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Public relations
Disney’s Robin Hood: the first man I ever loved I’m drinking tea on my parent’s sofa reading my old John Constantine graphic novels, while receiving malevolent looks from my dad. I made him turn over...
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The fighting season
I’m supposed to fly to Erbil in nine days’ time to continue excavating on the citadel which, all things considered, could have worked out better. The Foreign and Commonwealth office, as of yesterday,...
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GISing in Stoke-on-Trent
Just a short post as very very very little has happened recently; I’ve been truly, deeply bored and I don’t want to spread it to the general population. At least ebola victims have to worry about...
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Keeping calm in Erbil
More or less my first archaeological action this season was the satisfying destruction of a nice big wall My first week back in Erbil has been unexpectedly like most other weeks I’ve spent in this part...
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Pillaging
The pig freezer I had bacon for breakfast this morning. Bacon and freshly ground Starbucks coffee. This surprising bounty came as the harvest of my new found favourite hobby; looting. My housemate and...
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Semi-functional alcohologist
Erbil can seem quite tranquil from a distance and without someone shouting at you in Kurdish about pottery Archaeologically things are at a bit of a low ebb in Erbil. I’ve been back on site for three...
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Foreign idiots in a car
The sickly pumpkins of Iraq It’s the morning after an unwisely alcoholic Halloween and things have just got to the point where I think I might live after all. I went to a barbeque, where I got savaged...
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Untidy endings in Erbil
The new citadel gateway: the big exit In the way of all things, the end has come and I’ll be leaving Erbil tonight. I’m enjoying a last bit of crisp, sunny Kurdish autumn before I get a big wet smack...
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Slow start in Erbil
I’m finally back in the game after a long boring summer of weary write-up and digitisation work. I’ve taken on about five hundred hours of plan digitisation for a British Museum project, which involves...
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The storm before the calm
The dreary view through the office window of the citadel flag Erbil hosted a major lightning exhibition all last night, with a sort of End of Days wind theme running through it. Personally, I spent the...
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Rucking, mauling and digging in Iraq
The best view in Erbil – from the roof of the citadel’s new gate, which will hopefully open one day It’s Friday in Erbil and I’m being unpleasantly reminded of why I don’t drink much wine any more. The...
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Trying not to explode
It’s just a bomb, what harm can it do, right? I’m still on my Eid holidays, the length of which is one of the few benefits of being employed by the Kurdish Regional Government. The holiday cut last...
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Wax on, wax off
I’m on to my second tube of toothpaste in Erbil, which means I must be past the six week point. It’s curious how Iraqi Colgate Max Fresh tastes faintly of chewing gum and yeast, compared to UK-bought...
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Getting over the finish line
In the deepest part of the deepest trench, fortification wall Phase 1a (Neo-Assyrian?) continues on down I got paid today with the usual stack of grubby hundred dollar notes tied up with an elastic...
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