The British Institute for the Study of Iraq
(Gertrude Bell Memorial)

A Short History of BSAI/BISI

The British School of Archaeology in Iraq was established on 14 January 1932, as a memorial to the life and work of Gertrude Bell. BSAI carried out excavations in Iraq before the Second World War. Activities resumed in 1948, and BSAI worked continuously from then until 1990.

Since then BSAI has been prevented by political circumstances from resuming its research activities in Iraq itself. However, productive relations with Iraqi colleagues and institutions have been maintained. Since 2004 BSAI has organised training and research trips to the UK for six scholars from the Iraq Museum and Iraqi universities under its ongoing visiting scholars programme, which is funded by a public appeal. In recent years BISI has been widening its traditional remit from the study of ancient and pre-modern Iraq (a necessary limitation before the recent war) to include humanities and social sciences research on modern and contemporary Iraq, without abandoning its core identity.

At its AGM in December 2007 members of the BSAI voted to change the School's name to the British Institute for the Study of Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial).