Lloyd was born on 30 May 1902 in
Birmingham, England. After education at
Uppingham School, he studied at the
Architectural Association in London and qualified as an architect in 1926. He gained his first archaeological experience at
Tel el Amarna, which
Henri Frankfort was excavating for the
Egypt Exploration Society. In 1930 Lloyd was invited by Frankfort to join latter's next excavation, under the auspices of the
Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago, of a series of sites in the
Diyala valley (1930–1937). In 1937–1939 he excavated with
John Garstang at
Mersin, in southern
Turkey, for the
University of Liverpool. In 1939 Lloyd was appointed Archaeological Adviser to the Directorate of Antiquities in
Iraq, where he helped to establish the
Iraq Museum and reorganize the
Gertrude Bell Museum. He trained Iraqi archaeologists and participated with Iraqi colleagues in several major excavations, notably at
'Uqair and
Eridu, at
Assyrian
Khorsabad, the
Aqueduct of
Sennacherib at
Jerwan. He succeeded
Max Mallowan as the President of the
British School of Archaeology in Iraq. In 1948, he became Director of the
British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. He excavated with, among others,
James Mellaart, one of the first scholars at the Ankara School, the mound at
Beycesultan, in western
Anatolia, and also conducted excavations at
Polatli,
Haran,
Sultantepe and other Anatolian sites. He was succeeded by
Michael Gough as Director of the
British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. He died on 7 January 1996 in
Faringdon, England. ==Selected works==