2024 Sir Charles Nicholson Lecture
For ten seasons Andrew Jamieson was involved in the ARC-funded rescue excavations at Tell Ahmar, a Neo-Assyrian provincial capital, located in the Euphrates River valley. Following this involvement, and prior to the Syrian conflict, he was developing a major new collaboration known as the Syrian-Australian Archaeological Research Project, a partnership between the University of Melbourne, the Syrian Ministry of Culture, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, and the National Museum in Aleppo, that was designed to draw-in other international parties to work towards the establishment of an archaeological collections repository at the historic site of Qal’at Najim, a large Arab castle situated on the right bank of the Euphrates River.
Owing to the war in Syria it was necessary for Andrew to relocate his fieldwork activities. In 2017, he became the director of the Georgian-Australian Investigations in Archaeology (GAIA) project, a collaboration between the University of Melbourne and the Georgian National Museum investigating the fortified, multiperiod site of Rabati in the Kura River valley of southwest Georgia. Excavations at Rabati have uncovered a sizeable and rare Early Kurgan, settlement capping the summit of the site with some Trialeti remains and two Bedeni phases, verified chronologically through a series of radiocarbon dates.
From the perspective of a researcher unable to return to Syria, Andrew’s talk examines how he shifted his focus to southwest Georgia and along the way will share some of his experiences and discoveries made over the past thirty years.
This event will include a glass of wine and light refreshments from Sounds café.
Andrew Jamieson is Associate Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. For more than three decades, he has participated in archaeological fieldwork, in Egypt, Georgia, Lebanon, Syria, and Australia. He has been especially active in preservation and salvage projects. In 2017, Andrew became the director of the Georgian-Australian Investigations in Archaeology (GAIA) project. He is also an award-winning teacher, whose work in the sphere of object-based learning has been highly influential, both in Australia and internationally. He is very active in the field of community engagement, promoting the ancient world within the wider community and fostering interest in university activities. He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and in 2023 was the recipient of the Faculty of Arts Alumni Award for his contribution to the faculty and university.
Since 2017 an annual lecture has been held at the Nicholson Museum, the Chau Chak Wing Museum or online to honour collection founder Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903). The Sir Charles Nicholson Annual Lecture brings to Sydney an international or interstate archaeologist, curator or ancient historian to discuss current issues in Mediterranean, Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological research and collections from around the globe. Previous lecturers have included Dr Irving Finkel of the British Museum, Assoc Professor Alice Stevenson of UCL, Dr Alexandra Fletcher of the British Museum and Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.