Speiser, E. A. (Ephraim Avigdor), 1902-1965

Tepe Gawra in northern Iraq was the site of excavations uncovering twenty-six levels of occupation spanning the years from about 5000 B.C. to 1500 B.C. This expedition was funded by the University Museum, A.S.O.R.- Baghdad, and Dropsie College in Philadelphia. Excavations took place from fall to spring, directed by E. A. Speiser (University of Pennsylvania, University Museum and A.S.O.R.- Baghdad) for the 1930-1931, 1931-1932, and 1936-1937 seasons, and by C. Bache (University Museum) for the 1932-1933, 1934-1936, and the 1937-1938 seasons. During 1933-1934, work started late because of complications due to a change in the Antiquities laws and was not represented by a separate field report.

Excavation at Khafajah, a site located fifty miles northeast of Baghdad, was initially directed by Henry Frankfurt and Pinhas Delougaz of the Oriental Institute in Chicago between 1930 and 1937. In the same year, the Joint American Expedition, under the field direction of E. A. Speiser, continued excavation in conjunction with the work in progress since 1931 at Tepe Gawra (700 miles north of Khafajah). In theory, excavation was to take place between December and February when the weather was favorable. The excavation at Tepe Gawra would continue during October and November and in the spring. During the second season, 1937-1938, P. Delougaz was the field director and C. Bache, field director at Tepe Gawra, assisted him. Excavation did not occur at Khafajah in 1938 because of political conditions.

Karatepe, located ten miles from Tepe Gawra in northern Iraq, is mentioned only briefly in the general correspondence (C. Bache) for the Tepe Gawra and Tell Billa excavations. Penn Museum involvement with this site was during the 1930s. At present, the Near Eastern collections at the museum contain sixty-seven objects (accession numbers 36-7-1 to 36-7-67) from Karatepe (1934-1935). Records are limited to a small group of photographs depicting excavations with captions, and an oversized plan. Other material relating to this site may still be located with the records of other joint Assyrian Excavation ventures. Records for Tepe Gawra, Tell Billa, Karatepe, and Khafajah overlap because excavations were carried out by the Joint Assyrian Expedition which consisted of staff from the Penn Museum and the American School of Oriental Research (A.S.O.R.), Baghdad. The two major excavations were Tepe Gawra (1931-1938), and Tell Billa (1930-1938), although at Tell Billa the most intensive season occurred before 1933.