Seth Priestman

Curator

Iran, the Siraf collection

Department: Middle East

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 28320
Email: spriestman @ thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Seth Priestman is currently working on a two-year project funded by the British Institute of Persian Studies aimed at providing a catalogue of the finds in the British Museum from excavations at Siraf in southern Iran. Siraf was the main trade emporium in the Persian Gulf between the ninth and eleventh centuries AD at a time when merchants from the region first started making regular voyages to China, Southeast Asia, Indian and East Africa.

Seth was previously a research assistant in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Durham between 2001 and 2003 and also in 2004. He joined the British Museum as Sackler Fellow in the then Department of Ancient Near East in 2003.

Current British Museum projects

Previous British Museum projects

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External fellowships/ honorary positions/ membership of professional bodies

Research Fellow, British Institute of Persian Studies, since 2001

Publications

S.M.N. Priestman, ‘Islamic pottery in Oman’. In H. Grube and L. Korn (eds.) Islamic Art in Oman. Muscat: Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs (forthcoming)

S.M.N. Priestman, ‘Bushehr, Dashtestan and Siraf: The Transformation of the Sasanian Maritime Trade Network in the Upper Persian Gulf’, in St J. Simpson (ed.) New Studies in Sasanian Archaeology: Economy, Industry and Material Culture. London: British Museum Press (forthcoming)

S.M.N. Priestman, Settlement and Ceramics in the Southern Iran: An Analysis of the Sasanian and Islamic Periods in the Williamson Collection. University of Durham: MA Thesis (2005a)

S.M.N. Priestman, ‘The rise of Siraf: long-term development of trade emporia within the Persian Gulf’, Proceedings of the International Congress of SirafPort, November 14 - 16, 2005, Bushehr - Iran. Bushehr: Bushehr Branch of Iranology Foundation & Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, 137-56 (2005b).

S.M.N. Priestman, 2004: ‘Leave no stone unturned: Stein and Williamson’s surveys compared’, in H.E. Wang (ed.) Sir Aurel Stein. Proceedings of the British Museum Study Day 2002. London: British Museum Occasional Paper, 142: 29-35.