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2017, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
This Forum discussion aims to explore the topic of repatriation from a variety of viewpoints considering twenty-first century realities in the region. The contributions fall into three main categories addressing general background matters, presenting case studies and offering future directions. We hop that the differing perspectives assembled in this issue of JEMAHS will contribute to the ongoing debate regarding repatriation, curation and ownership of artifacts, some now housed far from their places of origin.
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2015, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1
A response to Morag M. Kersel's essay "Storage Wars"
Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 5/1 (2017): 109-115.
2017, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
The focus of this article places the Rockefeller and its collections in historical context as the major antiquities museum of Palestine, based previously in two other buildings in East Jerusalem now considered by international law to be in the Occupied Territories.
2015
An assessment of the state of archaeology in Lebanon
2019, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean, Archaeology, Heritage Studies
2014, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
As archaeologists continue to adopt geographic information systems and computer-aided design software packages to record and store spatial data, excavations have begun to forgo hand-drawn plans in favor of digital recording. The purpose of this article is to present two case studies that have successfully utilized digital drafting techniques to create architectural plans at multiple scales. The first presents on-site 2d and 3d documentation at the site of Tel Akko, Israel, at the square, field, and tell scales. The second study combines orthophotos and legacy data to create an accurate site plan of Qasrin on the Golan Heights. Both harness image-based modeling to produce 2d and 3d spatial data in order to produce top plans with unprecedented spatial accuracy.
2018, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
This article argues that the campaign of antiquities destruction waged by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) should be understood in the context of the group's rejection of the nation-state. The Ba'athist regimes of Iraq and Syria used archaeology not only as a tool to promote national unity but also as an ideological narrative to portray their states as continual recapitulations of their pasts. As a result, the pre-Islamic past came to be associated with secular nationalism. Since the secular state demands obedience to secular law, ISIS views it as idolatrous as it demands allegiance apart from God. The group considers the secular sacralization of antiquities in support of nationalism to be an aspect of this form of idolatry that justifies their destruction. Future efforts at cultural heritage preservation in the region will need to take into account the decline of Arab nationalist movements which once supported them.
Deals with heritage management in Cyprus in general, but with emphasis on the destruction of tangible and intangible heritage occured after the 1974 Turkish invasion on Cyprus
As archaeologists continue to adopt geographic information systems and computer-aided design software packages to record and store spatial data, excavations have begun to forgo hand-drawn plans in favor of digital recording. The purpose of this article is to present two case studies that have successfully utilized digital drafting techniques to create architectural plans at multiple scales. The first presents on-site 2d and 3d documentation at the site of Tel Akko, Israel, at the square, field, and tell scales. The second study combines orthophotos and legacy data to create an accurate site plan of Qasrin on the Golan Heights. Both harness image-based modeling to produce 2d and 3d spatial data in order to produce top plans with unprecedented spatial accuracy.
2019, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
Studies of archaeological cultural heritage typically focus on sites and landscapes threatened by military conflict, while threats from development and urban expansion are often more common. Excavations at Çadır Höyük began as a salvage campaign in advance of the construction of the Gelingüllü Dam—a modern infrastructural project. While our team has been excavating since 1994, the mound of Çadır Höyük and our host village of Peyniryemez have been recorded in maps and historical documents stretching as far back as the fifteenth century CE. This article examines the history of archaeological engagement at the site with a particular focus on the cartographic and visual record.
The discovery of a sacrificed puppy at Tel Miqne-Ekron, a major Philistine settlement in Israel’s southern plain, highlights the role of dogs in Iron I Philistia. Though dog sacrifice is described in Hittite religious texts and attested in lands bordering the Aegean during the second–first millennia BCE, evidence for this practice, or even of dog bones, is largely absent from Late Bronze and non-Philistine Iron I (ca. 1550–1000 BCE) Levantine contexts. What distinguishes the Tel Miqne-Ekron puppy interment from later Persian- and Hellenistic-period dog burials, is the placement of its severed head between its hind legs.Microscopic analyses of cut marks on several vertebrae indicate that the iron knife found nearby was likely used in its decapitation. This article examines the Tel Miqne-Ekron puppy burial within its eastern Mediterranean milieu and explores the ritual role of dogs and cynophagy (dog-eating) in second–first millennia society.
2019, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
Two-part stone jewelry molds were intended for casting of small and delicate precious metal jewelry and were common primarily during the Late Bronze Age in the ancient Near East. Published examples bear witness to the technological sophistication of the ancient craftsmen who used them as versatile tools for casting of a variety of solid rings, bezels, earrings, pendants, diadems, beads, pins, figurines, and amulets. As most stones crack when exposed to the extreme heat of molten metal, solid casting using stone molds may actually have been intended for fabrication of wax models using the “lost wax” technique which allows for their repeated use for production of wax anti-types. The largest number of these molds originates from coastal sites of the northern Levant, drawing attention to this region as a nexus of specialized metalworking during this period and probably also for the spread of this technology in the eastern Mediterranean.
This article reviews the activities at the Computerized Archaeology Laboratory at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where techniques and ideas from computer science (e.g., computer graphics, machine learning, etc.) are integrated into archaeological research methodologies. The laboratory operates optical scanners which provide 3d digital models that are then analyzed by computer programs developed in-house. These programs address research issues and needs which could not be tackled without the availability of digital 3d models, thus broadening the horizons of archaeological research. To date, these methods and applications have been applied successfully to more than 30,000 pottery fragments, 3,000 stone tools, and many other archaeological finds submitted by more than 100 expeditions. This level of integration provides daily verification of the 3d approach and its intellectual and economical advantages.
Until recently, efforts to understand the social dynamics of early Near Eastern empires traditionally focused on cuneiform texts, which disproportionately represent the elite. This article presents newly collected zooarchaeological data from the Neo-Assyrian provincial capital of Tušḫan (Ziyaret Tepe) to demonstrate how social dynamics and status differences can be identified within urban settlements, and it highlights differences in the availability and access to animal resources between two socially distinct areas. The integration of this data with the study of ancient empires allows for a more complete understanding of the relationship between social dynamics and provisioning strategies in early Near Eastern empires. keywords: zooarchaeology, Neo-Assyrian Empire, social status, Tushan (Ziyaret Tepe), Iron Age, Mesopotamia, diet
Umm al-Surab, located near modern-day Mafraq in northern Jordan, was the focus of a building archaeology project carried out by the University of Siena, Italy, between 2009 and 2012. This article discusses the primary results obtained from that project—in particular, the research on the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and another complex in the southeastern corner of the archaeological area. The methodologies adopted are explored, as well as the results anticipated from the development of this type of research: the creation of an atlas of construction techniques for the southern Hauran and the development of a non-destructive, and therefore “sustainable,” investigation methodology.
2015
Qal‘at ‘Aïsha is a fortress located in the Mount Lebanon range that was discovered during an archaeological survey by the author. Built on a rocky peak 2,219 m above sea level, this stronghold is surrounded by hostile rugged terrain and subject to extreme weather conditions, including low temperatures and abundant snow for six to seven months a year. Qal‘at ‘Aïsha enjoys a unique location with an unimpeded view of the coastline between Ras al-Bassit, Syria, and Batrun, Lebanon. The pottery sherds collected from the site are few, but these few fragments attest to human settlement and occupation between the Chalcolithic and the Late Roman period.
Within the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon and its environs, various forms of burial have been noted from earlier surveys and more recently from chance excavations. The dominant geology of the Bekaa is limestone, which is easy to cut and shape, making it an excellent material for both funerary structures and artifacts. Burial structures along with evidence of funerary activities provide a range of types, which can be spatially located across the valley—potentially telling us about settlement and local cultural customs. This article will provide insight into what is known about Greco-Roman-period burials, with an emphasis on the early Roman period when the Bekaa was incorporated into the Roman colony of Berytus (Beirut).
2018, https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2686575 THE REPATRIATION OF CULTURAL TREASURES AS AN INTERNATIONAL CUSTOM HELLENIC REPUBLIC National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Law School, Public International Law
State practice in both International and National Fields, as outlined in this study, show substantial agreement on the principle of return of expatriated cultural heritage. This norm is nowadays sufficiently well established to amount to an emerging customary rule of international law. In 1989 it was already stated that “the principle of the physical return of cultural property is becoming, through increasing state and institutional practice, a custom of international law”. This norm applies much more today after many decades of constant practice of the States and the recent expansion in repatriations. States worldwide have used all possible legal instruments and diplomacy to show their belief that cultural treasures must be returned to their countries and peoples of origin who created them and consider them as a part of their proper identity. As expounded in this study, the relevant State practice on the cultural property repatriation, including that of States whose interests are specially affected, has been both extensive and virtually uniform, in such a way as to show a general recognition that a rule of law or legal obligation is involved. State practice of the last decades, crystallized during recent years, reflects the belief that the return of Cultural Treasures to their Countries and Peoples of origin is rendered obligatory by the existence of a rule of law requiring it. This practice refers especially to the U.S.A., but also to France, U.K., Switzerland and Germany, are the most important art importing States, with some of the biggest Museums and Art Collections worldwide, as much as to Italy, Hellas, Egypt, Turkey, Peru, Mexico, China etc., which are the most important art exporting States. The State practice on the Repatriation of Cultural Treasures is evident from the number of International and Bilateral Conventions and Protocols adopted, as completed by soft law rules and guidelines, the administrative acts or attitudes, in particular in the diplomatic field, the national legislations and the judicial acts. This practice, already stable and uniform, is confirmed by the explosion of the repatriation of antiquities during the last years, as exposed in the relevant chapters. The great number of relevant resolutions and recommendations adopted by the organs of the international organizations, especially by the UN Security Council, mainly on the situation in Syria and Iraq, (the Resolutions of which, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter, are considered binding, in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter), strengthens the argument that a rule of customary international law on the repatriation of cultural property is already formed. The most famous and still pending case before the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP) concerns the Hellenic Government’s demand for the return by the United Kingdom of the Parthenon Sculptures. Humanity is conscious that the cultural heritage is an indispensable element of people’s identity and self-knowledge to the ultimate scope of the salvage and the evolution of Human Civilization. Thus the Norm of Repatriation of Cultural Treasures to their people and country of origin is well established as a Rule of International Customary Law.
2015, JEMAHS
This article describes how the site of Anfeh, Lebanon, which played an important role in the economy of the northern Levant from the Late Bronze Age to the Ottoman period and is currently on the World Monuments Watch List, was researched, surveyed, and excavated. The international rescue excavation and survey of Anfeh is directed toward reconstructing its entire history using recent archaeological data obtained from surveys and excavations, oral histories, and written sources. The ultimate objective of the project is to advance and implement a sustainable development program for both Anfeh and its hinterlands. keywords: North Lebanon, coastal zone management, terrestrial survey, maritime survey, Early Bronze Age, archaeological excavations, sustainable development
There are many ways to protect cultural heritage as a valuable commodity. Although heightened security measures and extensive surveillance methods can deter theft, a more effective means for reducing theft is the elimination of the demand for black market art items. Trade in unprovenanced antiquities is a demand-driven crime; the market for illegal or undocumented items is driven by buyers’ wants. The most effective method of protection for cultural heritage is to eliminate the demand for black market for these precious objects, thereby reducing the market, a method known as the “market reduction approach.” There is a well-documented link between the demand for items without provenance and museums. To eliminate black market demand, legislation is necessary to prosecute and regulate buyers, such as museums.
2020, journal of eastern mediterranean archaeology and heritage studies, vol. 8, no. 2
The article focuses on a digital reconstruction of a Palmyrene portrait, the so-called Beauty of Palmyra, in the collections of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, a project recently carried out for a special exhibition on ancient Palmyra. The study introduces to the academic work behind color reconstructions by presenting not only the artwork and its polychromy but especially the intermediate considerations and choices behind the final reconstruction, which illustrates how subjective such endeavors often are.
2018, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
In 2003 the Israel Land Administration decided, for the first time, to restore a residential quarter in Old Acre. The rehabilitation process marked a turning point in Acre’s conservation. Hitherto, the “monumental” narrative of the Israeli national project stressed the archaeological ethos of the Crusader city. The new approach engaged instead a “social” narrative, requiring a focused attention on the Ottoman city. During a pilot project the flagship building of the quarter was evacuated, massively renovated, and re-populated with its former Palestinian residents. The controversial restoration of the building’s appearance back to its bourgeois Ottoman phase, a period hitherto neglected by Israeli government agencies, is a lens through which we examine the convergence of three distinct narratives—monumental, social, and global— that guide Israeli interventions in Old Acre. Our focus is on the agency of conservation in the competition between them on the meaning and character of Acre’s urban space. KEYWORDS: Acre, Old City Akko, modernity, conservation, rehabilitation
2017, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
The international significance of Akko’s heritage is best illustrated by the inscription of two UNESCO World Heritage sites in this town of just over 55,000 people. This article describes three projects that focus on the concept of a shared heritage at a World Heritage site in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, diverse town situated in a region that continues to experience ongoing religious and ethnic conflict. The most recent, and still ongoing, effort to balance archaeology and community interests is the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project. While attempting to incorporate community building through archaeology and dialog, the Total Archaeology approach described here aims for a socially just and inclusive archaeology that will benefit local community stakeholders rather than disenfranchise them. It also emphasizes the need for local perspectives and experiences to play an active role in the interpretation of the past.
2014, Marom, N. and V. R. Herrmann. 2014. Incorporation into the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the Perspective of the Faunal Remains from Zincirli Höyük, Turkey, Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 2(4): 298-316.
The incorporation of urban communities into larger territorial polities can be studied by various material remains. Here, animal bones from the north lower city of Zincirli Höyük (ancient Samal), Turkey, are used to follow the settlement’s shift from a semi-autonomous polity to a Neo-Assyrian province. The results indicate that the process of incorporation is marked by an increasingly specialized animal economy, with non-faunal evidence suggesting that specialization was complemented by an increase in wealth, even among non-elites. Thus, the economy of Samal was gradually incorporated into the larger economic networks of the empire, encouraged by provincial governance that allowed the generated wealth to percolate beyond the immediate governing elites.