Zainab Bahrani facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Zainab Bahrani
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Zainab Bahrani
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| Born | 29 August 1962 Baghdad, Iraq
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| Education | New York University Institute of Fine Arts (MA, PhD) |
| Occupation | Edith Porana Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology |
| Employer | Columbia University |
| Awards | James Henry Breasted Prize (2009) |
Zainab Bahrani (born August 29, 1962) is an Iraqi expert in ancient Assyria. She is a professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology at Columbia University. This means she studies the art and history of ancient lands like Mesopotamia.
She was chosen as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020. She also received important awards like the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2019 and the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003. In 2009, she won the James Henry Breasted Prize for her work. Her book, The Graven Image, changed how people thought about the art of ancient Assyria and Babylonia.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Zainab Bahrani was born in Baghdad, Iraq. She studied in Europe and the United States. She earned her Master's degree and Ph.D. in art history and archaeology. She got these degrees from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts in 1989.
Career and Discoveries
Before joining Columbia University, Professor Bahrani taught in different places. She taught at the University of Vienna in Austria. She also taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1989 to 1992, she worked as a curator. A curator helps manage and display collections in a museum. She worked in the Near Eastern Antiquities Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 2010 and 2011, she was the Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford. On May 25, 2004, she was asked to help with culture in Iraq. Her goal was to help rebuild the Iraq National Museum and the Iraq National Library. She also worked to return important documents to the National Archives of Iraq.
Writing About Ancient Art
Professor Bahrani has written many books about ancient Near Eastern art. Her book The Infinite Image helps people see how ancient art is still important today. It shows how this art connects to modern art and museums.
She also edited a book called Scramble for the Past. In this book, she wrote about how different powers used the history of Assyria. They used it to fit their own ideas and goals. Her book The Graven Image showed that the idea of 'Mesopotamia' itself was shaped by colonial ideas. Another book, The Ritual Body, explores war and violence in ancient Assyria and Babylonia.
Awards and Special Recognition
Zainab Bahrani has received many honors for her work.
- In 2020, she became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is a group that honors top thinkers and leaders.
- In 2019, she received an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.
- She also held a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003.
- In 2009, she was given the James Henry Breasted Prize. This award recognizes excellent work in history.
Selected Books
- Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia (2001)
- The Graven Image: Representation in Babylonia and Assyria (2003)
- Rituals of War: The Body and Violence in Mesopotamia (2008)
- Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire (2011) - co-edited with Zeynep Çelik and Edhem Eldem
- The Infinite Image: Art, Time and the Aesthetic Dimension in Antiquity (2014)
