New deals for the past: the Cold War, American archaeology, and UNESCO in Egypt and Syria

ABSTRACT

From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and salvage such that their focus on logical positivism converged with US foreign policy towards international technical assistance. River basin salvage archaeology, pioneered in the US by the Tennessee Valley Authority and exported to the Middle East in the 1950s, was a prime example of American Cold War techno-politics that accompanied other international aid and technical assistance programmes. Amphitheaters of archaeology along the Nile and Euphrates were fertile testing grounds for the development of what became known as the ‘New Archaeology’, but also new deals, new science, infrastructure, and agriculture within a Cold War setting, so that monumental heritage and dam projects became flashpoints between American visions for the Middle East and attempts by UNESCO to maintain the spirit of internationalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Agricultural revolution
• Nile
• Euphrates
• Middle East
• TVA
• Point IV
• World Food Program

Acknowledgements

Christina Luke would like to thank Carol van Driel-Murray and Oliver Nieuwenhuijse at Leiden University as well as Fokke Gerritsen at the Netherlands Institute in Turkey for their time in discussing records and their work in northern Syria. Jeffery Cumonow at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago was extremely helpful with James Braidwood records and OI newsletters. Lynn Meskell would like to thank Sang Phan at the UNESCO archives in Paris. Access to the Dutch sources was made possible by the tireless work of Gertjan Plets and Marin Kuijt at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Geralda Jurriaans-Helle assisted with the van Loon archive held by the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam. The Dutch National Archive in The Hague provided access to the NEDECO materials. Finally, we are grateful to Tara Ingman and Annalisa Bolin and two anonymous reviewers for the helpful direction on our paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 C.H. Kraeling, 1 November 1956. The Oriental Institute Archaeological Newsletters, University of Chicago.

2 Robert Braidwood 1954 NSF proposal. Oriental Institute archives, University of Chicago.

3 Panelists included Clyde Kluckhohn, Alfred L. Kroeber, Robert M. Adams, Edgar Anderson, Julian Huxley, Herman J. Muller, Fred Polak, Julian Steward, Leslie White, and Gordon Willey.

4 United States Government Agencies – Tennessee Valley Authority – TVA – S-1301-0000-0224-00001. United Nations Archives. Stevens (1955); Belshaw (1947).

5 Confidential letter from Ali Vrioni to Louis Christophe, 30 January, 1963. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/Abu-Simbel Part IV from I/IV/62. Nasser's quote appears in an article by Ritchie Calder, ‘Jacking Up a Mountain of Stone’, in the UNESCO Courier, October 1961 p. 6.

6 March 8 appeal by Vittorino Veronese, Director-General of UNESCO, UNESCO Courier 13 (May, 1960), 7 from Betts, ‘The Warden of World Heritage: UNESCO and the Rescue of the Nubian Monuments,’ p. 117.

7 Letter from Albert Spaulding at NSF to J. K. van der Haagen, UNESCO, re Clement Meighan, 10 October 1960. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/ 930.26. They were also ‘clear at the outset that the research divisions of the Foundation have as their primary function the support of programmes of basic research which originate in the universities and other institutions’.

8 Letter from Albert Spaulding at NSF to J. K. van der Haagen, UNESCO, re Clement Meighan, 10 October 1960. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/ 930.26.

9 André Malraux, ‘TVA of Archaeology’, in the UNESCO Courier, May 1960, pp. 8–11.

10 Letter from Walter Emery to J. K. van der Hagen, 1962, about Sudan. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) Nubia (624) Part I.

11 Letter from J. O. Brew to Director General René Maheu, 30 August 1961. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/ 930.26.

12 Lasalle. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) Nubia/A 02/17.

13 Letter to Louis Christophe, 19 February 1963, entitled Une porte où frapper Les Universités américaines pourraient encore financer le sauvetage d’Abou Simbel. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/Christophe Nubia – Correspondence with M. Christophe Part II.

14 Letter from William Y. Adams to Ralph Solecki, 3 May 1962. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (62) N/A 114/ 113 (73), Columbia University.

15 Senator Hruska, Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1962. Hearings before the Committee on the Appropriations, United States Senate, 87th Congress, First Session, p. 642.

16 Mr. Coombs from the State Department, Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1962. Hearings before the Committee on the Appropriations, United States Senate, 87th Congress, First Session, p. 647. See also the full text of the earlier US Senate Mutual Security Act of 1960 for further explanations of American self-interest; see https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/101706169, accessed 12 December 2019.

17 Excerpt from House Report, Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1962. Hearings before the Committee on the Appropriations, United States Senate, 87th Congress, First Session, p. 549.

18 Memo entitled Co-operation with USSR, ODG/DDG Memo. 23.695. 22 May 1961. UNESCO Archives 069 (62) Nubia/A 02 Part III.

19 On 30 March 1947, the British signed contracts for survey and design of the Aleppo water supply as well as infrastructure for the port of Tartus and management of the Euphrates (e.g. irrigation, agriculture, and hydroelectricity). Correspondence respecting Syria: part 1, 1947, National Archives London, UK.

20 The original submission for the 1954 NSF was entitled ‘for support of a research project on an investigation of the zoological, demographic, and ecological aspects of the natural history of human populations on the hilly flanks of the Fertile Crescent (Iraq, lowland Turkey, Syria, Palestine and Trans-Jordan)’. Braidwood files, Oriental Institute archives, University of Chicago. Yellen and Greene (1985) shortened the title to ‘Human Population Studies in the Fertile Crescent’.

21 Robert Braidwood, Jarmo, Chemchemal, Kirkuk Liwa, Iraq, 20 November 1950. Newsletters of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.

22 Report on visit to Syria, Malcolm S. Adiseshiah, 18 May 1955. UNESCO Archives, file reference CA.12/137 069.72 (569.1) AMS Syria Part 1.

23 Report from Malcolm Adiseshiah to Jean Thomas, 25 August 1958. UNESCO Archives, file reference 069 (560.1) AMS – Museums – SYRIA.

24 Briefing for Syria and Jordan. 4 August 1961.

25 Briefing for Syria and Jordan. 4 August 1961.

26 The networks of both researchers are important. Solecki had already received NSF support for his work on Shanidar Cave in Iraq and had close connections with those at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute; and he’d also participated in salvage work along the Nile. Maurits van Loon, a Dutch citizen, had done fieldwork with Braidwood, and after completing his PhD at Columbia University with Solecki became a researcher at the Oriental Institute. He also had ties to northern Syria via the Dutch company NEDECO.

27 In addition, the UN oversaw the 1958 establishment of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) in Damascus.

28 The 34 countries were as follows: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAR, USSR, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Yugoslavia.

29 G. Bolla to R. Tötterman. 15 March 1972. CA 12/137 069.72 (569.1) AMS Syria Part 4. UNESCO Archives, Paris.

30 It is important to note Dornemann's training. As a PhD from the University of Chicago, he had worked closely with Braidwood and then later assisted van Loon.

31 Request to the UN/FAO World Food Programme for Assistance in a Project for Economic and Social Development. Exploration and Restoration of Archaeological Sites in Syria, July 1973. Ministry of Culture and National Guidance, Syrian Arab Republic. CA 12/137 069.72 (569.1) AMS Syria Part 4. UNESCO Archives, Paris.

32 W.R. Tomkys to A.J. M. Craig. 14 June 1977. Diplomatic Representation of the UK in Syria. British National Archives. FCO_93_1334. Euphrates Dam. 1977 Brochure. Diplomatic Representation of the UK in Syria. British National Archives. FCO_93_1334.

33 Near East & North Africa. Visit of the COMET Mission to Syria, 1977, National Archives London, UK. D.A. Roberts to A.B. Urwisk. 3 February 1976. Arms for Syria. Political relations between UK and Syria, 1976, National Archives London, UK. 6 August 1975. US Embassy in Damascus to Commander in Chief European Command Vaihingen Germany, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of State, Egypt Cairo, Israel Jerusalem, Israel Tel Aviv, Jordan Amman, Lebanon Beirut, Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Secretary of State 1975 DAMASC03006_b. Wikileaks. US Embassy Damascus to Department of Commerce, Department of State, Iran Tehran, Jordan Amman, Lebanon Beirut, Secretary of State. 1975 DAMASC03072_b. Wikileaks. See also Report of the Director-General on the activities of the Organization in 1974, communicated to Member States and the Executive Board in accordance with Article VI. 3. b of the Constitution. General Conference Nineteenth Session, 1976. See also I. T. M. Lucas to J. A. H. Graham CMG. Syrian Iraqi Relations. 24 June 1975. External Relations of Iraq. FCO_8_2540.

34 British Consulate in Aleppo. A.J.M. Craig. 20 May 1977. FCO_93_1334. National British Archives.

35 2 March 1979. US Embassy Damascus to US Department of State. 1979DAMASC01384_e. Wikileaks.

36 J.C. Moberly, 4 March 1980. AID: SYRIA. UK aid and technical assistance to the Near East, 1980. National Archives London, UK.