MAJLIS: This large salon is filled with low, curved
couches with large pillows, set around an equally low,
wide wooden table with beautiful mosaic inlay. This is
where guests would be brought to sit, drink tea, and
discuss business with the head of the household. The
walls are covered with photos of Rassam’s extended
family, his graduation from Cambridge in the UK and
from the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, Rassam
at dig sites and with personalities from the world of
archeology, and Rassam with political figures like the
Hussein-era Minister of State for Antiquities and past
directors of the Iraq Museum. No photos show him
hobnobbing with government officials after the U.S.
invasion of 2003.