News: Persepolis Relief Fragment in Montreal Stolen

News is emerging today (15 February 2012) of the theft in October 2011, from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, of two pieces, one of them a "Persian low relief of the head of a guard, dating from the fifth century BC. It is made of sandstone, and estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars".  According to the Montreal Gazette: "The Persian piece – donated to the MMFA by Cleveland Morgan in 1950..."

Two valuable artifacts stolen from Montreal museum

joshua knelman

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012 6:32PM EST

Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 11:14AM EST

 Video of a suspect has been released

Uploaded by themontrealgazette on Feb 14, 2012

Surveillance video of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from Oct. 26, 2011 shows a suspect in the museum that police and the museum believe may have stolen two archaeological sculptures, a Persian bas relief and a Roman head of a man that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. British-based AXA Art, which is insuring the objects, hopes the public will recognize the individual and call police. The company is offering substantial rewards for the return of the objects and for the arrest of the suspect.

The insurance company, misidentifying the object as "Assyrian" is offering a reward

Assyrian low relief Sandstone

02.2012

Theft at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

AXA ART OFFERING SUBSTANTIAL REWARD FOR SAFE RECOVERY OF RARE ARTIFACTS

An Assyrian low relief and a marble head dating from the Roman Empire, both rare and valuable, have been mysteriously stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA).  AXA ART is offering a substantial reward, subject to specific conditions, for information leading to the safe recovery of the items, which were stolen in October.  Additional rewards are also offered of up to CAN$10,000 for anyone able to identify either of the two individuals caught on CCTV.  Please see below for the full press release and detailed images.

AXA ART Press release

Assyrian low relief Sandstone

A marble head dating from the Roman Empire

Go to the chronicle of news on Persepolis.

See also the chronicle of news on the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695

Kirsty Mason on Thomas Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia. Classical essays

In Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2012.02.29  Kirsty Mason reviews:

Thomas Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia. Classical essays. London; New York: Bristol Classical Press, 2011. Pp. 190. ISBN 9780715639177. $24.00 (pb).

She cites Harrison's discussion of the use of Persepolis Fortification Archive materials:

"Looking at Persian sources, primarily the Persepolis tablets, Harrison discusses the problems with this source of information: namely that they derive from a very specific time period (late 6th and early 5th centuries) and location and are written in Elamite and thus do not reflect the entire empire".

"When discussing royal women, who are often depicted as crueller than the Persian kings, Harrison notes two things: first: that Classical depictions show Persian royal women acting primarily in the interests of their families, holding vast power and demonstrating masculine traits. However, Achaemenid scholarship views such depictions as clichéd and the result of misogyny or ignorance and, therefore, to be dismissed. Second: that despite the above opinions dismissing Greek accounts, most Greek sources do loosely support Persian sources, in particular the Persepolis tablets which show "enterprising and resolute" Persian royal women. It is surmised that Achaemenid scholarship has too great a desire to reverse the negative reputation of Persian women noting that it is not only Persian women in Greek sources who are depicted as cruel in the interests of their families".

There has already been a response to the review.


Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695

TAPYROI AND TABLETS; A BOAR HUNT

A pair of articles appeared in a recent issue of Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies.  Accessible on line to anyone whose institution licenses the journal:

Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies

© Institute of Classical Studies

December 2011

Volume 54, Issue 2

1. OF TAPYROI AND TABLETS, STATES AND TRIBES: THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PASTORALISM IN THE ACHAEMENID HEARTLAND IN GREEK AND ELAMITE SOURCES (pages 1–16) WOUTER F. M. HENKELMAN
   Article first published online: 1 DEC 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-5370.2011.00020.x
   

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2. NOTES ON A BOAR HUNT (PFS 2323) (pages 17–20) MARK GARRISON
   Article first published online: 1 DEC 2011 | DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-5370.2011.00021.x
   

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Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695

NIAC Alert: Persepolis Tablets Threatened By Senate Sanctions Bill

 National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has posted the following:

Alert: Persepolis Tablets Threatened By Senate Sanctions Bill

A Senate committee voted yesterday to make it easier for individuals to seize and auction off priceless ancient Persian antiquities held by American museums and universities in order to collect court judgments against the Iranian government.  Already, lawyers are in court trying to seize the Persepolis Tablets – priceless 2,500 year-old artifacts that provide a unique first-hand account of life in the Persian Empire under Darius the Great.  If this proposal becomes law, the Persepolis Tablets are almost certain to be confiscated from the universities and museums and sold to the highest bidders.
The Persepolis Tablets are a part of our rich heritage that should continue to be shared at museums and universities, not auctioned off like cheap items on eBay. 

Take action now to protect our heritage!
This proposal by Senator Menendez (D-NJ) will soon be considered by the full Senate as part of its latest Iran sanctions bill – which builds on the broad Central Bank of Iran sanctions spearheaded by Senator Menendez just last December.  This is perhaps one of the starkest examples yet of how broad sanctions punish ordinary Iranians and Iranian Americans, not the Iranian government. 

With the Iranian people facing unprecedented repression at home and economic warfare from abroad, we must stand united against collective punishment and the looting of our very heritage.

The Iranian government has harmed many innocent lives, and its victims should receive just compensation.  But we must be able to protect the rights of victims without attacking our Iranian heritage.

Take action now to stop Congress from looting our history!
NIAC has led the Iranian-American community’s efforts to protect the Tablets, fighting in the courts, the Congress, and even the White House to protect them. In order to permanently secure these and all other priceless Persian artifacts under threat, NIAC has called on Congress to change the law to protect all cultural artifacts held by American museums and universities so our heritage will never again come under attack

Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695

RIP Herbert Harry Paper

Herbert H. Paper died January 23, 2012 in Cincinnati. A notice of his death appears in the January 25 2010 Cincinnati Enquirer.  Another, by Jonathan D. Sarna appeared January 30, 2011 in H-Judaic.

 

His faculty profile at the website of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion reads:

Dr. Paper is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and near Eastern Languages, and is the Editor of the Hebrew Union College Annual, HUC-JIR/Cincinnati. He received a doctorate from the University of Chicago. Dr. Paper taught at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and joined HUC-JIR as the Dean of Graduate Studies. His specialties are Persian studies, concentrating on the history of the Persian language and on the ancient languages of Iran, and Yiddish literature.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Chicago (1951)

Lecture Titles

• History of the Yiddish Literature
• The Languages of the Jews Throughout History
• Sholem Aleichem as a Social Critic

Why is he mentioned here on the Persepolis Fortification Archive Blog?

He was a student of George Cameron, and a member of the first generation of scholars focusing on Elamite language at the University of Chicago following World War Two.  He wrote his dissertation under Cameron in the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures, accepted in August 1951.  It was subsequently published as The Phonology and Morphology of Royal Achaemenid Elamite by the University of Michigan Press in 1955.  It is available online from the HATHI Trust Digital Library.  That digital version was mentioned here on this blog in May 2009.

The University of Michigan Faculty History Project has a cursory profile.
WorldCat Identities has Paper, Herbert H. (Herbert Harry) 1925-

He is alleged to have said:

It is well to remember that a Martian observing his first baseball game would be quite correct in concluding that the last two words of the National Anthem are: PLAY BALL!

MA Thesis: Culture in Court --- The Saga of The Persepolis Tablets A Case Study

Culture in Court --- The Saga of The Persepolis Tablets A Case Study
Ahouraiyan, Taraneh; Warren-Findley, Jannelle; Warrren-Findley, Jannelle; Thompson, Victoria; Smith, Louis. Arizona State University, 2011. 2011. 1502753.
ISBN 9781267060761
MA Thesis Arizona State University

ProQuest document ID 912168904

This thesis explores the implications that the outcome of a certain U.S. lawsuit involving antiquities could have on practices and programs in the United States, related to cultural heritage and history. This paper examines the Rubin et al case, which sought to attach a collection of ancient Persian artifacts (known as The Persepolis Tablets) as a source of legal compensation. 

Presented as a case study, and using primary and secondary research sources, this paper analyzes the Rubin et al lawsuit and the factors that led to its initiation, and seeks to determine how and why adverse consequences could result from its final ruling.

This thesis demonstrates that the final decision in the lawsuit could leave a negative impact on a number of practices related to cultural heritage in the United States, especially with regards to cultural and academic institutions such as museums and universities.

 You may download this document through your Library.


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