Rahyafte (The Guided Ones)
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🔍 From "Tomb of Solomon's Mother" to "Cyrus’s Mausoleum": Britain and the Forgery of Mesopotamian Inscriptions
In the 19th century, while the French secured exclusive excavation rights in Iran, the British obtained similar privileges in Ottoman territories—including Mesopotamia—to carry out archeological activities. But British activities went beyond excavation and often extended into systematic forgery of ancient artifacts and cuneiform inscriptions.
Why did they forge?
Three main motives drove this practice:
1️⃣ Colonial propaganda – shaping historical narratives to serve imperial interests.
2️⃣ Producing replicas of inscriptions and artifacts.
3️⃣ Lucrative trade in counterfeit antiquities, highly sought by museums and private collectors worldwide.
Among the most skilled forgers were the Ready brothers of Baghdad, later employed by the British Museum to produce replica cuneiform tablets.
But one key figure stands out: Claudius James Rich, a British East India Company agent based in Baghdad. Not only did he deal in artifacts—he also first proposed that the structure known locally as the "Tomb of Solomon’s Mother" in Marvdasht was actually the tomb of Cyrus the Great.
This theory was initially accepted by British travelers such as James Morier and Robert Ker Porter, though later questioned for lack of evidence.
Many forged tablets from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were crafted so expertly that even today, distinguishing them from originals remains a challenge for specialists. Some early forgeries were clumsier—they even overlooked basic details, such as the fact that cuneiform texts on opposite sides of a tablet should be oriented in opposite directions.
The scale of forged Mesopotamian artifacts and inscriptions is far greater than commonly acknowledged. Many museums quietly deal with doubts around their collections’ authenticity, avoiding public controversy.
As researcher Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi notes, the sheer volume of forgeries—largely produced by British nationals—means many museum-held cuneiform texts and artifacts cannot be certified as definitively authentic.
📚 Learn more:
For detailed accounts of the Ready brothers and Claudius James Rich, see:
Walker, C. B. F., Cuneiform, University of California Press, 1987.
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✍️ Source: https://jscenter.ir/slave-jews/cyrus/1718
#Archaeology #Forgery #Cyrus #Mesopotamia #BritishEmpire #History
🆔 @rahyafte_en
In the 19th century, while the French secured exclusive excavation rights in Iran, the British obtained similar privileges in Ottoman territories—including Mesopotamia—to carry out archeological activities. But British activities went beyond excavation and often extended into systematic forgery of ancient artifacts and cuneiform inscriptions.
Why did they forge?
Three main motives drove this practice:
1️⃣ Colonial propaganda – shaping historical narratives to serve imperial interests.
2️⃣ Producing replicas of inscriptions and artifacts.
3️⃣ Lucrative trade in counterfeit antiquities, highly sought by museums and private collectors worldwide.
Among the most skilled forgers were the Ready brothers of Baghdad, later employed by the British Museum to produce replica cuneiform tablets.
But one key figure stands out: Claudius James Rich, a British East India Company agent based in Baghdad. Not only did he deal in artifacts—he also first proposed that the structure known locally as the "Tomb of Solomon’s Mother" in Marvdasht was actually the tomb of Cyrus the Great.
This theory was initially accepted by British travelers such as James Morier and Robert Ker Porter, though later questioned for lack of evidence.
Many forged tablets from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were crafted so expertly that even today, distinguishing them from originals remains a challenge for specialists. Some early forgeries were clumsier—they even overlooked basic details, such as the fact that cuneiform texts on opposite sides of a tablet should be oriented in opposite directions.
The scale of forged Mesopotamian artifacts and inscriptions is far greater than commonly acknowledged. Many museums quietly deal with doubts around their collections’ authenticity, avoiding public controversy.
As researcher Reza Moradi Ghiasabadi notes, the sheer volume of forgeries—largely produced by British nationals—means many museum-held cuneiform texts and artifacts cannot be certified as definitively authentic.
📚 Learn more:
For detailed accounts of the Ready brothers and Claudius James Rich, see:
Walker, C. B. F., Cuneiform, University of California Press, 1987.
---
✍️ Source: https://jscenter.ir/slave-jews/cyrus/1718
#Archaeology #Forgery #Cyrus #Mesopotamia #BritishEmpire #History
🆔 @rahyafte_en
اندیشکده مطالعات یهود | Jewish Studies Center
از مقبره مادر سلیمان تا آرامگاه کوروش - اندیشکده مطالعات یهود | Jewish Studies Center
کلودیوس جیمز ریچ که برای کمپانی هند شرقی انگلیس در بغداد کار میکرد نخستین بار مدعی شد مقبره مادر سلیمان در دشت مرغاب آرامگاه کوروش است!