New in JSTOR

JSTOR just keeps on processing interesting stuff. In today's batch:


Ars Orientalis [1954- ] (Arts & Sciences V)
Previous Title: Ars islamica [1934-1951] (1939-6406)
Release Content:
Vol. 1, No. 1 (1934) – Vol. 15/16 (1951)
Vols. 1 - 34 (1954 - 2004)
Moving Wall: 3 years
Publisher: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, and Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan
ISSN: 0571-1371

I listed other journals important for the study of the ancient world announced at JSTOR since mid summer 2008 here, here, here, and here.

AWBG Meetup at APA/AIA 2009?

Surely it's not to early to start talking about an AWBG-and-friends meetup at the joint annual meetings of the American Philological Association and the Archaeological Institute of America, scheduled for 8-11 January 2009 in Philadelphia!

Thoughts? Caveats? Venues?

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World: November Lectures

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World is pleased to announce the following upcoming lectures in November 2008. All lectures will take place on the second floor of the ISAW building at 15 East 84th St. (between 5th Ave. and Madison Avenue). All are welcome; please be sure to RSVP by emailing
isaw @ nyu . edu

Daniel Potts (University of Sydney and The Institute for Advanced Study)
East of Ur and west of Meluhha, or what Elam, Ansan, Dilmun, Magan, Marhasi and Simaski were up to
in the late 3rd millennium BC
Date: November 6
Time: 6:00 pm

Anne Porter (University of Southern California)
Of Bricks and Bodies: Integrating history, archaeology and an anthropology of art in the study of the
ancient Near East
Date: November 10
Time: 6:00 pm

Beate Pongratz-Leisten (Princeton University)
Astralization of the Gods and the Concept of the Divine in Ancient Mesopotamia
Date: November 11
Time: 6:00 pm

Sabine Huebner (Columbia University)
Household and Family in Past Time: The Roman East and West
Date: November 12
Time: 6:00 pm

The Annual Leon Levy Lecture
Professor Mario Liverani (University of Rome "La Sapienza")
The History of the Sahara in Antiquity: Mirage or Scientific Project?
Date: November 13
Time: 6:00 pm

William Y. Adams
Nubia's Other Civilization: the forgotten glories of the medieval kingdoms.
Date: November 20
Time: 12:00 noon

More Photographs of Iraqi antiquities seized in Lebanon October 2008

Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly has generously provided us with a second set of photographs of objects seized by authorities from smugglers in Lebanon this month. The first set is here. Some colleagues have expressed discomfort about the authenticity of object in this set and about the statuette in yesterday's posting.

Photographs of Iraqi antiquities seized in Lebanon October 2008

Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly responded to my posting on IraqCrisis of a report from AFP entitled "Iraqi antiquities seized in Lebanon: customs".

Her response to me included a set of photographs of some of the objects confiscated from the smugglers. Those photographs are published here with her kind permission.














Click on each photograph for a bigger version.

Comments are welcome here or on the IraqCrisis list. New subscribers are welcome at IraqCrisis.

[update, 30th October, 2008] Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly has generously provided us with a second set of photographs of objects seized by authorities from smugglers in Lebanon this month.

Kalender Altertumswissenschaften Uni Frankfurt

http://kalender-altertumswissenschaften.blogspot.com/

Zusammengestellt in einem Gemeinschaftsprojekt von Doktoranden und wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern altertumswissenschaftlicher Fächer an der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main.

A New Epigraphy Blog

Here's a hearty welcome to the blogosphere for Marion Lamé, whose Épigraphie en réseau debuts with a post entitled "The Athenian Tribute Lists, A First Bibliography." She describes the blog thus:

Modeler l’informatique aux exigences des Sciences de l’Antiquité et transformer les outils de recherche de l’Antiquisant pour les adapter aux outils d’édition, conservation, communication et traitement de l’information modernes.

I've just added the blog's feed to Maia Atlantis.

Obituary: Frank Walbank (1909-2008)

Peter Garnsey has written an obituary of Frank Walbank, Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, for the Independent ("Professor Frank Walbank: Classical scholar who defined and dominated the field of Hellenistic history for half a century", October 28, 2008).

For around half a century he defined and dominated the field of Hellenistic history. Above all he was the unchallenged expert on the Greek politician and historian Polybius, who composed his history of Rome around the middle of the second century BC. Walbank's magnum opus is the monumental three-volume Historical Commentary on Polybius – a project launched in 1944 and completed in 1979 – which is widely regarded as the finest commentary ever composed on a historical author from antiquity.

The Times commented:

Frank Walbank was the last surviving member of a small group of outstanding scholars who raised the standard of British-based scholarship in the history of classical antiquity from respectability to international distinction.

Other obituaries:

• Liverpool Daily Post (October 29, 2008)
• The Times (November 13, 2008)
  

New in JSTOR

JSTOR announced today the following new content relating to the ancient world:

Iran (Arts & Sciences V)
Release Content:
Vols. 1 - 41 (1963 - 2003)
Moving Wall: 4 years
Publisher: British Institute of Persian Studies
ISSN: 0578-6967

The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal (Arts & Sciences V)
Release Content:
Vols. 1 - 24 (1974 - 1996)
Publication of this title ceased in 1996.
Publisher: The J. Paul Getty Trust
ISSN: 0362-1979

Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome [1915- ] (Arts & Sciences V)
Previous Title: Supplementary Papers of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome [1905-1908] (1940-0969)
Release Content:
Vols. 1 - 2 (1905 - 1908)
Vols. 1 - 47 (1915/1916 – 2002)
Moving Wall: 5 years
Publisher: University of Michigan Press for the American Academy in Rome
ISSN: 0065-6801

Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplementary Volumes (Arts & Sciences V)
Release Content:
Vol. 1, 2002
Moving Wall: 5 years
Publisher: University of Michigan Press for the American Academy in Rome
ISSN: 1940-0977

Recent North American Dissertations on the Ancient World - October 2008

The following is a list of recent North American PhD dissertations (and some MA theses) on the Ancient World. Most are available for sale or for download from UMI ProQuest via institutions who subscribe. Check your institution's library for access to the UMI Proquest database.

A cultural studies approach to Roman public libraries: Social negotiation, changing spaces, and euergetism
by Platt, David Stuart, Ph.D., Stanford University, 2008, 354 pages; AAT 3313642

An historical reconstruction of Edomite treaty betrayal in the sixth century B.C.E. based on biblical, epigraphic, and archaeological data
by Dykehouse, Jason C., Ph.D., Baylor University, 2008, 343 pages; AAT 3310781

An interpretation of Isaiah 6:1--5 in response to the art and ideology of the Achaemenid empire
by Cochell, Trevor D., Ph.D., Baylor University, 2008, 234 pages; AAT 3310782

Before art: The fusion of religion, sexuality, and aesthetics in agrarian Mesopotamia
by Guevara, Nancy, Ph.D., City University of New York, 2008, 396 pages; AAT 3311251

Centeotzintli: Sacred maize. A 7,000 year ceremonial discourse
by Rodriguez, Roberto Garcia, Ph.D., The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2008,

Confronting the sublime: The poetic powers of Sophocles' heroes
by Nooter, Sarah Hamilton, Ph.D., Columbia University, 2008, 187 pages; AAT 3317594

"Foedera": A study in Roman poetics and society
by Gladhill, Charles William, Ph.D., Stanford University, 2008, 366 pages; AAT 3313815

Genealogy and identity: The genealogical evidence for the appropriation of early East Greek mythology by the mainland Greek city-states in the Archaic period
by Pappas, Zoe A., Ph.D., Columbia University, 2008, 495 pages; AAT 3317596

"Great anarch's ancient reign restor'd:" Menippean satire and the politics of knowledge in the British Enlightenment
by Williams, Matthew, Ph.D., City University of New York, 2008, 303 pages; AAT 3310643

Kneph: The religion of Roman Thebes
by Klotz, David, Ph.D., Yale University, 2008, 724 pages; AAT 3317145

No mere mouthpiece: An examination of the Hesiodic farmer
by Kavadas, Richard J. P., M.A., University of Victoria (Canada), 2008, 157 pages; AAT MR40463

Of swords and strigils: Social change in ancient Macedon
by Butler, Margaret Erwin, Ph.D., Stanford University, 2008, 269 pages; AAT 3313538

On stepping stones: The historical experience of Roman mosaics
by Molholt, Rebecca, Ph.D., Columbia University, 2008, 391 pages; AAT 3317590

Politics of art recovery in Italy
by Canzi, Chiara, M.A., University of Southern California, 2008, 35 pages; AAT 1454119

Powerplay in Potiphar's house: The interplay of gender, ethnicity, and class in Genesis 39

Speech and nature: An introduction to the study of traditional Chinese scholarship
by Andreacchio, Marco Antonio, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008, 386 pages; AAT 3314722

The autonomy and influence of Roman women in the late first/early second century CE: Social history and gender discourse
by Van Abbema, Laura, Ph.D., The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2008, 329 pages; AAT 3314237

The emergence of ceramic roof tiles in archaic Greek architecture
by Sapirstein, Philip, Ph.D., Cornell University, 2008, 445 pages; AAT 3317439

The prostitute and her headdress: The mitra, sakkos and kekryphalos in Attic Red-figure vase-painting ca. 550--450 BCE
by Fischer, Marina, M.A., University of Calgary (Canada), 2008, 523 pages; AAT MR38264

The widow's vow among western elites, 350--415
by Wilkinson, Kevin W., Ph.D., Yale University, 2008, 292 pages; AAT 3317245

Vestigia cladis: The afterlife of defeat in the Roman historical imagination
by Clark, Jessica Homan, Ph.D., Princeton University, 2008, 316 pages; AAT 3312795

Zhaoling: The mausoleum of Emperor Tang Taizong
by Zhou, Xiuqin, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2008, 457 pages; AAT 330953

Left in the desk ...

Gold studs from a bronze dagger found in Bush Barrow near Stonehenge have been found in a desk at Cardiff University ("Ancient jewels found in uni desk", BBC News, October 22, 2008). The mound was excavated in 1808.

In the 1960s, some of the studs were loaned to Prof Richard Atkinson of Cardiff university, who was well-known for his excavations at Silbury Hill and Stonehenge.

They were placed in an old film canister, simply labelled "Bush Barrow", and were later found by Prof John G. Evans, who put them in his desk.

Prof Evans died in 2005 and the gold studs were recovered from his old desk by Niall Sharples, a senior lecturer at the university.

The studs will be placed on display in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes.

Hadrian at the British Museum

Richard Lacayo has commented on the Hadrian: Empire and Conflict exhibition at the British Museum ("The Emperor Hadrian", Time, October 15, 2008). His assessment of the exhibition space (and that of the Chinese warriors) is spot on: "Good shows; bad space".

Lacayo continues:

the round space leads to awkward circulation patterns and bottlenecks around display cases.

• Hadrian exhibition

Image
Athens, National Museum 249, from the Olympieion (Kaltsas no. 718). © David Gill.

New in JSTOR

JSTOR announced today the following new content relating to the ancient world:

M Bulletin (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) [1981-1983] (Arts & Sciences V)
Previous Title: MFA Bulletin [1978-1980] (0732-2895)
Previous Title: Boston Museum Bulletin [1966-1977] (0006-7997)
Previous Title: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts [1926-1965] (0899-0336)
Previous Title: Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin [1903-1925] (0899-0344)
Release Content:
Vols. 1 – 23; 1903 - 1925
Vols. 24 - 63; 1926 – 1965
Vols. 64 - 75; 1966-1977
Vols. 76 - 78; 1978-1980
Vols. 79-81; 1981-1983
Publication of this title ceased in 1983.
Publisher: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
ISSN: 0739-5736

Syria (Arts & Sciences V)
Release Content:
Vols. 1 – 79; 1920 - 2002
Moving Wall: 5 years
Publisher: Institut Francais du Proche-Orient
ISSN: 0039-7946

Abzu anniversary

Abzu just began its fifteenth year online. I should have baked it a cake over the weekend, but I didn't. For the past few years it has been hosted by ETANA at Vanderbilt University. Before that it was hosted at the Oriental Institute. A variety of older versions of it are visible in the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, and the earliest one there Dec 10, 1997, is more or less what it looked like at the beginning. Lovely, eh?

"Free Our Libraries, Cry University Presidents"

A short article today in The Chronicle of Higher Education Wired Campus

Presidents of major universities want more library materials distributed online, without prohibitive charges.

At the Universal Access Digital Library Summit, held on September 24 and 25 at the Boston Public Library, Mark Huddleston, president of the University of New Hampshire, Peter Nicholls, provost of the University of Connecticut, and Jack Wilson, president of the University of Massachusetts, called for new approaches to the digitization of library collections that will allow access for all. The presidents urged libraries to halt what they described as an assault on the public’s right to knowledge, done in the name of copyright.

The meeting, which was convened by the Boston Library Consortium, featured the debut of “Free Our Libraries! Why We Need a New Approach to Putting Library Collections Online,” a white paper by Richard K. Johnson, senior advisor to the Association of Research Libraries. Mr. Johnson argues that libraries need to come up with new financing strategies, coordinate their actions, and adopt “forward-looking” principles to guide digitization projects. —Josh Fischman