West Asia in the Center – A New Special Issue in Forum Kritische Archäologie
A long-running project has finally seen the light of day. Forum Kritische Archäologie (FKA) just released our special issue “West Asia in the Center” in volume 14 (2025). I co-edited this issue with Aris Politopoulos, Bärbel Morstadt, and Aydin Abar. I also contributed an article of my own.
What is it about?
The central question is deceptively simple: Can we put West Asia in the center? For too long, outside perspectives have shaped the archaeology of this region. Many scholars still use the outdated and loaded term “Ancient Near East”. Colonial legacies, Orientalist frameworks, and Eurocentric narratives have influenced how we excavate, interpret, display, and teach the region’s past. This special issue critically examines these entanglements from very different angles.
The contributions
In our introduction, “Can We Put West Asia in the Center?“, the four editors lay out the framework. Why does West Asian archaeology need a critical reassessment? And why now?
Rune Rattenborg explores how colonial discourses shaped archaeological narratives about Mesopotamia. His piece, “Past Colonialisms: ‘Land Between Rivers’ and Archaeological Discourses of Empire“, shows that even the concept of a “land between two rivers” is not a neutral description. It is a loaded framework.
Jessie DeGrado asks a surprising question in “A Load of Bull: Assyrian Inspiration for Layard’s Colossus-Moving Scenes“. We all know the famous depictions of Layard transporting massive Assyrian bull sculptures. But how much did Assyrian art itself actually inspire that visual narrative?
Eric X. Jarrard traces the “death biography” of a single Assyrian relief in “The Wellesley Assyrian Relief: A Necrography“. This kind of object biography reveals how people remove artefacts from their original contexts and recontextualise them in Western institutions.
Luise Loges tackles one of the most pressing issues in our field. Her piece, “Framing Looted Heritage“, addresses how different actors frame and reframe looted objects from West Asia.
Aydin Abar, also one of our co-editors, contributes “A Formidably National Archaeology?” He explores the impact of crypto-colonialism on archaeological research in Iran. How does colonialism operate in countries that no one ever formally colonised? A fascinating and underexplored topic.
Bärbel Morstadt, another co-editor, offers a wonderfully unexpected perspective with “Historising Épidemaïs – West Asian Characters in the Comic Series ‘Asterix the Gaul’“. Yes, you read that right – she writes about Asterix! Her piece examines how the comic series depicts West Asian characters. She reads them against historical sources, the 20th-century zeitgeist, and current Orientalist discourse.
And finally, my own contribution: “Playing Archaeology, Playing Colonialism“. Regular readers of this blog won’t be surprised that I approached the topic through video games. I examine how archaeological video games reproduce – and sometimes challenge – colonial narratives about the ancient world. It connects directly to my ongoing work in archaeogaming and felt like a natural fit for this issue.
Why does it matter?
What I find particularly valuable about this collection is its diversity of approaches. The contributions deal with the history of archaeology, material culture, popular media, and the politics of heritage. Together, they show that decolonising West Asian archaeology is not just one conversation but many. It touches everything from museum displays to comic books to video games.
All contributions are open access, as is everything FKA publishes. You can find the full issue on the FKA website. A downloadable reader with all articles is also available there.
I want to thank my co-editors, Aris, Bärbel, and Aydin, for the wonderful collaboration. Thanks also to all the authors for their excellent contributions. Putting together a special issue always takes time. I’m grateful it has come together so well.
Have you read any of the contributions yet? I’d love to hear your thoughts – which article caught your attention first?