Erhan Tamur

Dr. Erhan Tamur serves as a Lecturer in Art Curating within the Department of History of Art at the University of York, joining the department in January 2024 after serving as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2022-2024) and as a Curatorial Research Associate at The Morgan Library and Museum in New York (2018-2022).

His educational background includes a PhD from Columbia University (2016-2022), an MA from Freie Universität Berlin (2013-2015), and a BA from Boğaziçi University. His research has been supported by prestigious fellowships including the Chester Dale Predoctoral Fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts and a Research Fellowship from the Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies.

Dr. Tamur specializes in Ancient Western Asian art, particularly Mesopotamian and Anatolian art from the third to first millennium BCE, with research interests spanning museum studies, decolonization theory, art historical methodology, and the politics of archaeology. His work critically examines the colonial foundations of archaeological practice and seeks to integrate local perspectives often excluded from Western narratives of discovery.

His recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on decolonizing archaeological narratives, examining Ottoman-era archaeological practices, and challenging conventional understandings of ethnic identity in ancient art. Notable projects include his book The Discovery That Never Was: Art, Politics and Time in Tello (Ancient Girsu) and his co-curated exhibition She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia at The Morgan Library and Museum.

• Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2022)
• Twenty-Four-Month Chester Dale Predoctoral Fellowship, CASVA, National Gallery of Art (2020)
• Research Fellowship, Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies, Columbia University (2020)
• Mellon Foundation grant support
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellowship

Dr. Tamur actively engages with doctoral candidates interested in Ancient Western Asian art and museum studies. His fieldwork includes participation in the Mapping Mesopotamian Monuments Project, an international effort to document endangered cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Turkey. He has also contributed to major museum projects including the renovation of the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and co-curated the internationally recognized exhibition on Enheduanna at The Morgan Library and Museum.