Archaeology and the Public

Masada, near the Dead Sea, Israel NATIONALISM Masada, near the Dead Sea, Israel

Built by Herod in 1st century BCE Taken over by Romans Zealots occupy it during Jewish Revolt of 66-73 CE

Arch of Titus, Rome 70 CE: Titus conquers Jerusalem

Zealots’ last stand was Masada 73: siege by Roman general Silva 1000 Zealots committed suicide

                                        Yigael Yadin (1917-1984) Masada excavated in 1963-5 by Yadin: it becomes a national symbol of Israel: ‘Masada represents for all of us in Israel and for many elsewhere, archaeologists and laymen, a symbol of courage, a monument to our great national figures, heroes who chose death over a life of physical and moral serfdom.’

IDEOLOGY Bamiyan Buddhas, Afghanistan, March 2001, destroyed by Taliban

Built by Emperor Constantius II in fourth century CE Rebuilt by Justinian in sixth century CE Turned into a mosque after 1453 1935: turned into a museum by Kemal Atatürk Aya Sofia, Istanbul

mihrab

ARCHAEOLOGY AND WAR                       Missing: IM5572 Large sand-colored stone statue of a male priest (15.2 x 38 cm), with an inscription on the right shoulder mentioning the goddess Nin-shu-pur, reputedly found in the vicinity of Adab (Bismaiya), datable to the 3rd Early Dynastic Period (c. 2500 B.C.) Looted Museum of Antiquities Baghdad, 2003

Treasure of Priam Illegally shipped to Berlin by Schliemann Taken away by Sovjets in 1945 Turned up in 1990’s in Moscow Now in Pushkin Museum Does the treasure have to be returned to Turkey, or to Germany?

Positive effect of war (rare): Description de l’Egypte

Elgin Marbles: Removed from Parthenon in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Placed in British Museum in 1816 WHO OWNS THE PAST?

Arguments for London: Elgin had legal permission of Sultan Elgin saved the sculpture from worse The marbles have become associated with London and benefit from it being displayed in one of the largest museums in the world The British Museum cannot legally give away the marbles to Greece

Greek position: Elgin took advantage of Ottoman rule of Greece Marbles belong in Athens New Acropolis Museum is being built on foot of Acropolis: it can equally well place the marbles without them being polluted or damaged

What do you think? Should objects always go back to their place of origin? Should objects be on their original spot or in a museum covering all of civilisation? Should casts be made or not?

Egyptian Museum, built in 1835 ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE DEAD

Mummy room: should these bodies be displayed?

Temple mount, Jerusalem: one of the most heavily debated archaeological sites in the world

Ultra-orthodox in Jerusalem against archaeological excavations on Temple Mount in 1994: ‘Let the dead rest in peace’

‘The world is shocked by the desecration of Jewish graves on the slopes of the Temple Mount by archaeologist robbers’

"The whole world is shocked at the archaeologists."

USES OF THE PAST 17 November 1997: six gunmen fire randomly at tourists, killing 58 of them IT PAYS: Economy of some third-world countries like Egypt rely in large part on tourism Temple of Hatshepsut (15th century BCE), Luxor

Making the past more attractive: Nubian Museum, Aswan

CONSERVATION AND DESTRUCTION Two main ways of human destruction: agriculture and roads: e.g. Betuwe line in the Netherlands (high speed train from Rotterdam to the Ruhrgebiet in Germany)

Aswan High Dam: UNESCO Salvage Project

Rescue of temples of Philae

ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE PUBLIC: making archaeological remains visible to the public