Appropriations of the past: Mesopotamia as definer of identities

Abstract

This article focuses on the construction of the nationality of Ancient Near East art within the 19th and 20th centuries. The aim of the present investigation is to understand how the archaeological discoveries made in the current territory of Iraq have been used as a defining tool for various identities over time. I seek to establish the way in which several states, in an attempt to achieve their nationalist, colonialist or imperialist objectives and ideologies, control and allocate symbolic resources as a means of legitimizing power and authority. In this way, I hope to be able to demonstrate that the past and by extend the appropriation of archaeological finds can be used as an important symbolic tool in the definition of identities and nationalities.