position and knowledge to say: “Don’t you need to have a person’s height to build their coffin?” Her words may not have appealed their case, but they did inspire the team to create an alternative flexible display mechanism that allowed the museum to be one of the most advanced in the area.
“She may not have been a serious collector, but she was close to artists; she was a friend to us all”
In the artwork, The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist (cylinder seals), Micheal Rokawitz used a quote from Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr’s different speeches and articles as part of his artwork connecting the looting and destruction of Iraq’s heritage to those who worked on protecting it. “There is nowhere else in the world you find all these influences coming together.” Her act of protection may have made her appealing to this artist. However, she had deep connections to artists and creatives like Dia Azzawi, Muhammad Ghani Hikmat, Nuha al-Radi, and Rifat Chadirji, both as family and friends. Her passion for history and its preservation is not only present in her research and her work in Iraq, especially the Basrah Museum, but also in her love of the arts, showcased in the works influenced by what she has done. For example, working with the Ruya Foundation, she supported the provision and attended the panel for the historical context of the Iraq Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. On a personal level, she connected with artists, constantly visited galleries, and acquired what made her happy.
“She liked challenges and challenging people through her factual knowledge”
As impressive as Lamia Al-Gailani-Werr is professionally, personally, I would call her the great-aunt I bribed with not-so-yummy scrambled eggs for stories of the old gods and ancient pre-organized religions’ beliefs associated with the different kingdoms in Mesopotamia. I can never look at Inanna or Ishtar or Lemassu without thinking of her, and I hope that wherever she is, she knows she is living in our hearts and our minds. She may have passed before the opening of the Basrah Museum, but according to Alobeid, she was there in spirit. She may have passed before she could be Head (Omdah) of the AlGailani family – her last ambition according to Azzawi – but she ended up being safeguarded on those lands. Her physical story may have ended, but her influence will not.
“The best cook and best host – I will never forget her dinners”
