A handsome guide, covering archaeological sites around Iraq (some newly excavated) and promoting their improved access via the developing rail and road system. The author was among a small number of British women working in Iraq in the inter-war period, and despite achieving recognition as an archaeologist is now something of a forgotten figure.
Dorothy Mackay (c.1881-1953) first obtained two degrees (Greek and French, then Zoology) before proceeding to work in archeology alongside her husband Ernest Mackay, whom she married in 1912. Upon returning to the UK, she studied archaeology at UCL in the 1940s and later worked as Curator of the American University of Beirut Museum and as Assistant Curator at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
The guide, devised as ‘a practical handbook’, describes various ancient (pre-Islamic) sites under two main headings, ‘Ancient Sites of Babylonia’ and ‘Ancient Sites of Assyria’. Other sections include a brief introduction to archaeology, and a description of Baghdad and the Museum of Antiquities. The latter features a touching dedication to the late Gertrude Bell (who passed away the year the book was published), with Mackay suggesting the new premises of the Museum should be named after her “…as the memorial she herself would most have appreciated of her admirable and useful work.” (p.9). The section on ‘Hints for intending visitors’ gives a flavour of the English experience in Iraq at the time, with essential advice on medicines and quainter notices, such as “Evening dress will be required by those who have introductions to British residents in Baghdad.” (p.x).
See: Amara Thornton, Discovering Dorothy, (accessed 24/08/20), https://www.readingroomnotes.com/home/discovering-dorothy
