The Deep Well: Archaeology and the Life of the Past

by Carl Nylander, Joan Tate (Translator)

Text: English, Swedish (translation)

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 5 out of 5]

How had I not heard of this spellbinding book before? I only owe the pleasure of this book to my sneaking into secret book stacks and resorting to theft. Here is archaeology, that dry discipline occupied by none but digging up the soil, in its most poetic shape. The author is best when he speaks of his forte. Iranology. Whoever thought that the town of Kermanshah in the North Western periphery of Iran would house all its best artefacts - the Behistun Inscription to the Anubanini Relief? One would love after this book to leave all else and turn to archaeology. For an instance of poetry, just look at this line: "It is like looking at the skeleton of a city, in which the vultures of thousands of years have eaten away all that is perishable but left behind a spine of huge columns and ribs of doorways and window frames." And what more he even quotes TS Eliot, at one point for wisdom, humility, and love of surroundings.