National Iranian American Council appeal on behalf of the Persepolis Fortification Archive

Now is our chance to save the Persepolis tablets!

Right now, the Senate is considering legislation that would prevent attempts to confiscate and auction off some of the most powerful symbols of Persian civilization. This legislation is designed to protect the priceless artifacts from Takht-e-Jamshid and all the other Persian artifacts under attack.

A group of lawyers wants to seize these relics of our heritage and auction them off to the highest bidder like cheap items sold on e-bay. "Maybe they'll end up on coffee tables around the country," one lawyer for the plaintiffs mused.

We can't let this happen. Tell your Senators to support the Burris Amendment today!

Pierre Briant books online

Rois, tributs et paysans
par Pierre Briant
Besançon, Les Belles Lettres, ALUB (269), 1982, 538 p.

Les textes présentés ici couvrent une dizaine d'années de recherches (1971-1981) consacrées aux États et sociétés du Proche et du Moyen-Orient sous les dominations achéménide et hellénistique (c. VIe-IIe siècle av.n.è.), La plupart des études qui constituent le corps de l'ouvrage sont des communications présentées à des Colloques. Beaucoup d'entre elles ont été publiées dans des recueils ou des revues peu accessibles. L'unité thématique de ces textes et leur état d'extrême dispersion m'ont paru constituer deux bonnes et simples raisons pour les rassembler dans un recueil. En est absent l'article le plus long paru dans DHA 2, 1976 car je l'ai très largement repris dans un autre livre. Faut-il préciser que la republication de ces études n'implique pas qu'elles soient exemptes d'erreurs ou de défauts ? Du moins, leur publication dans une collection désormais bien connue des historiens de l'Antiquité suscitera, je l'espère, de nombreuses discussions critiques. (Extrait de l'introduction par Pierre Briant)

Antigone le Borgne
par Pierre Briant
Besançon, Les Belles Lettres, ALUB, 1973, 397 p.

These books appear in the context of the Bibliotheque numerique des ouvrages publiés par l'Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité. A full listing of the offerings of that digital collection is here.

News: "Alla scoperta di Persepoli"

Alla scoperta di Persepoli, by Tiziano Mainier, sabato sera online, 2 July 2009

Riemerge una parte sepolta della città, grazie agli scavi compiuti dagli archeologi italiani. Intervista a Pierfrancesco Callieri, direttore della missione.

Go to the chronicle of news on Persepolis.

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

ARTA 2009.001-00: Tang-e Bulagh

ARTA 2009.001-006

This series of notes and articles summarises the results of the rescue excavations (2005-2007) conducted at the occasion of the construction of a dam in the Bolaghi valley, which opens about 2km south of the tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae. Only the results pertaining to the Achaemenid and Post-Achaemenid periods are presented here: full excavation reports will be published in separate volumes edited by the respective joint missions between Iran and Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Poland.

Hasan Fazeli Nashli, "The Achaemenid/Post Achaemenid Remains in Tang-i Bulaghi near Pasargadae: A Report on the Salvage excavations conducted by five joint teams in 2004-2007" (ARTA 2009.001)

Takuro Adachi, Mohsen Zeidi, "Achaemenid and post-Achaemenid Remains from TB 75 and the General Survey of the Tang-i Bulaghi" (ARTA 2009.002)

Ali Asadi, Barbara Kaim, "The Achaemenid building at site 64 in Tang-e Bulaghi" (ARTA 2009.003)

Alireza Askari Chaverdi, Pierfrancesco Callieri, "Achaemenid and Post-Achaemenid Remains at TB 76 and TB 77" (ARTA 2009.004)

Mohammad T. Atai, Rémy Boucharlat, "An Achaemenid pavilion and other remains in Tang-i Bulaghi" (ARTA 2009.005)

Barbara Helwing, Mojgan Seyedin, "The Achaemenid period occupation at Tang-i Bulaghi site 73" (ARTA 2009.006)

Legal Threats to Cultural Exchange of Archaeological Materials

Legal Threats to Cultural Exchange of Archaeological Materials, by Sebastian Heath and Glenn M. Schwartz, American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 113 No. 3 • July 2009

Legal action on behalf of victims of terrorism has attempted to force the sale of cultural artifacts on loan to U.S. institutions in order to compensate those victims. Such action jeopardizes the participation of American institutions in international cultural exchanges. The authors maintain that archaeological artifacts should not be sold to satisfy a court judgment, regardless of the actions of a particular regime, and that it should be possible for nations to share their cultural heritage without fear of loss.

Go to the chronicle of news on the Persepolis Fortification Archive.