John Edward Curtis


John Curtis is an archaeologist and museum curator specialising in the archaeology and history of Iraq and Iran c. 1000 – 330 BC.

Career

He was educated at Collyers School Horsham, the University of Bristol and the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. He was a Fellow of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq 1969-71, and joined the British Museum in 1971. He was Keeper of the Middle East Department 1989-2011,1 and 2012-2013. He became CEO of The Iran Heritage Foundation in 2014.2 He is currently , a and .3 He is married to Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, curator of Middle East Coins at the British Museum.

Excavations

Khirbet Qasrij, Iraq, 1983-844
Khirbet Khatuniyeh, Iraq, 1984-855
Nimrud, Iraq, 19896
Balawat, Iraq, 1989

Exhibitions

Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum 7
Forgotten Empire: The world of Ancient Persia 8
The Cyrus Cylinder'
The http://cyruscylinder2013.com/2013/10/dr-john-curtis-appointed-ceo-of-iran-heritage-foundation-and-ihf-america/ [Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia' 9
The Horse 10

Iraq War

From 2003 onwards he was active in attempts to record damage to the cultural heritage of Iraq.11 He was the first Western archaeologist to enter the Iraq Museum after the looting in 2003, and was invited by the Iraqi Minister of Culture to write a in 2004.12 He directed a survey of sites in southern Iraq in 200813 and was involved in the creation of a new museum for Basra from 2008 onwards.14

Honours

He was elected a in 200315 and was awarded an OBE in 2006. He is a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute and the Archaeological Institute of America. He was given special awards by the Iran Heritage Foundation in 2005 and 2013 for his contributions to Iranian studies, the Book of the Year prize, Islamic Republic of Iran, 2009, and the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal of the Royal Society of Asian Affairs in 201616.

Selected publications

Fifty Years of Mesopotamian Discovery
Nush-i Jan III: The Small Finds
Bronzeworking Centres of Western Asia c. 1000-539 BC
Excavations at Qasrij Cliff and Khirbet Qasrij
Ancient Persia
Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum
Excavations at Khirbet Khatuniyeh
Ancient Caucasian and Related Material in the British Museum
Forgotten Empire: the World of Ancient Persia
The Balawat Gates of Ashurnasirpal II
New Light on Nimrud: Proceedings of the Nimrud Conference 11th-13th March 2002
Final Report on Damage Assessment in Babylon
The Horse: from Arabia to Royal Ascot
The Oxus Treasure
An Examination of Late Assyrian Metalwork with Special Reference to Nimrud
The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning for the Middle East
Tappeh Sialk: the Glory of Ancient Kashan
Studies in Ancient Persia and the Achaemenid Period