David Storm Rice’s photographs of Harran
This week’s blog looks at David Storm Rice’s photographs of archaeological excavations at Harran, Turkey, in the 1950s. This recently catalogued collection joins Rice’s papers catalogued last year, and together the two collections provide insight into the scope of his work on the site at Harran.
Professor David Storm Rice (1913-1962), an academic at SOAS, made four expeditions to Harran between 1951 and 1959. His records of the expeditions are the subject of an earlier blog. The site at Harran was occupied from the Bronze Age, and the ancient city became a significant post on trade routes in the area. The city was also known for a temple to the moon god Sin, and, in the Islamic period, for its university. It was destroyed by Mongol forces in 1260 AD.
Building on a 1950 expedition by Seton Lloyd, director of the British Institute at Ankara, and William Brice, Rice’s expeditions worked extensively on the remains of the Great Mosque, as well as on one of the gateways to Harran’s citadel and on a road lined with shops leading to the mosque. The discovery of three large Babylonian stele in the entrances to the mosque confirmed that the site was that of the ancient Harran.
This collection of photographs extends SOAS Archive’s documentation of Rice’s work at Harran. Some photographs add detail to the collection of his papers from Harran, while others show aspects of the expeditions that are not previously represented. Thus this later collection contains additional views of the important stele found in the mosque, while adding views of the archaeological team at work and areas of the site not included in the earlier collection. A selection of photographs can be seen below.
The photographs of Professor David Storm Rice of archaeological excavations at Harran, Turkey (MS 381321) are now available for consultation in the Special Collections Reading Room.
- A view over the plain to Harran. The minaret of the Great Mosque can be seen to the left, with the tell of Harran to its right. The ‘tell’ is the artificial mound marking the site of the ancient city. (MS 381321/1/122) © SOAS Library
- A view of beehive houses at Harran. The minaret and remains of the great mosque can be seen in the distance. The beehive houses are characteristic of Harran. Their design keeps the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. Made with mud, adobe, and brick, they can be built quickly and are easily extended. (MS 381321/1/11) © SOAS Library
- The local houses at Harran incorporated materials from the ancient site. In this case, the house wall includes a fragment of an inscription. During the 1951 expedition Rice reconstructed the inscription from the citadel’s south east gate. Eleven fragments were found near the gate and a twelfth in the wall of a local house – which may be the fragment shown here. The inscription dated from 1059 AD and gave the names and titles of Mani’ ibn Shabib, the Numayrid emir of Harran. (MS 381321/1/101) © SOAS Library
- The south side of the central arch of the Great Mosque, Harran, with the minaret beyond. (MS 381321/1/183) © SOAS Library
- The remains of the east wall of the Great Mosque, Harran, viewed from the south-west. (MS 381321/1/20) © SOAS Library
- A view of the east wall of the Great Mosque of Harran, looking north. (MS 381321/1/69) © SOAS Library
- Rice conducted a survey of inscriptions and ornamentation found at Harran, and his photographs include many views of fragments of inscriptions and decorated capitals. (MS 381321/1/200) © SOAS Library
- The archaeological team at work. Rice’s notebooks from the expeditions record the names of the labourers employed on the dig and their pay. (MS 381321/1/307) © SOAS Library
- A view of excavations at Harran with local domed houses in the distance. (MS 381321/1/344) © SOAS Library
- A view of the dig at Harran, showing the depth of one of the excavations. One trench was 14m deep, and yielded finds from the medieval period back to the Bronze Age. (MS 381321/1/198) © SOAS Library