Donny George Youkhanna (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: , syr, ܕܘܢܝ ܓܘܪܓ ܝܘܚܢܢ) (October 23, 1950 – March 11, 2011)
[Statement of Dr. Donny George for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]
/ref> was an Iraqi-Assyrian archaeologist, anthropologist, author, curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
, and scholar, and a visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at Stony Brook University in New York.
Biography
Youkhanna was born in Habbaniyah
Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya ( ar, ٱلْحَبَّانِيَّة, ''al-Ḥabbānīyah'') is a city 85 km (53 mi) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq. A military airfield, RAF Habbaniya, was the site of a battle in 1941, during Wor ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
in 1950 to Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
parents from northern Iraq.[ He moved with his family to ]Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
during his childhood, where he gained his education. He gained a BA, MA, and PhD in prehistoric archaeology
Prehistoric archaeology is a subfield of archaeology, which deals specifically with artefacts, civilisations and other materials from societies that existed before any form of writing system or historical record. Often the field focuses on ages ...
at the University of Baghdad
The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt.
Nomenclature
Both University ...
. He was fluent in Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
, Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Youkhanna was the Director General of Iraq's National Museum,[Assyrian archaeologist to speak about Iraq museum artifact recovery campaign]
Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and the President of the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. He conducted excavations in the Bekhme Dam area, Nineveh, and Tell Umm al-Aqarib as well as working on many restoration projects in Babylon, Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
, Nineveh, Ur and Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
. He authored two books on the structural design and stone industries of Tell es Sawwan, and gave several presentations on the current museum conditions and historical archaeological sites of Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
Dr. George, who dropped his last name for professional purposes, was instrumental in recovering over half of the 15,000 Mesopotamian artifacts looted from the National Museum in Baghdad during the invasion. A majority of the artefacts date back to 6,000 years from the ancient empires of Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
and Babylonia. He fought his way through to the Iraq National Museum in the days after the American-led invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
and tried to stop the looters ransacking it but was unable to persuade American soldiers to protect it because they had been given no orders to do so.
He became the international face of the plight of ancient sites and artefacts in Iraq, many of which were stolen or destroyed during the invasion. In December 2008, Youkhanna was decisive in preventing the sale of royal Neo-Assyrian
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...
[Iraq bids to stop Christie's sale of ancient earrings]
''The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' earrings from the world-famous Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
treasures at Christie's art auction in New York.
Due to threats from unknown militia groups during the US occupation of Iraq, Youkhanna was forced to flee Iraq with his family first to Syria and then to the United States in 2006, to take up a position as visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at Stony Brook University in New York.[
He died on 11 March 2011 as a result of a heart attack while he was travelling via ]Toronto Pearson International Airport
Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surr ...
, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was 60.
Education
*Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology, University of Baghdad
The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt.
Nomenclature
Both University ...
, 1974
*Master of Arts in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Baghdad, 1986
*Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Baghdad, 1995
Career
*Member Staff in the Iraqi National Museum, 1976 [
*Director of Documentation Center, 1980
*Field Director for the Restoration Project in Babylon, 1986–87
*Archaeological Investigation in the Eastern Wall of Nineveh, 1988
*Scientific Super Advisor for Bakhma Dam Archaeological Rescue Project, 1989
*Director of Relations, 1990
*Director of Documentation Center, 1992
*Assistant Director General of Antiquities for Technical Affairs, 1995
*Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Baghdad ][
*Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the Babylon College for Theology and Philosophy ][
*Director of Excavation Team in the site of Umm al-Aqarib, 1999-2000
*Head of the Technical Committee, 1999-2000
*Director General of Research and Studies, 2000–03
*Director General of the Iraqi Museums, 2003-05 ][
*Member of the International Regional Committee of Interpol, 2003
*Member of the Iraqi National Committee for Education, Science, and Culture, Iraqi UNESCO, 2004
*Chairman of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, 2005-06 ][
*Member of the Iraqi Science Academy, Department of the Syriac Language, 2005
*Board of Advisors, ]Assyrian Academic Society
The Assyrian Academic Society (AAS) was established in 1983, as an academic, educational and minority organization of Assyrians in the United States. From its foundation, AAS was based in Chicago, a city with one of the largest communities of As ...
Works
Authored
*Co-Author of ''Photography: The Graves of the Assyrian Queens in Nimrud,'' 2000
*Co-Author of ''Pots and Pans''
*Co-Author of ''The Looting of the Iraq Museum,'' 2005
*Co-Author of ''The Destruction of the Cultural Heritage in Iraq,'' 2008 Antiquities under siege: cultural heritage protection after the Iraq war
/ref>
*Co-Author of ''Antiquities under Siege, Cultural Heritage in Iraq,'' 2008
*Co-Author of ''Catastrophe, The Looting and Destructions of Iraq's Past,'' 2008
*Author of ''Architecture of the Sixth Millennium B.C. in Tell Es-Sawwan''
*Author of ''The Stone Industries in Tell Es-Sawwan,'' 'Book in Process'
Publications
*''Stores in Ancient Mesopotamia,'' 1985.
*''A New Acheulian hand Axe from the Iraqi Western Desert in the Iraq Museum,'' 1993
*''Proverbs in Ancient Mesopotamia,'' 1994
*''The Architecture of the Sixth Millennium BC in Tell Esswwan,'' 1997
*''Precision Craftsmanship of the Nimrud Gold Material,'' 2002
*''Full Account on the Iraqi Museums and Archaeological sites,'' 2004
Conferences
*Recontre Assyriologic, Heidelberg, Germany, 1992
*Recontre Assyriologic, London, UK, 2004
*International Conference on the Excavations at the Ancient city of Nimrud, London, 2004
*International Conference for the Protection of the Iraqi Antiquities, Istanbul, Turkey, 2004
*Interpol International Regional Conference for the Protection of the Iraq Antiquities, Amman, Jordan. 2004
*International Council of Museums ICOM Conference, Seoul, South Korea, 2004
*Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, USA, 2004
*International Conference for the Protection of Iraqi Antiquities, Washington DC, USA, 2005
*Iraq Cultural Committee at UNESCO, Paris, France
*U.S. Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 2008
Lectures
*Belgium: Brussels National Museum
*Britain: University of London, the British Museum
*Denmark: National Museum in Copenhagen
*Germany: University of Berlin, Pergamum Museum, University of Heidelberg, University of Frankfurt, University of Munich, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz
*Jordan: Department of Antiquities, German Archaeological Institute in Amman
*Italy: University of Rome
*Japan: University of Kukushikan, Japanese Society for the Antiquities of the Middle East
*Spain: University Autónoma de Madrid
*Sweden: University of Gothenburg, Museum of World Culture, Museum of Mediterranean and the Middle East
*USA: University of Chicago, Harvard University, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Museums of Fine Art in Boston, Pennsylvania Museum, Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC, Yeshiva University, State University of Arizona, South Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Bowers Museum of Art in Santa Ana, Denver Museum of Science and Nature, South Methodist University in Taos, New Mexico and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado, CSU Stanislaus, Turlock, Gustavus Adolphus College
References
External links
The Devastation of Iraq's Past
Video Interviews
Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Donny George Youkhanna
Interview with Cindy Ho at Saving Antiquities
*
Interview with Charlie Rose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youkhanna, Donny George
1950 births
2011 deaths
Iraqi anthropologists
Iraqi archaeologists
Iraqi Assyriologists
20th-century Iraqi historians
Writers from Baghdad
Iraqi Assyrian people
University of Baghdad alumni
Stony Brook University alumni
University of Baghdad faculty
Iraqi Christians
Iraqi curators
21st-century Iraqi writers
20th-century Iraqi writers
Iraqi emigrants to the United States
Assyriologists