Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is recognized as one of the first "modern" archaeologists who excavated in a methodical way, keeping careful records, and using them to reconstruct ancient life and history.[1] Woolley was knighted in 1935 for his contributions to the discipline of archaeology.[2] He was married to the British archaeologist Katharine Woolley.
In 1905, Woolley became assistant of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Volunteered by Arthur Evans to run the excavations on the Roman site at Corbridge (near Hadrian's Wall) for Francis Haverfield, Woolley began his excavation career there in 1906, later admitting in Spadework that "I had never studied archaeological methods even from books ... and I had not any idea how to make a survey or a ground-plan" (Woolley 1953:15). Nevertheless, the Corbridge Lion was found under his supervision.[4]
During World War I, Woolley, with Lawrence, was posted to Cairo, where he met Gertrude Bell. He then moved to Alexandria, where he was assigned to work on naval espionage. Turkey captured a ship he was on, and held him for two years in a relatively comfortable prisoner-of-war camp. He received the Croix de Guerre from France at the war's end.[9]
In the following years, Woolley returned to Carchemish, and then worked at Amarna in Egypt.[10]
Ur was the burial site of what may have been many Sumerian royals. The Woolleys discovered tombs of great material wealth, containing large paintings of ancient Sumerian culture at its zenith, along with gold and silver jewellery, cups and other furnishings. The most extravagant tomb was that of "Queen" Pu-Abi. Amazingly enough, Queen Pu-Abi's tomb was untouched by looters. Inside the tomb, many well-preserved items were found, including a cylindrical seal bearing her name in Sumerian. Her body was found buried along with those of two attendants, who had presumably been poisoned to continue to serve her after death. Woolley was able to reconstruct Pu-Abi's funeral ceremony from objects found in her tomb.
Excavation at Al Mina and Tell Atchana
In 1936, after the discoveries at Ur, Woolley was interested in finding ties between the ancient Aegean and Mesopotamian civilisations. This led him to the Syrian city of Al Mina. He excavated Tell Atchana in the years 1937–1939 and 1946–1949. His team discovered palaces, temples, private houses and fortification walls, in 17 archaeological levels, reaching from late Early Bronze Age (c. 2200–2000 BC) to Late Bronze Age (c. 13th century BC). Among their finds was the inscribed statue of Idrimi, a king of Alalakh c. early 15th century BC.[13][14]
Local Genesis flood theory
Woolley was one of the first archaeologists to propose that the flood described in the Book of Genesis was local after identifying a flood-stratum at Ur "400 miles long and 100 miles wide; but for the occupants of the valley that was the whole world".[15][16]
World War II
His archaeological career was interrupted by the United Kingdom's entry into World War II, and he became part of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section of the Allied armies.[17] After the war, he returned to Alalakh, where he continued to work from 1946 until 1949.[18]
Personal life
Woolley in Syria, 1912
Woolley married Katharine Elizabeth Keeling (née Menke; born June 1888 – died 8 November 1945), who was born in England to German parents and had previously been married to Lieut. Col. Bertram Francis Eardley Keeling (OBE, MC). He had hired Keeling in 1924 as expedition artist and draughtswoman; they married in 1927 and she continued to play an important role at his archaeological sites.[10]
In 1930, Woolley invited his friend Agatha Christie to visit a dig site in Iraq, where she met her second husband Max Mallowan.
Woolley died at 16 Fitzroy Square, London on 20 February 1960 at age 79. He was cremated at Golders Green on the 24th.[19] Dame Katharine died on 8 November 1945. They had no children.
^Wegner, Josef W.; Wegner, Josef (1995). "Regional Control in Middle Kingdom Lower Nubia: The Function and History of the Site of Areika". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 32: 127–160. doi:10.2307/40000835. ISSN0065-9991. JSTOR40000835.
^Randall-MacIver, David (1911). Buhen by D. Randall-Maciver and C. Leonard Woolley. University Museum. OCLC162857980.
^Woolley, Charles Leonard (1910). Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition to Nubia. University Museum. OCLC831392745.
^Crawford (2015), p. 9. "With these experiences behind him, it was to be expected that when Woolley was commissioned in the Royal Field Artillery at the outbreak of war he found himself seconded to Military Intelligence. He was posted to Cairo, where he worked with Lawrence, and met Gertrude Bell, who was also working there, and who was to be important to him when he was digging at Ur. He was then posted to Alexandria, where he was put in charge of French and English spy ships in the eastern Mediterranean. One of these ships was captured by the Turks while Woolley was on board and he spent the next two years in a Turkish prisoner-of-war camp. The experience does not appear to have been too onerous, because his letters speak of plays, concerts, and a camp newspaper. His work in Alexandria must have been useful to the war effort as he was subsequently awarded the French Croix de Guerre."
^Woolley, Leonard, (1955). Alalakh, An Account of the Excavations at Tell Atchana 1937-1949 (Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London), Oxford.
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