Dr Andrew Jamieson

Biography

Andrew Jamieson has extensive archaeological field experience and has worked at sites in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Australia. In the mid-1990s he was deeply involved in the UNESCO post-war salvage operations in Beirut. For ten seasons he worked at Tell Ahmar in northern Syria. He has taught at Monash University and also been involved in a range of curatorial, conservation and field projects with Heritage Victoria. His doctoral dissertation investigated the Neo-Assyrian pottery from the ARC funded salvage excavations at Tell Ahmar (ancient Til Barsib) in northern Syria. This study involved the classification of a substantial collection of artefact material and included the creation of a detailed typology and catalogue based on technical, typological and regional analysis. He is currently collaborating with colleagues from Monash University on the excavations in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Andrew is a member of the Heritage Council of Victoria.

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Research

Andrew’s research interests include the archaeology of the ancient Near East and Egypt, historical archaeology in Victoria, the conservation and interpretation of archaeological sites, high temperature industries and the study of ceramics, and ethno-archaeological research.

Recent grants and awards
2007: The University of Melbourne Staff Appeal has directed $10,000 to support the R E Ross Curator’s work on the Classics and Archaeology Collection at the Ian Potter Museum of Art.
2006: The Cultural and Community Relations Advisory Group aloocated $5,000 for the development and production of information for the promotion and content of an ‘education kit’ for the thinking through ancient cultures secondary school program coordinated by the R E Ross Trust Curator and Lecturer.

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Publications

Books

• Forthcoming: Neo-Assyrian Pottery from Tell Ahmar, [Supplement Series Ancient Near Eastern Studies Journal, Louvain]

Book Chapters (from 2002)

• A. Jamieson, ‘A Painted Eye-Vase from Tell Ahmar and the Syro-Cilician Painted Ceramic Tradition’, in Si un homme... Textes offerts en hommage à André Finet, P. Talon, V. Van der Stede (éds.) Subartu 16, 2005, (Chapter 12) pp. 79-83, (Brepols)
• A. Jamieson [with I. Lieft, D. Jamieson, B. Rout, & R. Szymanski], “PIXE cluster analysis of ancient ceramics from North Syria”, in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 190, (Elsevier Science), 2002, pp. 492-496

Journal Articles (from 2002)

• A. Jamieson, ‘Calligraphic Creativity: Middle Eastern Manuscripts’, in The Journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia, 16:1, 2007 pp. 7-9 (ISSN 1037 6674)
• A. Jamieson and A. Warfe, ‘Experimental Archaeology and Prehistoric Technology: An Exploration into Early Pottery-Production in Dakhleh Oasis, South Central Egypt’, in Leiden Journal of Pottery Studies, 21, 2005 (ISSN 1574-1753)
• A. Jamieson and A. Warfe, ‘A Prehistoric Pottery Experiment’, in Ceramics Technical, vol. 20, 2005, pp. 53-58 (ISSN 1324-4175)
• A. Jamieson, “Aleppo Pottery Workshop”, in Ceramics Technical, 18, 2004 pp. 78-82. (ISSN 1324-4175)
• A. Jamieson, “Egyptian Faience’ in Ceramics Technical, 17, 2003 pp. 82-87. (ISSN 1324-4175)
• A. Jamieson, “The Jara of Alexandria”, in Ceramics Technical, 16, 2003, pp. 1-5. (ISSN 1324-4175)
• A. Jamieson, “Searching for Clay along the Banks of the Euphrates”, in Ceramics Technical, 15, 2002 pp. 57-61. (ISSN 1324-4175)

Other Publications (from 2002)

• A. Jamieson, Discovering Egypt, Melbourne, 2007. (ISBN 9780743037046)
• A. Jamieson, ‘Tombs, Treasures and Shipwrecks: University Classics and Archaeology Collection Helps Bring the Ancient World to Life’, in Uni News, Vol. 14, No. 17, 19 September – 3 October 2005, pp. 4-5
• A. Jamieson, ‘Antiquities: Classics & Archaeology Collection and Early Writing Exhibition’, in Arts, Events, Ideas, Issue 3, 2005 pp.10-11
• A. Jamieson, ‘The Dawn of Glass making’, in Arts Events Ideas, Issue 4, 2005 p. 6
• A. Jamieson, ‘Hands on History: Ancient Rome, Myth and Empire’, in Arts Events Ideas, Issue 4, 2005 p. 7

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Teaching

107-102 Pyramids and Princes: Egypt and the East (with Dr Louise Hitchcock and Professor Tony Sagona)
107-211 Egypt Under the Pharaohs
107-274 New Kingdom Egypt and the World Beyond

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Recent Exhibitions by the R E Ross Trust Curator

Discovering Egypt
Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
Exhibition dates 31 March 2007 – 26 August 2007.
The Egyptians are one of the most fascinating peoples of the ancient world. This exhibition includes artefacts drawn from University of Melbourne and Queen’s College collections. The exhibition also includes several key items from the Egyptian collection of Museum Victoria. A number of private collectors have also kindly contributed objects to the exhibition. The Discovering Egypt exhibition demonstrates the distinctive character of Egyptian civilisation which emerged in the Nile valley during the early third millennium BCE and survived right through until the spread of Christianity. Through a survey of artefacts spanning the Palaeolithic, Predynastic, Pharaonic, Classical and Coptic periods the exhibition introduces and informs visitors to the main historical and cultural achievements of ancient Egypt.

Illuminations: Middle Eastern Manuscripts
Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
Exhibition dates: 02 September 2006 – 26 March 2007.
Intricate hand-embossing, gold inlays and exquisite colourful illuminations of plants and animals feature in these irreplaceable texts dating from the 1500s. The treasured manuscripts presented in this exhibition from Special Collections, Baillieu Library, the University of Melbourne, detail plans and pilgrimages, Sufi poems and ancient prayers, astrological insights and weaponry.

The ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece and Rome: Selected works from the Classics and Archaeology Collection
Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
Exhibition dates: 25 February – 27 August 2006.
The University of Melbourne’s Classics and Archaeology Collection began in 1901 and is one of the oldest and most important collections of antiquities in Australia. Many of the 2500 items in the collection come from, or reflect the cultural traditions of, the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece and Rome. This exhibition features objects that relate to death and ritual from the Predynastic and Pharaonic periods in Egypt, and a range of objects from the Near East, including ivories from Nimrud, stamp and cylinder seals from Amman, and inscribed bricks from Elam. The exhibition also includes a selection of Roman domestic and cosmetic glass vessels, bronze weapons and tools from Luristan and artefacts from Greece. A corpus of Near Eastern animal and human figurines that may have served cultic or religious functions and a typology of ancient lamps spanning the Bronze, Iron, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval periods are also featured. This exhibition, demonstrating the diversity of material represented in the Classics and Archaeology Collection, is one in a series of focus exhibitions curated by R E Ross Trust Curator Andrew Jamieson that will present key items, some of which have never been seen before, from this important and unique collection.

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Public programs

Ancient Culture: Think through ancient cultures
Thinking Through Ancient Cultures is an exciting educational program which provides year 7-12 students an opportunity to experience the fascinating and rewarding world of Classics and Archaeology. Designed by expert staff at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Classics and Archaeology in cooperation with the Ian Potter Museum of Art, the program, quite literally puts ancient cultures in the hands of the students. Students can get a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the Classics and Archaeology Collection at the Potter Museum and actually work with artefacts in the Collection.

The Classics and Archaeology Collection is one of the oldest and most important art collections of the University of Melbourne. With more than 2,400 objects, the collection provides an opportunity for students to explore the cultures of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Artefacts range from Pre-Dynastic Egyptian vessels more than 6,000 years old to Bronze Age Near Eastern weaponry, Classical Greek vases and Roman coinage.

Furthermore students will see how artefacts are recovered through excavation, how they are processed and conserved, how they are analysed, how they reveal the secrets of the past, and how all of this information is important for us today.

Further information about the Ancient Cultures schools program at The Ian Potter Musuem of Art.
www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/events_education_detail.aspx?view=46

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