Kirkman, James

Basic Biographical Information

James Spedding Kirkman (OBE, FSA) was born in 1906. After graduating from Cambridge in 1928, he worked in various outposts of the British Empire including Borneo (as an administrative officer) and Ceylon (as a tea planter). His plans to work in Iraq were interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a rear gunner with the RAF. He became fluent in Arabic when posted to the Middle East during the war and afterward worked briefly at the Iraqi embassy in London, later joining the External Services of the BBC (Croome 1989; The Times 1989).

Between his stints in Ceylon and Iraq, Kirkman gained experience in archaeology by volunteering at the Castle Dove and later the Maiden Castle excavations (under Mortimer Wheeler) in the early 1930s. He also spent 3 years excavating in Palestine. This, along with his World War II posting, kindled an interest in Islamic culture (Croome 1989). He returned to archaeology in 1948 when, following an inquiry to Louis...