McGuire Gibson

I. Education

  • B.A.           1959  Fordham University, Anthropology.
  • M.A.          1964  University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
  • Ph.D.         1968  University of Chicago, N. E. L. C.

II. Academic Positions

  • 1968-71       Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago.
  • 1969-70       Annual Professor of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Baghdad.  Adjunct Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago.
  • 1971-72       Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.
  • 1972-73       Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.
  • 1974-80       Associate Professor, NELC and OI, Univ. of  Chicago.
  • 1981-           Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology, NELC./ OI, Univ. of Chicago.
Other Positions:    
  • 1978-80       President, founder, American Institute for Yemeni Studies.
  • 1984-88       Chairman, Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
  • 1988-91       Treasurer, Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
  • 1989-pres.    President, American Association for Research in Baghdad    
  • 1991-96       President, American Institute for Yemeni Studies.

III. Research Projects:

  • 1966              Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Area  of Kish, Iraq.        
  • 1972--pres.    Oriental Institute Expedition to Nippur,  Iraq.  Director.
  • 1976-77         Saudi Arabian Surface survey, Eastern Province.  Archaeologist. Member of  Survey Advisory Board.
  • 1978-80         University of Chicago Archaeological-Environmental Survey in the Yarim-Dhamar Region, Yemen Arab Republic.  Project Director.  Funded by National Geographic Society.       
  • 1978-79        Chicago-Copenhagen Expedition to the Hamrin Salvage
  • 1994-pres.     Oriental Institute Archaeological/Environmental Investigations of Terraced Agriculture in Yemen.  Director.  Funded by National Science Foundation Grant No. SBR-9408714.
  • 1995-pres     Oriental Institute Diyala Objects Publication Project.  Funded by National Endowment for the Humanities, Grant No.  RK-20209-95
  • 1999-pres.    Syrian-American Expedition to Hamoukar, Hassekeh Province.  Co-Director.
  • 1998-pres.    Oriental Institute-Argonne Laboratory project, Modeling Ancient Settlement Systems.  Funded be NSF Grant  Co-PI.

IV. Selected Publications

a) Books:

  • 1972a    The City and Area of Kish.  Coconut Grove, Florida.  Field Research Projects.
  • 1974      Irrigation's Impact on Society.  Edited with T. E. Downing.  Tucson, University of Arizona Press.
  • 1975      Excavations at Nippur, Eleventh Season.  Oriental Institute Communications No. 22.  Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
  • 1977      Seals and Sealing in the Ancient Near East.  Edited with R. D. Biggs.  Malibu, California.  Undena Publications.
  • 1978      Excavations at Nippur, Twelfth Season.  Oriental Institute Communications No. 23.  Chicago, Oriental Institute.
  • 1981      Uch Tepe I.  Chicago and Copenhagen,  Oriental Institute and the University of  Copenhagen.
  • 1987      The Organization of Power:  Aspects of Bureaucracy in the Ancient Near East. Edited with R. D. Biggs.  Oriental Institute Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization.  Chicago.     
  • 1990      Uch Tepe II.  Chicago and Copenhagen. Oriental Institute and the Universit of Copenhagen.
  • 1992      Lost Heritage:  Antiquities Stolen from Iraq's Regional Museums.  With Augusta McMahon.  Chicago, American Association for Research in Baghdad.
  • ND         Parthian, Sasanian, and Islamic Remains at Nippur.  With J. A. Armstrong, E. J. Keall, C. Ciuk, et al.  Oriental Institute Publications.

b) Articles:

  • 1973a      "Population Shift and the Rise of Mesopotamian Civilization."  In C. Renfrew (ed.), The Explanation of Culture Change:  Modelsin Prehistory.  London, Duckworth.  Pp. 447-63.
  • 1974b      "Violation of Fallow and Engineered Disaster in Mesopotamian Civilization." In T. E. Downing and M. Gibson (eds.), Irrigation's Impact on Society. Tucson, AZ.
  • l985         "Archaeological and Environmental  Surveys of Yemen."  With R. D. Tindel.  National Geographic Society Research Reports, 1978 Projects.  Pp. 215-23.
  • 1982a      "The Breakdown of Ancient Desert Civilizations."  In J. Barnea (ed.), Alternative Strategies for Desert Development and Management.  United Nations Institute for Training and Research.New York, Pergamon Press.  Pp. 1227-37.
  • 1982b      "A Re-evaluation of the Akkad Period in the Diyala Region on the Basis of Recent Excavations at Nippur and in the Hamrin,” American Journal of Archaeology 86: 531-38.
  • 1992        "Patterns of Occupation at Nippur."  In Maria deJong Ellis (ed.)  Nippur at the Centennial.  Philadelphia, The University Museum.  Pp. 33-54.
  • 1995        "Investigation of the Early Dynastic-Akkadian transition."  Iraq 57: 1-40.  With A. McMahon.
  • 2003a      "Fate of Iraqi Archaeology."  Science 299: 1848-49
  • 2003b      "From Preventive Measures to the Fact-finding Mission."  Museum International. 219/220:  108-18. (Report on UNESCO trip to Iraq May 2003)
Created: December 15, 2004