tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358453872024-03-13T05:34:14.972-05:00Persepolis Fortification Archive ProjectThis site provides information on the Persepolis Fortification Archive project based at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.comBlogger246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-2622031849777544762022-10-24T10:20:00.000-05:002022-10-24T10:20:52.451-05:00Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Reports<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Report for 2020-2021</a> has appeared.</span><br />
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<img alt="" src="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/21-30/20-21/OI%20Annual%20Report%202020%E2%80%9321%20Cover.jpg" style="height: 150px; width: 107px;" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Reports for prior years are</span><span style="font-size: small;">:</span></span><br /><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2018-2019/Stolper-Annual-Report-2018-19.pdf">
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<ul><ul><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2018-2019/Stolper-Annual-Report-2018-19.pdf">
</a>
<li><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2020-2021/AR%202020-21%20PFA.pdf"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2020-2021</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">PFA Annual Repor</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">t</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2019-2020/AR2019-20_Persepolis.pdf">2019-2020 PFA Annual Report</a><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2018-2019/Stolper-Annual-Report-2018-19.pdf">2018-2019 PFA Annual Report </a></span></li>
<li><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2017-2018/18%20-%20Persepolis%20Fortification%20Archive%20Project.pdf"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2017-2018 PFA Annual Report</span></a></li>
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<li><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2016-2017/AR-2016-2017-Persepolis.pdf"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2016-2017 PFA Annual Report</span></a></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/15-16/ar2016_PFA.pdf">2015-2016 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/14-15/ar2015-PFA.pdf">2014-2015 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/13-14/ar2013-14_PFA.pdf">2013-2014 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/12-13/12-13_PFA.pdf">2012-2013 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/11-12/11_12_PFA.pdf">2011-2012 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/10_11_PFA.pdf">2010-2011 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/09_10_PFA.pdf">2009-2010 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/08-09_PFA.pdf">2008-2009 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/07-08_PFA.pdf">2007-2008 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/06-07_PFA.pdf">2006-2007 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-74667294446448685892020-01-07T15:20:00.003-06:002020-01-07T15:23:36.674-06:00Matthew Stolper on Trump’s threat to attack dozens of Iranian sites<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://news.wttw.com/2020/01/06/trump-s-threat-attack-52-iranian-sites-draws-criticism-concern">Matthew Stolper on Trump’s threat to attack dozens of Iranian sites</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"An expert on Iranian culture says he was “appalled” by President Donald Trump’s threat to attack dozens of Iranian sites should Iran retaliate against a U.S. drone strike that <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2020/01/03/trump-declares-iranian-s-general-s-reign-terror-over" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Friday</a>.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beyond his years of research and teaching, professor emeritus <a href="https://nelc.uchicago.edu/people/matthew-w-stolper" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">Matthew Stolper</a> of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute has traveled to Iran numerous times to excavate <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/114/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">Persepolis</a>, an ancient city deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I don’t know what the sites are,” Stolper said. “But of course, all of us who work on cultural heritage are fairly appalled by this.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1213593975732527112" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">tweeted on Saturday</a> that he’s identified 52 Iranian sites, “representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran” in 1979, to target in the event of an Iranian attack. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without naming specific sites, Trump described some as “very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Iran’s cultural history spans millennia – contributions from the region’s earliest civilizations date as far back as 12,000 to 10,000 B.C.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It’s a place that has produced, throughout centuries, scientists, poets, philosophers,” Stolper said. “And going back to the period of the Persian Empire, it was the largest political entity of its time – the largest that had ever been created until the Roman Empire.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Attacking cultural and historical sites violates numerous international laws of war, including a <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/armed-conflict-and-heritage/convention-and-protocols/1954-hague-convention/" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">post-WWII international treaty</a> and a <a href="https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/s/res/2347-%282017%29" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank">2017 United Nations Security Council resolution</a> condemning the “unlawful destruction of cultural heritage.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Secretary of State Mike Pompeo avoided specifics when <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/world/trump-iran-cultural-sites-war-crime/index.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00368e; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.33, 0.66, 0.66, 1) 0s;" target="_blank" title="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/world/trump-iran-cultural-sites-war-crime/index.html">CNN’s Jake Tapper asked</a> him Sunday whether “cultural centers are theoretically fair targets.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Jake, we’re going to do the things that are right and the things that are consistent with American law,” Pompeo said.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stolper says the region’s history is important to not only the Iranian people, but the rest of the world.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“This is a country of people where everybody knows the classical poetry and everybody knows what it refers to,” Stolper said. “The destruction of a site like Persepolis would be, for them and I think for the rest of the world, something comparable to the burning of Notre Dame.” </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stolper joins “Chicago Tonight” on Monday to further discuss Iranian culture and history"</span></span></div>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-1169111689611682052018-08-22T18:26:00.000-05:002018-08-22T17:27:00.995-05:00Persepolis in the News<div style="text-align: center;">
Beginning January 1, 2007, this page will include links to stories from the news on Persepolis, but not related to the Persepolis Fortification Archive. News stories on the archive will be in <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/01/persepolis-tablets-in-news.html">Persepolis Tablets in the News</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://culturalpropertynews.org/no-country-for-old-achaemenids/">No Country for Old Achaemenids: Persepolis Stone Fragment Returns to Iran After Series of Bizarre Events</a></div>
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<img height="174" src="https://culturalpropertynews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Ayatollah-Khamenei-at-Persepolis.jpg" width="320" /> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">“<em>There’s like 20 RCMP officers flooding my place, the sunshine’s
coming in, the crystals are making rainbows everywhere, the
bougainvillea flowers are glowing in the sunrise light</em>,” Simon Metke, Edmonton yoga instructor, <a href="http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Stolen+artifact+from+Montreal+museum+worth+million+recovered+Edmonton/9505456/story.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">interviewed</a> after Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized a Persepolis fragment from his meditation room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">“<em>We are simply flabbergasted at what has occurred,</em>” <a href="https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2017/11/01/iranian-artifact-seized-at-tefaf/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">statement</a> by Rupert Wace, UK art dealer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The story was… strange. There was a fragment of a wall frieze – from
one of the world’s best known historical sites, displayed by a major
museum for more than sixty years, and then stolen from it in a seemingly
random act that garnered much press attention. It was recovered after a
lengthy investigation that included disseminating images worldwide.
When it was found, almost by accident, among the stuffed toys and <a href="http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Stolen+artifact+from+Montreal+museum+worth+million+recovered+Edmonton/9505456/story.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">keepsakes of a yoga teacher</a> in Edmonton, it was seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, prompting a Canadian meme: “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Montreal_Museum_of_Fine_Arts_theft" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Open up, yoga hoser</a>!” </span></blockquote>
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</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The museum chose to keep the insurance money, so the museum’s
insurance company sold it to a London art dealer for over a million
dollars. It should have had a quiet life from then on, perhaps in a
private collection, then probably in another museum. The dealer
exhibited, published, and promoted the object in England. Then in 2017,
the dealer made an unfortunate choice; he brought it to one of the
world’s great art fairs, The European Fine Art Fair, located in New York
City’ Armory.</span><br />
<a href="https://culturalpropertynews.org/no-country-for-old-achaemenids/">Read the rest</a></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.wciu.com/videos/youandme/did-u-know-persian-chicago-bull">Local Chicago TV feature on the Oriental Institute Persian Gallery</a></div>
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<a class="imgLink sts-fl" href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><img src="http://images.lvp.llnw.net/abee2d5fad8944c790db6a0bfd3b9ebd/media/ed690e90844749e9a390bb5a4f436bc7/kL7.540x303.jpeg" id="thumbnail" /></a>
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<b id="headline">Did U Know: Persian Chicago Bull</b></div>
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The oldest bull in Chicago came from a Persian palace. Chris DeRose takes us to the Oriental Institute to find out more.</div>
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<a href="http://www.wciu.com/videos/youandme/did-u-know-persian-chicago-bull#sthash.IQgvYSAx" id="url" target="_blank">http://www.wciu.com/videos/youandme/did-u-know-persian-chic . . .</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=365:10-07-2012&catid=64">Archaeologists Unearth and Reopen the Achaemenid Swage System at Persepolis</a>
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<a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/news/">The News Section</a>
of the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS)<br />
<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news">
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:51<br />
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<span style="color: #003700; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Iranian Archaeologists have begun work on unearthing the
Persepolis swage system, which in ancient times diverted rainwater from
the platform to prevent flooding, reported the Persian service of ISNA
on Tuesday.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #003700; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">According
to the news, apart from the sewage system, archaeologists have
identified three water and irrigation systems at Persepolis, which
circulated water over the platform. The sewage system, which is one of
the most complex systems in the ancient world, diverted excess water
flowing down from Mount Rahamt, away from the platform.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #003700; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The
Achaemenid engineers constructed and implemented the sewage system
inside the platform before construction of the citadel. The oldest
sewage system at Persepolis is dated to the reign of Darius the Great
(r. 550-486 BCE).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #003700; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Archaeologists
believe that by unearthing and re-opening the ancient waterways and the
sewage systems, they will be able to resolve the flood issue that
Persepolis has been suffering from, particularly in the past few years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #003700; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Last
year archaeologists warned the authorities that if no necessary
measures were taken immediately to resolve the flood issue at
Persepolis, <a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2011/may2011/03-05.htm">the ancient edifice will cease to exit within 10 years</a>.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/12/jun/1056.html">Part of Persepolis sewage system unearthed</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.payvand.com/news">Payvand Iran News ...</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">06/06/12</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/">Tehran Times</a></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">A team of Iranian archaeologists has recently discovered 20 meters of a canal of the sewage system of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis" style="font-weight: normal;">Persepolis</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">
in southern Iran. The team led by Ali Asadi has been commissioned to
carry out excavations of the sewage system to discover how the system
worked during the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" style="font-weight: normal;" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid</a> era, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday.</b></span></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;">
The sewage system is located in the southwest of the Achaemenid city near the city of Shiraz.<br />
The team dug down about five meters to reach the canal, Asadi said.<br />
A number of stone bas-reliefs have also been discovered during the excavations, he added.<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><b></b></span>
Asadi said that the sewage system branches off into many canals, which extend to the south and then turn to the east. </span></div>
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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".<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/two-valuable-artifacts-stolen-from-montreal-museum/article2338297/">Two valuable artifacts stolen from Montreal museum</a><br />
<div id="articlemeta">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4 class="heavyseriflbl sm byline author vcard">
joshua knelman
</h4>
<h5 class="sans sm updated">
<span class="articlecreditline">From Wednesday's Globe and Mail</span>
</h5>
<h5 class="articledateline sans sm">
Published <time datetime="2012-02-14 18:32 -0500" pubdate="">Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012 6:32PM EST</time></h5>
<h5 class="articledateline sans sm">
Last updated <time datetime="2012-02-15 11:14 -0500">Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 11:14AM EST</time></h5>
</blockquote>
</div>
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<br />
<div class="articleleadphoto">
<blockquote>
<img alt="Achaemenid dynasty (558-330 B.C.) Head of a Guard (Fragment of a low relief 5th c. B.C. Sandstone 21 x 20.5 x 3 cm - Achaemenid dynasty (558-330 B.C.) Head of a Guard (Fragment of a low relief 5th c. B.C. Sandstone 21 x 20.5 x 3 cm" src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01374/WEB-art-heist15_1374229cl-3.jpg" height="123" title="Achaemenid dynasty (558-330 B.C.) Head of a Guard (Fragment of a low relief 5th c. B.C. Sandstone 21 x 20.5 x 3 cm" width="220" /></blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Video of a suspect has been released</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div id="watch-uploader-info" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Uploaded by <a class="yt-user-name author" dir="ltr" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/themontrealgazette" rel="author">themontrealgazette</a> on <span class="watch-video-date" id="eow-date">Feb 14, 2012</span></span>
</div>
<div id="watch-description-text">
<div id="eow-description" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">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.</span></div>
</div>
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<br />
<a href="http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2011/08/achaemenid-palace-found-in-iran.html">Achaemenid palace found in Iran</a><br />
<span class="postinfo">
<span class="postauthor">Posted by TANN</span><span class="postfolder"> </span></span><br />
<span class="postinfo"><span class="postfolder">
</span>
<span class="postdate">7:15 PM</span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Archaeologists
have unearthed an ancient palace dating back to the Achaemenid dynasty
in Dahaneh Gholaman located in Iran's southeastern province of
Sistan-Baluchestan.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<br />
</span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MUVo6SaJx0U/TjbQuBqhvuI/AAAAAAAAOZo/Vskk7YUaBBI/s1600/Achaemenid+palace.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MUVo6SaJx0U/TjbQuBqhvuI/AAAAAAAAOZo/Vskk7YUaBBI/s400/Achaemenid+palace.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Dahaneh Gholaman site, in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan [Credit: Press TV]</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Comparing
the structure in the Dahaneh Gholaman site with Achaemenid palaces in
Takht-e Jamshid and Pasargaad proved that the newly-found site dates to
the Achaemenid era, said Kourosh Mohammadkhani, leader of the
archeological team, IRNA reported.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He added that the finding is the most significant achievement in the current phase of the recent study.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Dahaneh Gholaman site comprises of 54 ancient structures, most of which were discovered during the years 1959 and 2008.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Takht-e
Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid) or Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of
the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE) which is located in Iran's Fars
Province.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pasargadae
was also the capital of another Achaemenid king, Cyrus (559-530 BCE),
and is the location of his tomb. Recent research has shown that
Achaemenid engineers constructed the city to withstand a severe
earthquake. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Source: <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/" target="_blank">Press TV</a> [July 31, 2011]</span></i></span>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/archives.asp">The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives</a>
(Freer|Sackler Archives) received a grant from the Smithsonian
Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund to aid in the
preservation of the <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/">Herzfeld squeezes in the Archives</a>, which date from 1911-1934.<br />
<br />
<div class="field-item odd">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a class="imagecache imagecache-Releases_thumb_width_185 imagecache-imagelink imagecache-Releases_thumb_width_185_imagelink" href="http://newsdesk.si.edu/sites/default/files/press_releases/Screenshot_1_3.jpg"><img alt="" class="imagecache imagecache-Releases_thumb_width_185" src="http://newsdesk.si.edu/sites/default/files/imagecache/Releases_thumb_width_185/press_releases/Screenshot_1_3.jpg" height="138" title="" width="183" /></a></div>
</div>
<br />
The squeezes contain Arabic script, Middle Persian, and Cuneiform impressions from archaeological
sites: <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/bastam.asp">Bastam</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/isfahan.asp">Isfahan</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/rayy.asp">Rayy</a>,
<a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/samarra.asp">Samarra</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/shiraz.asp">Shiraz</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/sunghur.asp">Sunghur</a>,
<a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/taq_i_bustan.asp">Taq-i Bustan</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/tus.asp">Tus</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/sarpul.asp">Sarpul</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/pasargadae.asp">Pasargadae</a>,
<a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/persepolis.asp">Persepolis</a>, <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/naqsh_i_rustam.asp">Naqsh-i Rustam</a>, and <a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/research/squeezeproject/paikuli.asp">Paikuli</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">See today's notice of updates on </span><a href="http://si-siris.blogspot.com/2010/01/ernst-herzfeld-online-resources.html" style="font-family: inherit;">Ernst Herzfeld Online Resources</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by </span><a href="mailto:woodyr@si.edu" style="font-family: inherit;">Rachael Cristine Woody</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> on the <a href="http://si-siris.blogspot.com/">Smithsonian blog</a>.</span></span><br />
<br />
After several decades out of print, Oriental Institute Publication 69, <a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip69.html"><i>Persepolis II: Contents of the Treasury and Other Discoveries,</i></a> has been digitally reprinted. An Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf) version is also available for download. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=35845387&postID=116911168961168205" name="7287085636593756826"></a> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://si-siris.blogspot.com/2010/10/3d-imaging-to-unlock-ancient-mysteries.html">3d Imaging to Unlock Ancient Mysteries</a></span><br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Wednesday, October 27, 2010</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Rachael Cristine Woody </span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Archivist</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/visitor/archives.htm">Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives</a></span></div>
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<blockquote>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZyCo8FuPlYk/TFwAqTeC6aI/AAAAAAAAABU/ffjDcWgRwmY/s1600/herzfeld+squeeze.050a+%282%29.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZyCo8FuPlYk/TFwAqTeC6aI/AAAAAAAAABU/ffjDcWgRwmY/s320/herzfeld+squeeze.050a+(2).jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are some very exciting activities happening around the Freer|Sackler Gallery, and in the Archives specifically. I am going to unveil to you my favorite object. I know I say that about a lot of the collections I show you, but this object really is an amazing specimen. Let me introduce to you squeeze 50A. For you to better understand, below are a couple definitions.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
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<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A <b>squeeze</b>: is a series of sheets of paper that are layered on top of each other and moistened to create a wet pulp affect. This substance is pressed upon the inscriptions capturing the impressionistic writing like a 3-dimensional negative affect. These inscriptions typically cover the ancient culture's mythology, and histories. The squeezes in the Ernst Herzfeld papers are roughly 80-100 years old. The squeezes have been made out of varying qualities of paper from very high grade, to cigarette paper Herzfeld must of had to use in a pinch. The squeezes have since been transported around the world, squished in non-archival approved ways, and suffer from various issues that affect all paper products.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span> </div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Squeezing</b>: Here, you see Herzfeld and his team on ladders applying the wet paper to the monuments of ancient Iran.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZyCo8FuPlYk/TFwAzDs4z0I/AAAAAAAAABc/Ovrs49jY31w/s1600/squeezing+%282%29.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZyCo8FuPlYk/TFwAzDs4z0I/AAAAAAAAABc/Ovrs49jY31w/s640/squeezing+(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
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<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=%7E%21siarchives&uri=full=3100001%7E%21230318%7E%210#focus"><b>Ernst Herzfeld</b></a>: Archaeologist, art historian, and architect who excavated pre-Islamic and early Islamic sites. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="font-family: inherit;">
<a href="http://si-siris.blogspot.com/2010/10/3d-imaging-to-unlock-ancient-mysteries.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Read the rest...</span></a> </blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102613&sectionid=351020105">Iran publishes Persepolis petroglyph translations</a>, <b>PRESSTV</b>, <span id="ctl00_body_spnPubDate">Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:33:30 GMT</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span id="ctl00_body_spnBody">Iran's Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE) has published Persian translations of a number of Persepolis petroglyphs.<br />
<br />
The inscriptions have been translated by Iranian linguist and inscriptions expert Abdolmajid Arfaei and published in a book titled <i>Translations of Persepolis Walls</i>.<br />
<br />
In an interview with ISNA News Agency, Arfaei said that the book contains 164 texts translated between 1998 and 2003.<br />
<br />
“The original texts belong to Iran's National Museum and there might still be some inscriptions which have not been translated,” Arfaei said.<br />
<br />
“The book includes Persian and English introductions as well as a Persian grammar section,” he added, saying that the English preface contains information on the original location of the inscriptions and the people who used them during the Achaemenid era.<br />
<br />
Arfaei who is an Elamite language expert and the founder of the Inscriptions Hall of Iran's National Museum has also translated over 2,500 Persepolis inscriptions, which are housed at the University of Chicago.<br />
<br />
His <i>Decree of Cyrus the Great</i> is a detailed account of the inscriptions on the Cyrus Cylinder, considered to be the world's first charter of human rights.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sabatoseraonline.it/home_ssol.php?site=1&n=articles&category_id=15&article_id=118862&l=it">Alla scoperta di Persepoli</a>, by Tiziano Mainier, <b>sabato sera online</b>, 2 July 2009<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Riemerge una parte sepolta della città, grazie agli scavi compiuti dagli archeologi italiani. Intervista a Pierfrancesco Callieri, direttore della missione.</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img src="http://www.sabatoseraonline.it/public/parser_image/save/56cc6b2d00a20e87e2f8f8ae7f4779ce_493d696a71df7e3c967fd66ed3b387a9.jpg" /><br />
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<a href="http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=891234">Destruction of Persepolis stone barrier denied,</a> TEHRAN, June 5 (MNA).</div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">An official of the Parsa and Pasargadae Research Center (PPRC) denied the destruction of a stone from the staircase structure in the Council Hall at Persepolis last week.<br />
<br />
A block of stone from the northern stairway structure of the Council Hall was removed in the course of a restoration project that had been taking place over the past few weeks, the official, who requested anonymity, told the MNA.<br />
<br />
The block was then reinstalled in-situ after deposits of sand and mud were cleaned from the fractures and crevices, he added...</span></blockquote>
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<img src="http://www.mehrnews.com/mehr_media/image/2009/05/450350_orig.jpg" /></center>
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<a href="http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Altro/?id=3.0.3397053272">Italian archeologists find commoner’s neighborhoods in Persepolis ,</a> adnkronos.com, Venerdì 5 Giugno 2009.<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Rome – A joint Iranian-Italian archeological mission in Iran has made an exceptional discovery: the archeologists have found the first traces of the urban settlement in Persepolis, one of the five capitals of the Achaemenid Empire in ancient Persia, the construction of which began in 520 BC under the Emperor Darius the Great and lasted almost seventy years. In an interview with the “Tehran Times”, translated by the magazine “Archeologia Viva” (Giunti Editore), the Italian director of the mission, Pierfrancesco Callieri, professor of Archeology and Iranian Art History at the University of Bologna, affirmed that the new findings at the Persepolis site have furnished initial information on the city and on the neighborhoods where the common people lived. During the course of the excavations of the flat area at the foot of the Great Achaemenid Terrace and about 1 km from here, the team led by Professor Callieri discovered the first traces of a residential area which could correspond to the city of Mattezish, mentioned in the Elamite tablets in Persepolis. During the Achaemenid period (6th- 4th century BC), all the people working for the Imperial Court lived here, from functionaries to workers. Professor Callieri said that in one of the two excavation sites, “we localized a noteworthy structure, probably the walls of one of the building complexes of the city” instead in the other sites the archeologists localized “an artisan area with an oven and various waste ditches, surely connected to the work activities of the area as we found various ceramic pieces but also fragments of animal bones”.</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/archaeolog/2008/10/achaemenid_sculptural_stone_te.html">Achaemenid Persian Griffin Capital at Persepolis,</a> Posted by Patrick Hunt, Archaeolog, May 4, 2009.<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">One of the most impressive yet enigmatic surviving capitals from Persepolis is an Achaemenid masterpiece: the double griffin protome capital. On the one hand, there ought to be more than one of these griffin capitals from before the 330 BCE destruction, although it seems that only this extant one is intact. On the other hand, it is possible that only one was sculpted, since no other griffin protome fragments exist from Persepolis. A few archaeological accounts suggest its emplaced context at Persepolis was from the Apadana, although this cannot be proven since only 13 of the 36 (arranged 6 x 6) columns have survived, given the “conflagration…and catastrophic end” recorded under Alexander. More than a few scholars, including Wiesehöfer, maintain that numerous structures at Persepolis were not destroyed in 330 but only parts thereof and that some use continued thereafter.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2009/March2009/04-03.htm">South Korean Diplomat Arrested with a Stolen Stone Relief from Persepolis while Leaving Iran,</a> CAIS NEWS: Latest Archaeological and Cultural News of Iran and the Iranian World, 04 March 2009.<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">LONDON, (CAIS) -- The 3rd Secretary of the South Korean Embassy in Iran has reportedly tried to smuggle a priceless relic dating to the Achaemenid dynastic era out of Iran.<br />
<br />
Customs officials in Shiraz Airport found the relic in the South Korean diplomat's luggage during check-in, before the diplomat succeeded in transporting the priceless relic of Persepolis, Persian daily Tabnak reported on Tuesday.<br />
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Iranian Police, however, had to release the diplomat due to his diplomatic immunity, the report added.<br />
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“Customs officials in Shiraz Airport found an Achaemenid relief depicting the top section of head of an Achaemenid soldier, weigh 2kg from Persepolis in the luggage of the 3rd Secretary of the South Korean Embassy in Iran,” Shiraz public and revolutionary prosecutor, Jaber Banshi told IRNA.<br />
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“The relic has been delivered to the provincial cultural heritage office, but no cultural official has filed a complaint so far,” he added.<br />
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The S. Korean embassy declined to comment on the issue when contacted by Press TV.<br />
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The customs officials sent the stolen piece back to the ruins of Persepolis.<br />
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It is not clear how the diplomat obtained the relic, despite the claim by IRNA that the he picked it up while visiting the Persepolis.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2009/March2009/03-03.htm">Marvdasht Public Prosecutor's Office: The Case of Persepolis Robbery and its' Destruction Still is Open,</a> 03 March 2009. CAIS: The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies <br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">LONDON, (CAIS) -- The case of destruction of part of Persepolis and the theft of an artefact are still open, and it is under investigation by the Marvdasht Public Prosecutor's Office, reported the Persian service of ISNA.<br />
<br />
Until now 16 people from the excavation group and Security Unit office have been arrested, questioned and released on bail pending further investigations. The case was initially opened as the result of public and Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organisation's complaints, said Kazam Akrami from the Marvdasht Public Prosecutor's Office.<br />
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Akrami with commented on the lack of CCTV in the area and said we have interrogated security officers who are responsible for safeguarding the site and they have relinquished themselves from any responsibility, since they claim the robbed grave and its' contents were not reported to the Security Unit by the archaeologists, therefore the site was not included in the protection coverage zone.?<br />
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Afshin Yazdani from Archaeological Research Centre, back in January asserted that the Security Unit was aware of their excavation and the discovery of the grave.<br />
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It is not clear whether the archaeologists from the Iran Archaeological Research Centre had a duty to report their findings to the security unit, or if they had reported it, the security unit are denying their claim.<br />
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The robbed grave is only 100 meters away from their station.<br />
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The theft and destruction of the site took place on 17th January, after the discovery of an Achaemenid dynastic grave by archaeologists. The grave contained a skeleton, a ceramic beaker and a burner. The beaker was contained a grave offering which is now missing.<br />
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Archaeologists have found broken pottery near the grave, which could be the beaker - maybe it was broken in order to remove its' contents. Currently the broken pieces are in process of being reassembled and it is now 80% complete, to verify if they belong to the missing beaker. The point of reference is the pictures taken by archaeologists on the day of crime.<br />
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This is not the first time thieves have targeted Persepolis. The most puzzling theft from Persepolis was taken place in March 2006, when police seized a double-bull-headed capital in Kerman. The Persepolitan-capital was discovered in Kerman by vigilantes and reported to police. The artefact was bound to leave Iran for West. Neither, the ICHHTO, Persepolis officials or any of the Islamic Republic's state controlled news agencies had reported the robbery -- nor did they offer any explanation as how such a colossal capital which weighs few tones could be removed from Persepolis complex without the officials' knowledge.</span> </blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84993&sectionid=3510304">Wonders of Iran: Persepolis,</a> Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:47:14 GMT. By Tamara Ebrahimpour, Press TV, Tehran <br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">["As German philosopher Friedrich Hegel once said, "The principle of development begins with the history of Persia; this constitutes therefore the beginning of history."...]</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=186803">Experts excavating ancient water wells in Parsa,</a> Tuesday, January 13, 2009, Tehran Times <br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">["TEHRAN -- A team of archaeologists are currently excavating water wells of the ancient city of Parsa near the Persepolis...."]</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=78829&sectionid=351020105">Tomb of Cyrus sheds its metal cage,</a> Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:59:46 GMT <br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">["The restoration of the tomb of the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, has been completed and its metal scaffolding removed. After three stages of restoration, the structure stands strong and will not sustain any further damage. The work on the historical site has gained UNESCO approval..."]</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/dec/1012.html">Parsa emerges from the shadow of Persepolis,</a> by Hamid Golpira, Mehr News Agency, Tehran, 12/01/08 <br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">["The ancient town of Parsa has begun to emerge from the shadows of Persepolis. An Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team has brought to light the first remains of the town of Parsa, which was the residential area of commoners just outside the palaces of Persepolis..."]</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">A five-centimeter fragment of a blue ware in the form of a wing is one of most<br />
important artifacts unearthed by the Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team<br />
during their latest excavation at the ancient town of Parsa near Persepolis.</span><br />
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<img src="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/dec/Parsa-Achaemenid-eye-stones.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 85%; font-weight: normal;">Achaemenid era "eye stones" used either as the<br />
eyes of statues or as amulets to repel the evil eye have been<br />
discovered by the Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team during<br />
their latest excavation at the ancient town of Parsa near<br />
Persepolis.</span></b></span><br />
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<img src="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/dec/Parsa-Remains-of-a-wall.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Remains of a wall were brought to light at one of the trenches dug by the Iranian-Italian joint archaeological team searching for the residential area of commoners outside the palaces of Persepolis. It is believed to be one of the boundary walls of the city of Parsa.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_27660.shtml">"Iran, The Forgotten Glory",</a> Nov 30, 2008, Iranian.ws <br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">["IRAN, The Forgotten Glory" is an attempt to recapture the story of the glory of the ancient Persian Empire in a documentary film for the first time. Taking the audience on a 3000 year old journey, to visit the greatest empire of the Mesopotamian civilization, The Achaemenids, who’s territory extended from India to the boarders of Europe...."]</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=73317&sectionid=351020105">Persepolis studies yield new findings,</a>Sun, 26 Oct 2008 10:35:13 GMT (PRESS TV) <br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">["...Twenty five objects were also unearthed in the area as a result of the current studies. The discovery included jewels, ancient weapons, and pieces left over from broken statues, potteries and azure plates..."]</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/oct/1192.html">Iranian, Italian archaeologists excavating Persepolis</a><br />
TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (Mehr News Agency)<br />
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/oct/Persepolis-Shiraz.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/oct/Persepolis-Shiraz.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165631735225699698" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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In a blog entry entitled <a href="http://rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/lets-abandon-achaemenid-studies/">Let’s Abandon Achaemenid Studies</a>, Jona Lendering reviews three recent volumes on the Achaemenid Empire aimed at general audiences (and he's not pleased):<br />
1. Kaveh Farrokh’s Shadows in the Desert;<br />
2. Tom Holland’s Persian Fire;<br />
3. Bruce Lincoln’s, Religion, Empire, and Torture.<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=54295&sectionid=35102010">Persepolis under modern tech excavation</a><br />
Sun, 04 May 2008 14:36:54 Press TV<br />
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/feb/1076.html">Iran: Discovery of one of the ten largest Achaemenid buildings with a structure similar to Persepolis</a><br />
02/08/08 (Payvand.com)<br />
A report on this year's excavations at Noorabad, Mamasani, Fars province.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACscqczXI/AAAAAAAAAUo/3zvGnRsTgTY/s1600-h/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165631735225699698" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACscqczXI/AAAAAAAAAUo/3zvGnRsTgTY/s400/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACssqczYI/AAAAAAAAAUw/_hce1kbNwT0/s1600-h/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165631739520667010" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACssqczYI/AAAAAAAAAUw/_hce1kbNwT0/s400/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACssqczZI/AAAAAAAAAU4/d472KpiH548/s1600-h/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165631739520667026" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/R7ACssqczZI/AAAAAAAAAU4/d472KpiH548/s400/Achaemenid-site-Noorabad3.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7367">Achaemenid Soldier Fetched in London</a><br />
Tehran, 27 October 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk)<br />
Despite all oppositions made by Iran regarding the sale of the head of the Achaemenid soldier, it has been sold in Christie’s auction in London.<br />
And see also: The <a href="http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/7278-125947.JPG">Denyse Berend Persepolis relief fragment</a> is for sale at <a href="http://www.christies.com/departments/ant/overview.asp">Christie's</a>, and <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=21543&sectionid=351020105">Iran boycotts bas-relief sale at Christie's</a>, and <a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7278">UNESCO not Support Iran to Retrieve its Achaemenid Soldier</a>, and <a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2007/132.html">IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, 1st February 2007. B e f o r e : THE HON. MR JUSTICE EADY. Between: The Islamic Republic of Iran, Claimant - and - Denyse Berend, Defendant: HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT</a> England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions, 1st February 2007, and British court's decision on the ownership of the Persepolis relief fragment bought in 1974 by Denyse Berend, as well as earlier comments by Derek Fincham, of <a href="http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/">Illicit Cultural Property</a>: <a href="http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/2007/02/no-renvoi-in-iran-v-berend.html">No renvoi in Iran v. Berend</a>, and Martin George, of <a href="http://www.conflictoflaws.net/">ConflictOfLaws.Net</a>: <a href="http://www.conflictoflaws.net/2007/cases/rejecting-renvoi-iran-v-berend/">Rejecting Renvoi: Iran v Berend</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=26110&sectionid=351020105">Austria to help restore Persepolis</a><br />
Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:18:4.<br />
"With a joint project estimated to cost 30 million euros, Iran and Austria will restore Iran's foremost historic site, Persepolis."<br />
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The <a href="http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/7278-125947.JPG">Denyse Berend Persepolis relief fragment</a> is for sale at <a href="http://www.christies.com/departments/ant/overview.asp">Christie's</a> again at the October 25th Antiquities auction (see the articles below from January and February 200). Apparently it has been suggested that the Iranian government purchase it, and aparently the suggestion is being rejected:<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=21543&sectionid=351020105">Iran boycotts bas-relief sale at Christie's</a><br />
Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:14:25 (PressTV).<br />
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and<br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7278">UNESCO not Support Iran to Retrieve its Achaemenid Soldier</a><br />
Tehran, 3 September 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk).<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=16785&sectionid=351020108">Iran's Apadana column restored</a><br />
Wed, 18 Jul 2007 19:47:36 (PressTV).<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12377&sectionid=351020105">Website featuring Achaemenid art</a><br />
Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:37:05 (PressTV).<br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7139">International Attempt for Cleaning up Lichen from Persepolis</a><br />
ehran, 13 May 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk).<br />
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"Iran in conjunction with UNESCO has called an international cooperation for cleaning up the lichen from body of Persepolis World Heritage Site." [<a href="http://www.chnphoto.ir/gallery.php?gallery_uid=675&lang=en">Nicely illustrated</a>]<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=3490&sectionid=351020108">Persepolis outdoor museum to be opened</a><br />
Thu, 22 Mar 2007 22:52:10. © Press TV 2007.<br />
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"A new outdoor museum in the ancient city of Persepolis, in southwestern Iran, is scheduled to open during Nowruz holidays, showcasing items belonging to Iran's Achaemenid and Sassanid eras."<br />
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<a href="http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=February2007_inbombay_standard12175">A Glimpse of Things to Come</a><br />
BY A STAFF REPORTER Friday, February 16, 2007 8:42:24 IST. © 2007, Cybernoon.<br />
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"... The Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy Agiary at Navy Nagar was the scene of chaos yesterday. The ancient city of Persepolis, Persia, is being re-created in all its glory and splendour ..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2007/132.html">IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, 1st February 2007. B e f o r e : THE HON. MR JUSTICE EADY. Between: The Islamic Republic of Iran, Claimant - and - Denyse Berend, Defendant: HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT</a><br />
England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions, 1st February 2007.<br />
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British court's decision on the ownership of the Persepolis relief fragment bought in 1974 by Denyse Berend. <br />
<b>Update:</b> Derek Fincham, of <a href="http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/">Illicit Cultural Property</a>, comments on the case : <a href="http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/2007/02/no-renvoi-in-iran-v-berend.html">No renvoi in Iran v. Berend</a>. <br />
<b>Update:</b> Martin George, of <a href="http://www.conflictoflaws.net/">ConflictOfLaws.Net</a>, comments on the case : <a href="http://www.conflictoflaws.net/2007/cases/rejecting-renvoi-iran-v-berend/">Rejecting Renvoi: Iran v Berend</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?storyid=2007-02-02T114451Z_01_N29350564_RTRUKOC_0_UK-MEXICO-MUSEUM.xml&type=entertainmentNews&WTmodLoc=Entertainment-C3-More-5">Ancient Middle East fascinates Mexican museum goers</a><br />
Reuters, Fri Feb 2, 2007 11:44 AM GMT<br />
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"MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters Life!) - Fascinated by cultures as old as their own, Mexicans are pouring into museum exhibitions in wonder at ancient Middle Eastern artefacts never before seen in the Western Hemisphere ... A stone plaque inscribed in cuneiform script from the ancient city of Persepolis, destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, is one of the highlights. 'I didn't know Iran had such fabulous stuff, like gold cups and statues,' said retired clerk Sergio Zavala, 68, on his fourth visit to the Persia display. 'I always used to think of Iran and Iraq just as places of conflict,' he said ..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.achemenet.com/ressources/souspresse/annonces/Persepolis.pdf">Persépolis, arquitectura celestial o terrenal?</a> by Manel Garcia Sanchez.<br />
Preprint of an article to appear in AZARA, PEDRO; FRONTISI-DUCROUX, FRANÇOISE; LURI, GREGORIO (eds.), Arquitecturas celestiales, Actas del congreso internacional celebrado en el Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona, 14-16 de septiembre de 2006 (sous presse, 2007).<br />
Published online at <a href="http://www.achemenet.com/">Achemenet</a>.<br />
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"Persepolis, one of the Achaemenid empire capitals has been seen as a secret and ritual city, designed for the celebration of the Zoroastrian New Year Festival or Now Ruz on the vernal equinox. The silence of the classic authors, of the biblical books and the ancient near east tablets, as well as the majestic relieves in which the royal hero fights against bestiaries, which are the symbol of the Evil Spirit, had been used as an evidence to confirm that suggestive hypothesis. Nevertheless, if we interpret the Persepolitan iconography in the light of what we know about the religion and the ideology of the Achaemenids and if we do not find dark means in the silences of the sources, we find that the design of the city responds more to a political, ideological and earthly functionality than a wish of reflecting a celestial architecture..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6966">London Court to Officially Announce its Verdict to Iran</a><br />
Cultural Heritage News, Iran, 27 January 2007<br />
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"In a formal statement, London’s High Court will be delivering its recent ruling on bas-relief of the Achaemenid soldier, which was announced on Jan. 19, 2007, to Iran in two weeks.<br />
<br />
According to Omid Ghanami, director of the Legal Department of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), the Organization is waiting to receive the written verdict to make follow-up decisions. He also said that Iran wills take actions against the court’s ruling if given the right to object to the final decree..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6950">Court of London Ignores Iran’s Ownership of Achaemenid Bas-relief</a><br />
Cultural Heritage News, Iran, Mon Jan 22, 2007<br />
<br />
<a href="http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?storyid=2007-01-19T200328Z_01_L1947381_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAN-COURT-PERSEPOLIS.xml&type=entertainmentNews&WTmodLoc=Entertainment-C3-More-8">Iran loses court battle over ancient carving</a><br />
Reuters, Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:03 PM GMT<br />
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"LONDON (Reuters) - Iran on Friday lost a legal battle against an 85-year-old French widow over a piece of carved limestone from the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis.<br />
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London's High Court ruled in favour of Denyse Berend, who bought the artefact in 1974, in a case brought against her by the Iranian government which sought to reclaim the relief fragment..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/16/nmuseum16.xml">Museums face fallout in fight over carving</a><br />
By Stephanie Condron<br />
Last Updated: 2:35am GMT 17/01/2007<br />
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"A stone carving of the head of a guardsman from the ancient palace of Persian kings at Persepolis is at the centre of a High Court battle that could have worldwide repercussions for museums and art collections.<br />
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For more than 30 years, the 5th century BC relief has been in the possession of a Frenchwoman who bought it at an auction in New York in 1974 and displayed it on her living room wall..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48906&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">No ban on Persepolis in Iran: official</a><br />
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com<br />
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"LONDON, January 16 (IranMania) - Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization’s Research Center has said that enthusiasts, cameramen and researchers cannot be banned from entering historical monument of Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis) in Fars province.<br />
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Seyyed Taha Hashemi told ISNA on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony for Research Week that the competence of cultural and tourism stations is determined by the fact that they remain vigilant against any threat and at the same time they permit the entry of researchers and visitors to the sites..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=1&id=1778">Persepolis to Host Biggest Horse Riding Festival in Iran</a><br />
Cultural Heritage News, Iran - Jan 15, 2007<br />
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"Tehran, 15 January 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- The biggest horse riding festival in Iran will be held in April/May 2007 close to Persepolis historic complex in Iran’s Fars province under the joint cooperation of sport tourism committee of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), Iran’s Equestrian Federation, and UNESCO..." <br />
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<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48889&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">Fate of Iran's Bolaghi Valley hangs in balance</a><br />
Monday, January 15, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com<br />
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"LONDON, January 15 (IranMania) - The reservoir of the Sivand Dam will be filled, pending archaeologists’ decision at a seminar to be held in Tehran on January 20, the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Research Center director said at a press conference, MNA reported.<br />
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“All the archaeologists that participated in the rescue excavations of the Bolaghi Valley will present their reports during the seminar. If the reports indicate that the rescue excavations have been completed, the filling of the dam will begin,” Taha Hashemi added..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48577&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">Red stains removed from Iran's Persepolis</a><br />
Thursday, January 04, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com<br />
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"LONDON, January 4 (IranMania) - A team of experts from the Parseh and Pasargadae Foundation announced that they had successfully removed the red stains from the floor and walls of the Hadish Palace of Xerxes in Persepolis, MNA reported.<br />
The stains were left by a film crew shooting a TV series in late December that used red liquid to represent blood in a scene..."<br />
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<a href="http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0701017278195354.htm">Leading train through tunnel, only way to save Naqsh-e Rostam</a><br />
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran - Jan 1, 2007<br />
After studying different alternatives for saving the cultural landscape of the historic site of Naqsh-e Rostam against railway construction, experts of Parse-Pasargadae Research Center concluded that the most effective way to prevent the railway from intruding the historic landscape of this Achaemenid site is to construct a 6-kilometer-long tunnel from Sivand to Shoul village and direct the train through the tunnel. <br />
<br />
Announcing this news, Hassan Rahsaz, an expert in Parse-Pasargadae Research Center explained that the tunnel could be constructed at a distance of 4 to 5 kilometers from Naqsh-e Rostam without posing any threat to its ancient structures..."Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-51544560834017899042018-05-06T12:34:00.002-05:002018-05-06T17:24:00.886-05:00The National Museum of Iran and the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)<a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2018/05/national-museum-of-iran-in-cuneiform.html">A collaboration between the National Museum of Iran and the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)</a> includes imagery of Persepolis Treasury and Fortification tablets<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica";"><a href="https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&order=PrimaryPublication&Collection=National+Museum,+Tehran&Period=Achaemenid" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="blank"> Achaemenid (547-331 BC)</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica";"> </span></span></span></blockquote>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-57381928973367345532018-02-22T14:43:00.000-06:002018-03-21T13:31:40.864-05:00Open Access Publications on Persepolis from the Oriental Institute<a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2014/04/open-access-publications-on-persepolis.html"><span style="font-size: small;">Open Access Publications on Persepolis from the Oriental Institute</span></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Books</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/saoc/saoc-72-ritual-landscape-persepolis">The Ritual Landscape at Persepolis.</a> Mark B. Garrison. 2017.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc68.html">Extraction & Control: Studies in Honor of Matthew W. Stolper</a>. Edited by Michael Kozuh, Wouter F. M. Henkelman, Charles E. Jones, and Christopher Woods. 2014.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip117.html">Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume I: Images of Heroic Encounter.</a> Mark B. Garrison and Margaret Cool Root, with contributions by Charles E. Jones. 2001.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/collections/pa/persepolis/">Persepolis and Ancient Iran (967 Photographs)</a> 1976.</span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip91.html">Aramaic Ritual Texts from Persepolis.</a> R. A. Bowman. 1970.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip70.html">Persepolis III: The Royal Tombs and Other Monuments.</a> E. F. Schmidt. 1970.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip92.html">Persepolis Fortification Tablets.</a> R. T. Hallock. 1969.</span> </li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip69.html">Persepolis II: Contents of the Treasury and Other Discoveries.</a>
Erich F. Schmidt with contributions by Sydney P. Noe et al., Frederick
R. Matson, Lawrence J. Howell, and Louisa Bellinger. 1957.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip68.html"> Persepolis I: Structures, Reliefs, Inscriptions.</a> Erich F. Schmidt with contribution by F. R. Matson. 1953.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oip/oip65.html">Persepolis Treasury Tablets.</a> George G. Cameron. 1948. </span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/misc/persepolis_expedition.html">The Persepolis Expedition</a>. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Erich F. Schmidt. Originally published in 1941.</span></span></span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/misc/flights.html">Flights Over Ancient Cities of Iran.</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: #333233;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Erich F. Schmidt. 1940.</span></span></span></span> </li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oic/oic21.html">The Treasury of Persepolis and Other Discoveries in the Homeland of the Achaemenians</a> Erich F. Schmidt.
1939.</span></li>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc5.html">A New Inscription of Xerxes from Persepolis</a> Ernst E. Herzfeld. 1932. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<b> Born Digital Publications</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://ochre.lib.uchicago.edu/PFA_Online/">Persepolis Fortification Archive via On-Line Cultural Heritage Environment (OCHRE)</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/">Images of Persepolis Fortification Tablets at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative</a> [click on “CDLI Search” and enter “OIP 092” in the form under “Primary Publication”] </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/pfa/">Persepolis Fortification Archive</a> Web Presence at the Oriental Institute</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/">The Persepolis Fortification Archive Blog</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/persepolis">Persepolis: Images of an Empire</a></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Download the <a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/Persepolis_Brochure_Download.pdf">Exhibition Brochure</a> for <i>Persepolis: Images of an Empire.</i> </i></span> </li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Reports</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2016-2017/AR-2016-2017-Persepolis.pdf">2016-2017 PFA Annual Report</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/15-16/ar2016_PFA.pdf">2015-2016 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/14-15/ar2015-PFA.pdf">2014-2015 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/13-14/ar2013-14_PFA.pdf">2013-2014 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/12-13/12-13_PFA.pdf">2012-2013 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/ar/11-20/11-12/11_12_PFA.pdf">2011-2012 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/10_11_PFA.pdf">2010-2011 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/09_10_PFA.pdf">2009-2010 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/08-09_PFA.pdf">2008-2009 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/07-08_PFA.pdf">2007-2008 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/06-07_PFA.pdf">2006-2007 PFA Annual Report</a></span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Exhibitions</b></span>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/persian-gallery">The Robert and Deborah Aliber Persian Gallery</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/persepolis"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Persepolis: Images of an Empire</span></a> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;">
See linked data for <a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695">Persepolis</a> via <a href="http://isawnyu.github.com/awld-js/">awld.js</a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
For an up to date list of all Oriental Institute publications available online see:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2010/10/oriental-institute-open-access.html">The Oriental Institute Open Access Publications</a></div>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-1162101139943425582018-02-22T13:38:00.000-06:002018-02-22T12:39:13.938-06:00Persepolis Tablets in the News<div style="text-align: center;">
Beginning January 1, 2007, the blog will have another page covering <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/01/persepolis-in-news.html">Persepolis in the News</a>, but not related to the Persepolis Fortification Archive. The latter will continue to be listed here</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Newest articles at the top:<br />
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #26234e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2018/02/rubin-v-iran-supreme-court-says.html">Rubin v. Iran: Supreme Court Says Persepolis Collection Will Stay at the Oriental Institute</a></span></span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;">The University of Chicago no longer is in danger of losing ancient Iranian artifacts following Wednesday's United States Supreme Court decision in the case of <i>Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i>.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px;">The university's Oriental Institute (OI) holds the "Persepolis Collection," which consists of approximately 30,000 archaeological artifacts on loan from the National Museum of Iran since 1937...</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2018/02/rubin-v-iran-supreme-court-says.html">Read the rest of this article at Rick St, Hilaire's page</a>.</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #1f1f21; font-weight: inherit; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="http://www.jpost.com/International/US-court-forbids-seizure-of-Persian-artifacts-by-Jerusalem-bomb-victims-543270">US COURT FORBIDS SEIZURE OF PERSIAN ARTIFACTS BY JERUSALEM BOMB VICTIMS</a></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Americans injured in a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem cannot seize ancient Persian artifacts from a Chicago museum to satisfy a $71.5 million court judgment against Iran, which they had accused of complicity in the attack.
The justices, in an 8-0 ruling, upheld a lower court decision in favor of Iran that had prevented the plaintiffs from collecting on the judgment, which Tehran has not paid, by obtaining antiquities held at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. The important Persian cultural artifacts, on loan to the museum since the 1930s, include clay tablets boasting some of the oldest writing in the world.
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Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the decision.
The decision could make it harder for plaintiffs in other cases arising from militant attacks overseas to seek compensation by seizing and selling off cultural relics owned by foreign countries.
The case required the Supreme Court to determine what types of assets are immune from seizure under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. That 1976 federal law largely shields foreign governments from liability in American courts, except for countries like Iran that have been designated by the US government as state sponsors of terrorism.
Iran is one of several countries and organizations ordered by US courts to pay damages in similar cases, though such orders have been difficult to enforce.</blockquote>
Today's ruling<br />
<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="table table-bordered" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 20px; max-width: 100%; width: 793px;"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">13</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">2/21/18</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">16-534</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-534_6jfm.pdf" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #428bca; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title=" Title 28 U. S. C. §1610(g) does not provide a freestanding basis for parties holding a judgment against a state sponsor of terrorism for an act of terrorism, see §1605A, to attach and execute against the foreign state’s property; rather, for §1610(g) to apply, the property’s immunity must be rescinded under a separate provision within §1610.">Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">SS</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; padding: 8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;">583/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="https://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2017/12/supreme-court-hears-rubin-v-iran-feds.html"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Supreme
Court Hears Rubin v. Iran. Feds Say Taking Cultural Property A "Big
Deal." Petitioners Want Justice, Arguing "It's Not About Antiquities."</span></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
Wednesday, December 6, 2017</div>
</blockquote>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can
American victims of terrorism seize and sell ancient Persian
antiquities located at the University of Chicago to satisfy a court
judgment against Iran? That's the question the United States Supreme
Court considered on Monday in the case of <i>Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i>, a case examining </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the mechanics of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).</span></span></span></span></span></span>
</h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Foreign
countries generally are immune from lawsuits filed in American courts.
But the FSIA outlines exceptions to this rule, including a terrorism
exception codified at <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1605A" target="_blank">28 U.S. Code § 1605A</a>. Congress penned this section in 2008 to allow </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">plaintiffs to sue designated state sponsors of terror that caused injury, harm, or death.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">To satisfy a civil
judgment won in a 1605A terrorism case,</span> a v</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ictorious plaintiff would <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">seek out the foreign nation's assets under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1610" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">§ 1610(g)(2)</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, </span>which allows the plaintiff to take control of “</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto; color: #333333;">[a]ny </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">property
of a foreign<span class="aolmail_apple-converted-space"> </span></span>state, or<span class="aolmail_apple-converted-space"> ag</span>ency or instrumentality of a
foreign state….”</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
But are <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">the assets that can be attached to execute the court judgment limited to those </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">that are "used for a commercial
activity" as specified by <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1610" target="_blank">§ 1610(a)</a>?
Or can the assets be any kind whatsoever, including antiquities housed
at a museum? That was the topic of oral argument in the <i>Rubin</i> case. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Rubin</i> pits <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">American victims of a Jerusalem suicide bombing against the country of Iran, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a country designated by the US government as a state-sponsor of terror. Hamas claimed responsibility for the </span>Iranian sponsored attack in 1997, and a federal district court in
Washington, DC in 2003 awarded the plaintiffs $71.5 million in a default judgment,
holding Iran culpable. Read about the lengthy and complex </span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">case history <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/search/label/Rubin%20v.%20Iran" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then, the </span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">plaintiffs/petitioners
have tried to secure their award through the attachment process by
taking control of ancient Iranian artifacts located in <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a variety of American cultural institutions, including the Persepolis and Chogha Mish antiquities collections, </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">excavated during the 1930's and 1960's and housed in <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute </span>through a long-term academic loan...</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/12/argument-analysis-subdued-justices-parse-immunity-law/">Argument analysis: Subdued justices parse immunity law</a>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">These days, the Supreme Court is known as a “hot bench”: Lawyers
who argue there usually have to respond to a barrage of questions from
all sides. That fast and furious questioning can make it hard for
advocates to advance their arguments, but it also makes it easier for
both the attorneys and spectators to figure out what the justices care
about, and how they might rule. The flip side of this is that when the
justices are quieter, the advocates have more time to talk, but it’s
harder to know what the justices are thinking.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The latter scenario was on display this morning at the Supreme Court, when the justices heard oral argument in <i><a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/rubin-v-islamic-republic-of-iran-2/">Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</a></i>.
The case is the latest chapter in efforts by American victims of a
series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem in 1997 to recover a $71.5
million default judgment from the Islamic Republic of Iran for its role
in providing support to Hamas, the terrorist group that claimed
responsibility for the blast. After approximately 45 minutes of oral
argument, the justices seemed likely to rule against the victims, but
their relative silence made it difficult to know for sure...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/11/21/supreme-court-hear-case-surrounding-seizure-irania/">Supreme Court to Hear Case Surrounding Seizure of Iranian Artifacts from Oriental Institute</a><br />
By Madeleine Moore </div>
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NEWS /
November 21, 2017
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The
University’s Oriental Institute (OI) is involved in an ongoing Supreme
Court case in which American terrorist victims are seeking compensation
from the Iranian government through seizing Iranian artifacts from the
OI and the Field Museum.<br /><br />In September 1997, three suicide bombers
associated with the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, carried out an
attack on a shopping mall in Jerusalem. Among those affected were eight
United States citizens, who later filed a civil action case in a U.S.
court against the government of Iran and its involvement in providing
financial support to the bombers.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-takes-dispute-over-iran-antiquities-terror-case-n777106">Supreme Court Takes Up Dispute Over Iran Antiquities in Terror Case</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By Pete Williams</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #595959; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.404541px; text-transform: uppercase;">JUN 27 2017, 11:30 AM ET</span></span><br /><span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0">
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up a long running legal
battle over a claim by victims of terrorism to Iranian antiquities held
in a Chicago museum...</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<a href="https://financialtribune.com/articles/people-travel/56790/restitution-of-persepolis-collection-expected">Restitution of Persepolis Collection Expected</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="date-display-single" content="2017-01-04T02:00:00+03:30" itemprop="datePublished">Wednesday, January 04, 2017</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Financial Tribune Daily</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="drop">E</span>fforts on returning Iran's centuries-old
stone tablets will soon pay off, an official at Iran’s Cultural
Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
"The tablets—known as the Persepolis Collection—were taken out of
country at different periods of time and under different excuses," said
Mohammad Reza Kargar, director of the Museums and Historical Moveable
Properties Office at ICHHTO, IRNA reported. "Restitution of the tablets
has been a controversial issue, but the saga is nearing its end now."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
While historical objects taken of a country can be tracked via various
channels, such as Interpol, the process is long and complex as it
requires the plaintiff to first provide proof of ownership and then
supply evidence that the objects were taken out illegally.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
"Even more, the process is costly," Kargar said. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The Persepolis Collection includes about 30,000 clay tablets and
fragments that Iran loaned to the Oriental Institute in 1937 for
research, translation and cataloguing. It contains 300 tablets dating
back to the Achaemenid era (550–330 BC), which are impressed in
cuneiform and record administrative details of the ancient Persian
Empire.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Eight Americans injured in a Hamas suicide bombing in 1997 and their
families had moved to seize the artifacts to satisfy a US court ruling
that Iran owed the victims $71.5 million for its alleged involvement in
the attack. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
However, several US-based media, including the Chicago Daily Law
Bulletin, reported last summer that the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals
held that the Field Museum of Natural History and the University of
Chicago’s Oriental Institute are not required to turn over the
antiquities to the eight victims. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Kargar noted that Iran is awaiting one more court ruling related to the
Persepolis Collection, "which is expected to be in our favor". A large
haul of Iran’s stolen artifacts have been repatriated over the past two
years. A shipment of 349 ancient relics was returned from Belgium in
December 2014 after 33 years, following a ruling by a court in Brussels. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In April 2015, over 100 historical artifacts taken from the
archeological site of Choghamish in Khuzestan Province were returned by
the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, after The Hague in the
Netherlands ruled in favor of Iran and obliged the US to repatriate the
objects. In July 2015, the government in Rome returned a shipment of 30
relics dating back to the pre-Islamic era, while about 73 smuggled
relics, including seal impressions from the Sassanid era (224–651), were
returned to Tehran in May. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Iran’s cultural heritage officials have urged Iranian expats to report
stolen Iranian artifacts to help bring the relics back home. They have
been called upon to use the online portal, <a href="http://www.ichto.it/">www.ichto.it</a>, to share information they may have regarding Iranian stolen artifacts.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/510985783-terror-attack-victims-will-not-be-allowed-to-seize-ancient-persian-artifacts-will-need-to-seek-other-remedy" title="">Terror attack victims will not be allowed to seize ancient Persian artifacts, will need to seek other remedy</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cook County Record </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="author" href="http://cookcountyrecord.com/author/deana-carpenter">Deana Carpenter</a>
Aug. 4, 2016, 4:45pm
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">CHICAGO — In a rare case, a museum collection will not be used to
satisfy a judgment against another nation - in this case, the country of
Iran, which has been accused of having sponsored a 1997 terrorist
attack in Jerusalem in which eight Americans were injured.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">On July 19, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
Chicago's Field Museum and the University of Chicago’s Oriental
Institute are not required to return ancient Persian artifacts over to
the victims of the attack.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The artifacts, if turned over, would have helped to satisfy a judgment of $71.5 million against Iran.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that the survivors
of the 1997 terrorist attack, which has been blamed partly on Iran,
cannot seize the Persian antiquities which include a large Persepolis
Fortification tablet with cuneiform text from more than 2,000 years ago.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Americans who had sued Iran were injured in the September 1997
Hamas suicide bombing in which bombers, affiliated with the Palestinian
group Hamas, detonated suicide bombs in a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“This is a rare case,” said Derek Fincham, Associate Professor of Law at the Houston College of Law.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">He said using museum or university collections to satisfy judgments has rarely been successful.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“The 7th Circuit in this case had already denied the plaintiff’s
efforts to secure the judgments," he said. "In other words, they won on
the merits because Iran did not contest the case."</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The ruling was formally a denial of an en banc rehearing, or a
hearing before all the judges of the appeals court, by a larger number
of the 7th Circuit judges, not just the three judge panel that decided
the earlier case. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“En banc appeals are rarely successful, because three judges have
already decided the case and rarely will a case merit the full
complement of appeals court judges in any circuit,” Fincham said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Two of the four collections of artifacts sought by the victims are
not owned by Iran, the court stated. The country does own a third
collection, but in 1970 the Oriental Institute returned most of those
artifacts under the advice of the U.S. State Department.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">A fourth collection, which includes approximately 30,000 clay
tablets and segments, was loaned to the Oriental Institute for research
from Iran in the 1930s.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The court wrote that the collection is owned by Iran and is in the
possession of the University of Chicago and are immune from attachment
and execution as property of a foreign state under the Foreign Sovereign
Immunities Act.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Plaintiffs will always be concerned with how they can get paid
when they win, but that is exceedingly hard when as in this case, Iran
did not even participate in the litigation as a defendant,” Fincham
said.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">He said it is a unique situation where the defendant must not
really have any commercial relationship with the United States for it to
work.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“I think the case was rightly decided. A ruling otherwise would
have had devastating consequences for the loan of artwork and study
collections at museums and universities,” Fincham said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fincham said the tablets are an important research collection, but doesn’t suspect that any of the tablets are display quality.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Rather, they tell us valuable information about Persepolis, the ancient city, and the Persian culture,” Fincham said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The market value of the tablets is unsure, but there are thousands of fragments.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Had they been sold, they would have probably gone to private
collectors who may not have been able to care for them, study them or
even preserve them as a set so they can be studied,” Fincham said.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fincham said the court’s decision was a good result for the artifacts in question.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">“The poor victims of the attacks, though, will have to seek a remedy some other way,” he said. </span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/ancient-treasures-shouldn-t-be-compensation-for-terror-victims"><span data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.1.0">Ancient Treasures Shouldn't Be Compensation for Terror Victims</span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="NRtnRX6UzhAUwyLfop6hc" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.3">
<div class="undefined _1Urm4LW90cy5hVBUu8ry4e" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.3.1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><time class="Hzw8hyP5BimGTuKF0h2Sz " data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.3.1.0" datetime="2016-07-25T13:00:05.121Z">July 25, 2016 9:00 AM EDT, </time><br />BloombergView</span></div>
</div>
<div class="_-6jYjs2Te1UVI_O87FHYs" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.5">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="_5iI6HGsdDQgEk914WfqV1" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.5.0">By</span></span><br />
<div class=" byline" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.5.1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="" data-reactid=".gsyni5u1hc.0.3.0.1.2.1.$OAVG456K50YL01.0.5.1.$AFZ_b1F72Xw/noah-feldman" data-tracker-action="click" data-tracker-category="nav" data-tracker-events="click" data-tracker-label="article.byline" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AFZ_b1F72Xw/noah-feldman" rel="author">Noah Feldman </a></span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A federal appeals court has <a data-web-url="http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Articles/2016/07/20/Museum-Persian-artifacts-7-20-16.aspx" href="http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Articles/2016/07/20/Museum-Persian-artifacts-7-20-16.aspx">ruled</a>
that terrorism victims can’t seize priceless Iranian artifacts held by
the University of Chicago in fulfillment of a judgment against the
Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a good decision in practical terms,
but it was tailor-made to protect the collection and the university. And
it creates a conflict with another Court of Appeals, opening the door
to potential Supreme Court review.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The case arose as a result of a
lawsuit by family members of victims of a 1997 Hamas suicide bombing in
Jerusalem. The victims’ families sued Iran on the theory that it
supported Hamas. Iran didn’t appear to defend itself in the suit, and a
federal court awarded the families a $71.5 million, which hasn’t been
paid.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="quicktake" data-tout-type="quicktake" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/financial-war"><br /></a></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The
families’ lawyers have been looking around the country for assets
belonging to the government of Iran that they could attach, seize and
sell to get the damages they are owed. Advisedly or not, they decided to
go after four collections of antiquities that supposedly belonged to
Iran but are held by Chicago-area museums.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The case ended up in
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. It first took three
of the four collections out of the case, in two instances because it
held they didn’t actually belong to Iran, and in the other because the
collection was physically returned to Iran by the University of Chicago. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">That
left the Persepolis collection, one of the great caches of literary
artifacts from the ancient world. In 1930, the Shah of Iran lent the
collection of tablets to the University of Chicago for study. It remains
in the <a data-web-url="https://oi.uchicago.edu/" href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/">Oriental Institute</a>
of the university, where it has garnered significant scholarly
attention and helped produce important scholarship on ancient Iran.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In
general, a foreign government’s assets can’t be seized in the U.S. in
fulfillment of a judgment. That’s a basic principle derived from the
doctrine of sovereign immunity, which says that states can’t be dragged
into court without their permission.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">But sovereign immunity has
exceptions -- and the families pointed to two possible exceptions in
support of their claim to seize the antiquities.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">One exception is
for property used in commercial activity. The Seventh Circuit could have
simply held that studying ancient tablets in the university setting
isn’t commercial activity. (In fact, as someone originally trained in a
faculty of Oriental studies, I can’t imagine a less commercial activity
on earth.)... [<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/ancient-treasures-shouldn-t-be-compensation-for-terror-victims">Read the rest</a>]</span></blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202763221269/Seventh-Circuit-Denies-Terror-Victims-Claim-to-Persian-Artifacts">Seventh Circuit Denies Terror Victims' Claim to Persian Artifacts</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zoe Tillman, The National Law Journal<br />July 21, 2016<br /><br />American victims of a 1997 terrorist bombing can't claim ancient Persian artifacts held at the University of Chicago to satisfy a multimillion-dollar judgment against Iran for its role in the attack, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A three-judge panel found on July 19 that there is no "freestanding" exception in state-sponsored terrorism cases to the immunity that shields foreign governments under U.S. law. The Seventh Circuit's decision conflicts with the Ninth Circuit, which held earlier this year that there was such an exception.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The circuit split sets the stage for possible review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Last year, the justices ruled in a state-sponsored terrorism case, finding that victims with judgments against Iran could collect nearly $2 billion in Iranian assets held in a U.S. bank.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />At issue in the Seventh Circuit case is a collection of approximately 30,000 clay tablets from the ancient Persian city of Persepolis. Iran in 1937 loaned the Persepolis Collection to the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, where it remains.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />The plaintiffs — victims of a 1997 bombing in Jerusalem and their families — won a $71.5 million default judgment in federal court in Washington, D.C. Iran doesn't usually participate in terror litigation in U.S. courts and did not pay the judgment. Iran owes hundreds of billions of dollars in judgments in state-sponsored terrorism cases.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lawyers for the plaintiffs went to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to claim what they contended were Iranian assets within the court's jurisdiction — the Persian artifacts at the University of Chicago. They claimed other collections at the university and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago as well, but those are no longer part of the case.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Foreign governments are generally granted immunity against civil claims in U.S. courts, but there are exceptions, including in terrorism cases. The Seventh Circuit panel said the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not include a "freestanding" exception in terrorism cases, agreeing with arguments advanced by lawyers for the University of Chicago, Iran and the U.S. government.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Judge Diane Sykes, writing for the panel, said plaintiffs had to meet the criteria of other exceptions under the immunities law. The plaintiffs argued the artifacts fell under a "commercial activity" exception, but the court disagreed, finding that the Iranian government wasn't using the artifacts for commercial purposes in the United States.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Seventh Circuit Judge William Bauer and Chief Judge Michael Reagan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, sitting by special designation, joined the decision.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Asher Perlin of Florida Professional Law Group in Hollywood, Florida, who argued for the plaintiffs, said in an email that they are weighing options for "further review."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />"Obviously we are disappointed with the majority's decision," Perlin said.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Baker & McKenzie partner Matthew Allison argued for the University of Chicago. MoloLamken founding partner Jeffrey Lamken argued for Iran. Neither was reached for comment on Wednesday.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A full sitting of the Seventh Circuit won't hear the case. Given the split with the Ninth Circuit and the fact that the court reversed earlier precedent, the case went before all active judges for a vote. But five of the 10 active judges recused — Chief Judge Diane Wood and Judges Richard Posner and Frank Easterbook teach at the University of Chicago; Judges Ilana Rovner and Joel Flaum had other conflicts — so an en banc sitting was not possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Judge David Hamilton dissented from the denial of en banc review. He wrote that the immunities law was ambiguous and that the Ninth Circuit reached the right conclusion.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"We must choose one side or the other," Hamilton wrote. "The balance here should weigh in favor of the reading that favors the victims. We should not attribute to Congress an intent to be so solicitous of state sponsors of terrorism, who are also undeserving beneficiaries of the unusual steps taken by the Rubin panel." </span></blockquote>
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<span class="SocialBookmarking"></span><a href="http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Articles/2016/07/20/Museum-Persian-artifacts-7-20-16.aspx">Museums win bid to keep antiquities</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">By <a href="http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Home/Customer-Center/staff/Patricia-Manson.aspx"> Patricia Manson</a><br />Law Bulletin staff writer</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">July 20, 2016 </span></div>
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<article><blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A federal appeals court Tuesday declined to clear the way for victims
of a terrorist attack financed by Iran to use ancient Persian artifacts
to help satisfy a $71.5 million judgment against that nation.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held the Field Museum of
Natural History and the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute are
not required to turn over the antiquities to the eight victims.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Iran does not own two of the four collections sought by the victims, a panel of the court wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Iran owns a third collection, the panel wrote, but the Oriental
Institute returned most of those artifacts in 1970 and the remainder
within the last two years at the direction of the U.S. State Department.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The fourth collection includes about 30,000 clay tablets and
fragments that Iran loaned to the Oriental Institute in 1937 for
research, translation and cataloguing, the panel wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Persepolis Collection, it wrote, is owned by Iran and is in the possession of the University of Chicago.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">But as the property of a foreign state, these artifacts are immune
from attachment and execution, the panel held, citing the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The panel conceded there are exceptions to this general rule.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A litigant seeking to satisfy a judgment against a foreign state may
take property “used for a commercial activity in the United States,”
Judge Diane S. Sykes wrote for the panel, quoting Section 1610(a) of the
FSIA.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">However, she wrote, Iran has not used the artifacts in the Persepolis Collection for any commercial purpose.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Citing <i>Bennett v. Islamic Republic of Iran,</i> Nos. 13-15442
and 15-16100, 2016 WL 3257780 (9th Cir. June 14, 2016), the panel also
conceded that the 9th Circuit in San Francisco last month held that
Section 1610(g) of the FSIA allows victims of state-sponsored terrorism
to attach assets even if they are not used for commercial purposes.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It disagrees with the 9th Circuit’s ruling that Section 1610(g) is a
freestanding exception to execution immunity, the panel wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The panel noted that the 9th Circuit’s majority cited two 7th Circuit decisions — <i>Gates v. Syrian Arab Republic,</i> 755 F.3d 568 (7th Cir. 2014), and <i>Wyatt v. Syrian Arab Republic,</i> 800 F.3d 331 (7th Cir. 2015) — to bolster its holding in <i>Bennett.</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“To the extent that<i> Gates</i> and <i>Wyatt</i> can be read as
holding that Section 1610(g) is a freestanding exception to execution
immunity for terrorism-related judgments, they are overruled,” Sykes
wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Joining the opinion were Judge William J. Bauer and Chief U.S.
District Judge Michael J. Reagan of the Central District of Illinois,
who sat on the 7th Circuit by designation.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Because its opinion overrules 7th Circuit precedent and conflicts
with the 9th Circuit’s ruling on the issue, the panel wrote, it
circulated its opinion to all the active judges on the court to consider
the possibility of a rehearing en banc.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">But Chief Judge Diane P. Wood and Judges Richard A. Posner, Joel M.
Flaum, Frank H. Easterbrook and Ilana Diamond Rovner did not
participate, the panel wrote, and therefore a majority of the active
judges did not vote for the entire court to rehear the case.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The panel did not say why the five judges did not participate.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Judge David F. Hamilton did not serve on the panel, but he used a
dissent from the denial of en banc review to object to the panel’s
holding.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The text of Section 1610(g) is ambiguous and, therefore, both the 7th
Circuit’s and the 9th Circuit’s interpretations of that provision are
reasonable, Hamilton wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“The courts must choose between two statutory readings: [O]ne that
favors state sponsors of terrorism and another that favors the victims
of that terrorism,” he wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Congress, he wrote, has extended the remedies for such victims over the years.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“The balance here should weigh in favor of the reading that favors the victims,” he wrote.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The plaintiffs were among the 200 people who were injured when three
Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up in Jerusalem in September 1997.
Five other people were killed.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C.,
seeking damages against Iran, which financed Hamas, and several
individuals.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 2003, they were awarded $71.5 million in damages in a default
judgment against Iran. The judgment amounted to more than $400 million
when the punitive damages the individual defendants were ordered to pay
were included.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The plaintiffs have attempted to collect the judgment against Iran by seeking to attach its assets in the United States.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago, U.S. District Judge
Robert W. Gettleman held there are no exceptions in either the FSIA or
the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 that allow the plaintiffs to
attach the museum exhibits.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The 7th Circuit panel agreed with Gettleman.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The insurance act, the panel wrote, allows terrorism victims who
obtain a judgment against the offending nation to execute on assets that
are “blocked” by executive order under certain international sanction
provisions.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">But there is no executive order blocking the artifacts sought by the plaintiffs, the panel wrote.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin of Florida Professional Law Group PLLC in Hollywood,
Fla., argued the case before the 7th Circuit on behalf of the
plaintiffs.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Matthew G. Allison of Baker & McKenzie LLP argued the case on behalf of the museums.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jeffrey A. Lamken of MoloLamken LLP in Washington, D.C., argued the case on behalf of the Iranian government.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Benjamin M. Schultz of the U.S. Justice Department in Washington
argued the case on behalf of the government. The United States took part
in the case as amicus curiae supporting the position of Iran and the
museums.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole A. Navas declined to comment.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Oriental Institute Director Gil J. Stein said he is pleased with the ruling.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“While the university abhors the acts of terrorism that lead to this
proceeding, the artifacts at issue here are not subject to attachment
under either the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act or the Terrorism Risk
and Insurance Act,” he wrote in an e-mail. “The Institute looks forward
to continuing its research on the Persepolis Collection, artifacts which
provide unparalleled insight into the history and languages of the
Persian Empire around 500 B.C.”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Field Museum and the attorneys either did not have an immediate comment or could not be reached for comment.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The case is <i>Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Field Museum of Natural History, et al., Respondents,</i> No. 14-1935.</span></blockquote>
</article><br />
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/" style="color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;">Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hillaire</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">reports on the Gettleman decision</span><br />
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<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #0b0046; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-law-cited-by-plaintiffs-does-not.html">"The Law Cited by Plaintiffs Does Not Offer the Remedy They Seek" - Rubin v. Iran</a></span></span></h3>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">
<span style="color: #0b0046; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;">Thursday, April 3, 2014</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<div style="color: #111111; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"The court recognizes the tragic circumstances that gave rise to the instant action, but finds that the law cited by plaintiffs does not offer the remedy they seek." With these words, Judge Robert Gettleman ended the Northern District of Illinois case of<i> Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al. v. The University of Chicago and The Field Museum of Natural History</i>.</span></div>
<div style="color: #111111; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #111111; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The case involves American victims of a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 1997. A federal judge in Washington, DC in 2003 awarded the plaintiffs a $71.5 million default judgment against Iran, holding that country to be responsible for the attack. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">One way the plaintiffs have sought to collect the judgment is to acquire ancient Iranian artifacts at prominent American Museums, including Chicago's Oriental Institute (OI) and The Field Museum, through attachment. [<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-law-cited-by-plaintiffs-does-not.html">Read the rest</a>]</span></div>
<div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-judge-persian-artifacts-cant-be-used-to-pay-survivors-of-attack-20140328,0,7395652.story">Judge: Persian artifacts can't be used to pay survivors of attack</a> <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span class="byline bordered">By Michelle Manchir</span>
<span class="titleline">Tribune reporter</span>
<br />
<span class="toolSet" style="width: 335px;"></span><br />
<div class="byline">
<div class="date">
<span class="toolSet" style="width: 335px;"><span class="timeString">12:55 p.m. CDT</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator">, </span><span class="dateString">March 28, 2014</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="date">
<span class="toolSet" style="width: 335px;"><span class="dateString"><img alt="Persian artifacts" border="0" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-5335cef3/turbine/chi-persian-artifacts-20140328/600" height="132" title="Persian artifacts" width="200" />
</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="small">
<span class="toolSet" style="width: 335px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Collections assistant Sarah
Coleman works with ancient Persian artifacts at the Field Museum in
2006.
<span class="credit">(<span class="photographer">Charles Osgood, Chicago Tribune</span> / <span class="dateMonth">February </span><span class="dateDay">9</span><span class="dateYear">, 2006</span>)</span></span>
</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<span class="toolSet" style="width: 335px;">
</span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The University of Chicago and
The Field Museum won’t have to turn over ancient Persian artifacts in
their possession to help resolve a legal settlement owed to survivors of
a terrorist attack, a federal judge has ruled.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In a long-running court battle, nine American victims of the 1997
attack in Jerusalem sued Iran, where the artifacts were excavated, for
being a financial supporter of Hamas, the Palestinian extremist group.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The victims won a multimillion-dollar court judgment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To collect on that, attorneys
for the plaintiffs have been trying to gain control of Iranian assets
in the United States, including artifacts the Chicago museum has had for
decades, according to the ruling.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In Thursday’s decision, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman held
that the plaintiffs’ argument was flawed because there was no evidence
that Iran has asserted ownership over the collections.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“The court recognizes the tragic circumstances that gave rise to the
instant action, but finds the law cited by the plaintiffs does not offer
the remedy they seek,” Gettleman said in the decision.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Keepers of the Chicago collections said the pieces were priceless and welcomed the court’s ruling.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“These ancient artifacts...have unique historical and cultural
value,” said Gil Stein, director of the University of Chicago’s Oriental
Institute in a statement. The university “will continue our efforts to
preserve and protect this cultural heritage,” he said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David Strachman, an attorney for the victims who brought the lawsuit,
said his clients were particularly upset that the U.S. State Department
“takes the side of Iran in these cases.”</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
See the text of the judgement: </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2t8VWHZMMUSdTNzRTV5R3pxbTA/edit?usp=sharing">Case: 1:03-cv-09370 Document #: 669 Filed: 03/27/14</a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/14/mar/1013.html">Archive.ology: start with (clay) dinosaur bones, spice with love</a></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
By
<a href="mailto:cave@pavasta.com">A.J. Cave</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">03/03/14 </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" src="http://news.payvand.netdna-cdn.com/news/14/mar/Matthew-Stolper.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dr. Matthew Stolper</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Once upon a time people used something called <i>paper</i>
for writing all sorts of things, from love letters to secret sauce
formulas to stockholder reports. It was when writing was just
word-winding. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
They say some hyper competitive Silicon Valley companies (there was
no other known kind) even went as far as hiring detectives to sort
through paper trash of their competitors to patch together highly
guarded business secrets.<br />
<br />
This paper was made of trees that grew wild in the nature-in places
people of old used to call forests. There were all sorts of round
trees and all kinds of flat paper.<br />
Something called deforestation saw to the end of these green forests and paper became rare and eventually extinct.<br />
<br />
People didn’t stop writing, they wrote even more. But instead of
real paper, they started to use old software programs that
nostalgically looked like pages of white paper on computer screens, but
they were really nothing more than zeroes and ones, stored on
primitive hard drives.<br />
<br />
As everyone knows those clunky computers eventually became obsolete
too when we started to use glasses and tablets and watches and other
things to record our blinkings and doings and thinkings.<br />
<br />
Now and then one of those ancient paper archives called <i>Libraries</i>
that have miraculously survived shredders and recyclers are discovered
here and there. Page-turning paper-lovers from all over the world
immediately converge on the discovery pits to make sure these antiquated
archives don’t turn into dust during excavations...<br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
...In 2006 Dr. Matthew Stolper, one of
handful of specialists on Elamite language in the world, cleared his
plate, assembled a stellar team of scholars from a number of American
and European universities, embarked on the never-ending quest for
(much) needed grants, and took on the emergency task of digitization of
the Achaemenid archive-known as the Persepolis Fortification Archive
Project (PFAP).<br />
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> And here we are. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Under Matt Stolper’s steadfast watch and with the moral support of
his faithful friend, Baxter the Beast, the initial phase of cleaning,
conserving and digitizing the archive is finally reaching critical mass
and the next phase of making sense of the mass of generated data is
kicking in-the old sprinkling of the water of life on dead bones.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> In the process, surprising new discoveries have come to light, among them finding the footprint of <i>Udusana</i> (Greek: <i>Atossa</i>),
the quintessential Achaemenid royal woman (queen), who, according to
the classical writers, was the eldest daughter of Cyrus the Great, the
chief wife of Darius the Great, and the powerful mother of Xerxes
(Persian: <i>Xsayarsa</i>, or <i>Khshayarsha</i>). Triple Crown of Persian royalty.</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> These Persian administrative records, roughly 30,000 or so pieces
from a single archive, dating from 509 to 493 BCE (from 13th to 28th
regnal years of Darius the Great, about 16 years, with some references
to the 7th regnal year)-conceptually likened to the bones of a
dinosaur-have led to not just an understanding of the routine imperial
administrative infrastructure, but all sorts of interesting things like
art, language, religion, and society of the Persian Achaemenid Empire,
that was unknowable merely from the traditional biblical and classical
sources.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The sort of raw data that the large cuneiform archives like the
Persepolis Fortification Archive have been yielding is “Big
Data”-datasets that are getting too big to process using classical
computing techniques. Big Data is now being used in computer technology
circles to refer to the latest advances in aggregating massive amounts
of data from various sources and enabling researchers to mine and map
data in amazing new ways-see what no one has seen before, ask questions
no one has answered yet.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> On the academic side of the coin, Big Data research will eventually
exponentially expand the newly-minted field of Digital Humanities.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> While virtualization and visualization of archival data from the
Achaemenid royal chancelleries will not give us historical answers-at
least not to what we think-it will, however, provide a richer context
for understanding and interpreting the <i>Big Data</i> we have accidentally inherited and luckily recovered.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> This Big Data is also the playground of writers like me who troll
the archival treasure troves for historical backstory to turn boring
administrative records into sizzling stories about the adventurous
lives and scandalous love affairs of the Persian royal sons and
daughters-kings and their queens who once ruled the world-the real royal
games of the only throne that really mattered. <i>Masters of Asia</i>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Achaemenid scholars have been spending years carefully
reconstructing a clay dinosaur to restore Persians to the history of
the world, and the Persian storytellers thankfully ride this
paper-beast to restore the Persians to the story of the world.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Dr. Stolper, now retired as of the end of 2013, is continuing as
the head of the PFA Project, crisscrossing the globe on a mission to
evangelize the immense impact of the ancient archive on Persian
Achaemenid history and heritage.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> In recognition of his lifelong achievements and his tireless
efforts in preserving and promoting the integration of knowledge from
the Achaemenid Administrative Archives into mainstream classical and
ancient Near Eastern (ANE) studies, there would be a celebration at the
Oriental Institute tentatively scheduled for 28 April 2014.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> These types of events are normally planned for the local
colleagues, students and patrons of the institute. This one, however,
might just turn out to be a greater gathering of the friends of the
Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, die-hard supporters of
Persian history and heritage, and the who-is-who of the Persian
Achaemenid studies.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Tell Parnakka (probably the paternal uncle of Darius the Great and
the first chief of the imperial administrative archives at Parsa) to
order more Shiraz wine for the feast. Persians are coming.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ibna.ir/vdcaoyn6u49na01.tgk4.html">Iranian researcher renders inscriptions of Persepolis</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img alt="http://www.ibna.ir/images/docs/000184/n00184792-b.jpg" class="decoded" src="http://www.ibna.ir/images/docs/000184/n00184792-b.jpg" height="140" width="200" /> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="doc7"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="color: #8b7d7d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4 Nov 2013 14:19</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Iran Book News Agency </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div id="doc9">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Abdul
Majid Arfaei, a professor of Ancient Near Eastern languages and
cultures, has translated ‘The Inscriptions of Persepolis’ in four
volumes which have been handed over to the Cultural Heritage
Organization for publication.</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>IBNA:</b>
Abdul Majid Arfaei said he has finished translating 647 tablets,
related to the era of Darius the Great, which were read by Richard
Treadwell Hallock. The works are included in the first volume of the
series.<br /><br />Richard Treadwell Hallock, Elamologist and
Assyriologist, was a professor of Chicago University. The late
professor, who read the bulk of the Persepolis Elamite tablets, died in
1980.<br /><br />The Iranian researcher has also translated 2,586 clay
Achaemenid tablets into Persian and English which were rendered by
Hallock.<br /><br />The work is also handed over to Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) for publication.<br /><br />The three other books of the ‘The Inscriptions of Persepolis’ will be published in Iran gradually.<br /><br />Arfaei,
the renowned expert of Elamite, Avestan and Pahlavi languages, is the
founder of the Inscriptions Hall of Iran’s National Museum and has
written a number of books on Iranian history.<br /><br />He is the only Iranian Elamologist who worked under the supervision of Professor Hallock.<br /><br />Arfaei was the first person who translated the inscription of Cyrus Cylinder.<br /><br />The Iranian expert has also translated more than 2,500 Persepolis inscriptions, which are housed at Chicago University. </span></blockquote>
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<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920619001296">CHTHO Chief in Pursuit of Iran’s Ancient Relics in New York Visit </a><br />
Fars News Agency<br />
Tue Sep 10, 2013 5:13<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img alt="http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Images/1392/06/19/13920619000577_PhotoI.jpg" class="decoded" src="http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Images/1392/06/19/13920619000577_PhotoI.jpg" height="136" width="200" /> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="ntDesc">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">TEHRAN (FNA)- Vice-president and head of the
Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Mohammad
Ali Najafi vowed to follow up the case with returning Iran’s ancient
tablets during his upcoming visit to New York.</span></div>
<div class="ntDesc">
</div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
“One of my programs during the visit to New York will be meeting with
Chancellor of Chicago University to discuss the return of about 30,000
Achaemenid tablets which are now in New York to Iran …,” Najafi said,
saying that his name has been included in the list of the delegation
which will be accompanying Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in his
upcoming visit to New York.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
President Rouhani will participate in the 68th annual meeting of the
UN General Assembly in New York due to open on 17 September, Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced earlier.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In August, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited
Iranian President Rouhani to participate in the annual meeting of the UN
General Assembly in September.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The tablets were discovered by the University of Chicago
archaeologists in 1933 while they were excavating in Persepolis, the
site of a major Oriental Institute excavation.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The artifacts bear cuneiform script explaining administrative details
of the Achaemenid Empire from about 500 BC. They are among a group of
tens of thousands of tablets and tablet fragments that were loaned to
the university's Oriental Institute in 1937 for study. A group of 179
complete tablets was returned in 1948, and another group of more than
37,000 tablet fragments was returned in 1951.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In spring 2006, US District Court Judge Blanche Manning ruled that a
group of people injured by a 1997 bombing in Israel could seize the 300
clay tablets loaned to the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute
and the university cannot protect Iran's ownership rights to the
artifacts.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Following Iranian officials' protests against the ruling, the court
was slated to reexamine the case on December 21, 2006, but the court
session was postponed to January 19, 2007, allegedly due to the fact
that Iran had not provided all the documents required by the court.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The court session was held on the above-mentioned date, but no verdict was issued.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Museum of London has voiced its support for the return of the
collection of clay tablets to Iran as the owner of the artifacts.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The Oriental Institute holds 8000 to 10,000 intact and about 11,000
fragmented tablets, as estimated by Gil Stein, the director of the
university's Oriental Institute.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Based on a bill approved by the Iranian parliament in 1930, foreign
research institutes were allowed to conduct excavations at Iranian
ancient sites exclusively or during joint projects with the Iranian
government.</span></div>
<div class="rtejustify">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Foreigners were also given permission to share the artifacts
discovered during the excavation projects with Iranian team members and
to transfer their share to their country.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="rtejustify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
By the act, many Iranian artifacts were looted by foreign institutes
working on Iranian ancient sites until the victory of the Islamic
Revolution in 1979.</span></div>
</blockquote>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2013/08/chicago-museums-seek-summary-judgment.html">Chicago Museums Seek Summary Judgment in Rubin v. Iran</a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute filed a motion for summary judgment last week seeking to end a case that has pitted victims of a terrorist attack against two Illinois museums and Iran. The Chicago-based institutions argue that the plaintiffs' wish to take museum "property that Iran neither owns nor has ever claimed." And regarding Persian artifacts owned by Iran but on loan to the museums, the museums say that the plaintiffs cannot take title to these objects in order to satisfy a court judgment. American lawyers representing Iran filed their own motion in agreement <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2013/08/chicago-museums-seek-summary-judgment.html">[Read the rest]</a></span></blockquote>
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<br />
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2013/02/first-circuit-rules-in-favor-of-mfa-and.html"><span style="font-size: small;">First Circuit Rules in Favor of MFA and Harvard in Rubin v. Iran</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thursday, February 28, 2013</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rick St. Hilaire<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>on <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/">his blog</a></span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
First Circuit Court of Appeals on February 27, 2013 decided in favor of
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) and Harvard’s museums in the case
of Rubin v. Iran.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The case involves victims of a 1997
Iranian-backed terrorist bombing who seek to satisfy a multi-million
dollar default court judgment awarded to them in 2003. Since 2005 the
Rubin plaintiffs have argued that approximately 2000 reliefs,
sculptures, and other archaeological objects located at the MFA and
Harvard are the property of Iran that can be seized. The cultural
institutions have been contesting that claim, and yesterday the First
Circuit agreed.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The appeals court decision extended its
sympathies to the the plaintiffs, saying “we are mindful of the incident
that gave rise to the judgment here and the difficulty the plaintiffs
are having collecting on that judgment ….” But the justices upheld “the
general rule … that foreign sovereign property in the United States is
immune from attachment and execution” because of the Foreign Sovereign
Immunity Act (FSIA). 28 U.S.C. § 1609.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The appeals court
acknowledged that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA)
“carves out a narrow exception to that rule, applicable only to ‘blocked
assets,’” but wrote that “the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate
that any of the antiquities in the Museums' possession fall within that
exception.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The MFA and Harvard argued in the lower federal
district court that Iran does not own the cultural objects. Even if they
were owned by Iran, the MFA and Harvard maintained that the FSIA makes
the objects immune from attachment<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2013/02/first-circuit-rules-in-favor-of-mfa-and.html"><span style="font-size: x-small;">...</span></a></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/02/28/federal-court-rejects-bid-seize-iranian-antiquities-harvard#ixzz2MCKmIkUt"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Federal Court Rejects Bid to Seize Iranian Antiquities at Harvard</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">February 28, 2013 - 3:00am</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">Inside Higher Ed</span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled Wednesday that people
injured by a terrorist attack financed by Iran cannot make a claim on
Iranian antiquities held in a Harvard University museum. Several
Americans with claims against Iran have tried to collect money owed by
that nation by going after antiquities at various American institutions.
But the appeals court ruled -- as other courts have ruled -- that there
are very limited circumstances in which artifacts can be seized as
assets, and that this is not one of them. The legal challenges to
ownership of these antiquities have worried many museum officials who
have feared that they would be unable to obtain loans of art from other
countries if that art might be seized.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">The ru<span style="font-size: small;">l</span>ing:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=11-2144P.01A"><span style="font-size: small;">United States Court of Appeals<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>For the First Circuit<span style="font-size: small;">, </span>No. 11-2144</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=11-2144P.01A"><span style="font-size: small;">JENNY RUBIN, ET AL.,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Plaintiffs, Appellants<span style="font-size: small;">, </span>v.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, ET AL.,Defendants,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ET AL.,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Trustees, Appellees.</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=11-2144P.01A"><span style="font-size: small;">APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>[Hon. George A. O'Toole, U.S. District Judge]<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Before<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Howard, Stahl, and Lipez,<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Circuit Judges.</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=11-2144P.01A">February 27, 2013</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-meaning-of-of-first-circuit-hears.html">The meaning of "OF": The First Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in Rubin v. Iran</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tuesday, December 4, 2012</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural
Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com.</span></blockquote>
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<section class="entry-content"><blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The First Circuit Court of Appeals today heard <a href="http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/files/audio/11-2144.mp3">arguments</a> about the meaning of the word "of" in the case of <i>Rubin v. Iran. </i>The Rubin
plaintiffs wish to seize "property of Iran" after receiving a
multi-million dollar court judgment holding that country responsible for
injuries caused by a terrorist attack. The litigants have been unable
to obtain payment; therefore, they seek to execute the judgment by
taking ancient Iranian cultural artifacts housed at the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts (MFA) and the Harvard museums. After losing their case in
the lower federal district court, the plaintiffs appealed.<br /><br />
The attorney for the plaintiffs/appellants told the judges today, "We
don't really care, frankly, whether or not the property actually belongs
to Iran." explaining "All we care about is whether the property is 'of
Iran.'" "What does the word 'of'' mean?," counsel asked. He answered
that "...the word 'of' does not always mean possession."<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-meaning-of-of-first-circuit-hears.html">...</a></span></blockquote>
</section><br />
<h1>
<a href="http://chicagomaroon.com/2012/10/23/humanities-day-2012-oriental-institutes-persian-artifacts-are-subject-of-ongoing-lawsuit/"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Humanities Day 2012: Oriental Institute’s Persian artifacts are subject of ongoing lawsuit</span></span></a></h1>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h6 itemprop="description">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Americans attempting to get redress from
the Islamic Republic of Iran want to take possession of the artifacts,
currently on loan at the Oriental Institute.</span></h6>
<div class="byline">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="sep">by</span> <span class="author"><a href="http://chicagomaroon.com/author/hamid-bendaas/" rel="author" title="View all posts by Hamid Bendaas">Hamid Bendaas</a></span> - <a href="http://chicagomaroon.com/2012/10/23/humanities-day-2012-oriental-institutes-persian-artifacts-are-subject-of-ongoing-lawsuit/" rel="bookmark" title="2012-10-23T14:52:27-05:00"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2012-10-23T14:52:27-05:00" pubdate="">Oct 23, 2012 2:52 pm CDT</time></a></span> </div>
</blockquote>
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<section class="entry-content">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">For nearly 10 years, a lawsuit against the state of Iran has turned
the Oriental Institute into a battleground over 2,500-year-old Persian
artifacts.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This past Saturday, Professor Matthew Stolper, head of the
Institute’s Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, gave an update on
what he called a “salvage excavation” and revealed the innovative
technology that might decide the artifacts’ future.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">More than just “pieces of dirt that someone poked with sticks a very
long time ago,” the archive is “the largest, the most complex, the best
dated source of information from within the Persian Empire at its
zenith,” Stolper said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The tens of thousands of fragments, pieces of old administrative
records excavated from Persepolis ruins in the 1930s, have been a
treasure chest for understanding Persian language, religion, daily life
and politics. “This loan was an extraordinary thing—an extraordinary
act of trust,” Stolper said, since the Institute has been allowed to
keep the artifacts on loan from Iran during the pending law suit.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“A completely unique discovery is sent off to an American research
institute and it is sent intact—it is sent as if they knew it was all
one thing. This is almost without precedent in the annals of cultural
study,” Stolper said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">If the plaintiffs, Americans who lost relatives in 1997 terrorist
attacks in Israel, win, the tablets may be sold and dispersed. If they
lose, then Iran may demand the artifacts’ immediate return, according to
Stolper. The plaintiffs were already awarded redress money that Iran
refused to pay, so the plaintiffs are seeking this Iranian property in
the U.S. as an alternative form of payment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stolper took a moment to remind the audience that the plaintiffs had
lost their loved ones in a terrorist attack and reacted within the legal
channels granted by the judicial system. “There’s a tendency to say
[about the lawsuit], ‘What a terrible barbaric thing,”” Stolper said.
“The plaintiffs are not greedy barbarians. They are seeking redress.”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Institute has responded with innovative steps to preserve the
artifacts, digitally and on the Internet. By publicly sharing infrared
and photo-edited images of the tablets, alongside intensive linguistic
analysis, the Institute is pushing archaeological record-keeping into
the 21st century. “Sometimes the images are more useful than the
original objects,” Stolper said.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stolper left his audience and future generations, he hopes, with a
challenge. “If I can’t convince you it’s something you should be excited
about, at least I can convince you it’s something one can be excited
about,” he said.</span></blockquote>
</section><br />
<br />
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/07/rubin-v-iran-update-illinois-district.html"><span style="font-size: small;">comments on the status of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i></span></span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 class="date-header">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Monday, July 9, 2012</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=35845387" name="8542905743678363033"></a></span>
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Rubin v. Iran Update: Illinois District Court Gets Case Back Following
Supreme Court's Rejection of Appeal -- U.S. Files Amicus Brief in First
Circuit Supporting Museums
</span></h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The case of
<i>Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i> has been
restarted in federal district court in Illinois (docket 03-cv-9370).
That is because the United States Supreme Court on June 25 declined to
hear the Rubin plaintiffs' request to review the <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2011/04/court-of-appeals-decides-rubin-v.html">Seventh Circuit decision</a>, which ruled against them. Justices Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan did not participate in the decision.<br />
<br />
Rubin and the other plaintiffs are trying to recover a court-awarded
money judgment against Iran for that nation's sponsorship of a deadly
terrorist attack that harmed the parties. They wish to acquire Persian
artifacts located at Chicago's Field Museum and the University of
Chicago in order execute the judgment. The case moved from the federal
district court in northern Illinois to the circuit court of appeals.
The case was to be sent back to the district court by the appeals
court, but the Rubin plaintiffs sought review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court has now returned the case to the district court, where a
status hearing is scheduled for July 18 at 3:00 p.m.<br />
<br />
In a <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">companion case</a>
now in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the same parties seek to
acquire Persian artifacts held at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in
Boston and at Harvard. The United States filed an amicus brief (i.e.
friend of the court brief) on June 7 in support of the MFA, the Harvard
museums, and Iran. <br />
<br />
Federal lawyers argue two points in their brief to the First Circuit.
They say that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) does not
authorize the attachment of property not owned by a terrorist state.
Second, the government asserts that Iranian property cannot be
“contested” within the meaning of the Iranian Assets Control Regulations
because "Iran itself has not articulated any claim to the property in
question."<br />
<br />
The government writes:<br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="background-color: white;">"The
United States emphatically condemns the act of terrorism that
grievously injured the plaintiffs, and has deep sympathy for their
suffering. The United States remains committed to disrupting terrorist
financing and to aggressively pursuing those responsible for committing
terrorist acts against U.S. nationals. In addition, however, the United
States has a strong interest in ensuring that courts properly interpret
TRIA’s scope. Normally, unless a person obtains a license from the
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), that
person is barred from attaching assets that are blocked under various
sanctions programs, such as the Iranian Assets Control Regulations."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
The lawyers add:<br />
<span style="background-color: #ffe599;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;">"The
district court found that Iran does not, in fact, own the assets in
question. The United States takes no position on the question of
ownership. If this Court affirms the district court’s holding, however,
that ruling will also preclude attachment of the assets under TRIA. TRIA
does not, as plaintiffs contend, permit them to attach the artifacts
possessed by the Museums if those assets are not owned by Iran."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">The government concludes that the court </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;">"should
hold that the Museums’ artifacts cannot be attached under TRIA unless
the plaintiffs establish that Iran owns the artifacts. Additionally, if
the Court reaches the issue, it should hold that an asset is</span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;"> not “contested” for purposes of [the </span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;">Iranian Assets Control Regulations] </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;">unless Iran itself is claiming an</span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="background-color: white;"> interest in the asset."</span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/solicitor-general-tells-us-supreme.html">comments on the status of <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i></span></span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 class="date-header">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Saturday, June 2, 2012</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=35845387" name="5374508355294129853"></a></span>
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Solicitor General Tells U.S. Supreme Court to Reject Rubin v. Iran Case
</span></h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saying that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals got it <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2011/04/court-of-appeals-decides-rubin-v.html" target="_blank">right</a>, the US Solicitor General told the Supreme Court last week to reject the case of Rubin v. Iran.</span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lawyers
for Jenny Rubin and other injured litigants who won a judgment against
Iran for its sponsorship of a 1997 terrorist attack have been trying to
collect a multi-million dollar court award by attempting to seize
ancient Persian artifacts located at the Oriental Institute at the
University of Chicago and the Chicago Field Museum. The Seventh Circuit
on March 29, 2011 sent the case back to the federal district court in
Illinois for review. But the Rubin plaintiffs instead sought review by
the nation's highest court. See <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2011/04/court-of-appeals-decides-rubin-v.html" target="_blank">here</a> for more background</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/solicitor-general-tells-us-supreme.html">Read the rest here</a></span></blockquote>
<br />
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">comments on the status of <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i></span></span></a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 class="date-header">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Friday, June 1, 2012</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/" name="1143314051191605578"></a></span>
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Rubin v. Iran: Harvard Art Museums and Boston Museum of Fine Arts File Appellate Briefs in First Circuit
</span></h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The
order of the district court should be affirmed." That is the simple
conclusion written in the Harvard Art Museums' appellate brief filed
yesterday in the case of </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran v. Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard University et al.</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">Read the rest here </a></span></span>
</blockquote>
<br />
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">comments on the status of <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i></span></span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 class="date-header">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Friday, June 1, 2012</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=35845387" name="1143314051191605578"></a></span>
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">Rubin v. Iran: Harvard Art Museums and Boston Museum of Fine Arts File Appellate Briefs in First Circuit</a>
</span></h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The
order of the district court should be affirmed." That is the simple
conclusion written in the Harvard Art Museums' appellate brief filed
yesterday in the case of </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran v. Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard University et al.</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/rubin-v-iran-harvard-art-museums-and.html">Read the rest here </a></span></blockquote>
<br />
Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/03/rubin-v-iran-cases-move-forward-in.html">comments on the status of <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i></span></span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2 class="date-header">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thursday, March 29, 2012</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=35845387" name="5329387401632242312"></a></span>
<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/03/rubin-v-iran-cases-move-forward-in.html">Rubin v. Iran Cases Move Forward in First Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court</a></span>
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;">
<tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Mad-5223.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Mad-5223.jpg" height="200" width="155" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: Alborzagros. CC.</span></td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jenny
Rubin and others hurt by a 1997 terrorist attack in Israel filed a 92
page brief yesterday in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. <i>Rubin et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i><i><span style="background-color: white;"> v. Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard University et al. </span></i>is
a case where the appellants seek to enforce a judgment awarded to them
under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) by acquiring
cultural artifacts claimed to be owned by Iran. The objects sought are
located in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Rubin et al.
have also filed an appeal of their Seventh Circuit court case with the
U.S. Supreme Court. That case involves an attempt to attach objects
located at museums in Chicago.</span></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/03/rubin-v-iran-cases-move-forward-in.html">Read the rest here </a></span><br />
</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="headline">
<a href="http://www.archaeology.org/1201/features/persepolis_clay_tablets_iran_elamite_cuneiform.html">The Truth Behind the Tablets</a> </div>
<div class="headline">
Archaeology Magazine </div>
<div class="date">
Volume 65 Number 1, <a class="black" href="http://www.archaeology.org/1201/">January/February 2012</a>
</div>
<div class="author">
by Andrew Lawler</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The rush to document thousands of ancient texts before they are
sent back to Iran, or sold, reveals the daily workings of the Persian
Empire
</i></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="a clay tablet from Persepolis" class="PopBoxImageSmall" src="http://www.archaeology.org/1201/features/images/persepolis_tablets1.gif" id="id40741262938691314" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
Tens
of thousands of clay tablets and fragments from Persepolis are written
in cuneiform to express Elamite, an ancient language of western Iran.<br />
(Courtesy Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, Oriental Institute)</span></span> <br />
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="floatleft300">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Tensions between Iran and the United States have rarely run higher, with
both governments sparring over alleged terror plots, disputing the
nature of Iran’s nuclear program, and vying to influence the uprisings
across the Arab world. But in Chicago and Boston courtrooms, the two
countries have found rare common ground—neither wants ancient tablets
from the royal palace of Persepolis in Iran to end up on the auction
block. To the relief of scholars, two recent court rulings may give them
their joint wish, preserving open access to what is the most
significant source of information on the ancient Persian Empire
uncovered to date.</span> <br />
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In the early 1930s, during excavations of Persepolis, University of
Chicago archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld unearthed tens of thousands of
fragments of fragile clay tablets dating from about 500 B.C. The
fragments were packed into 2,353 cardboard boxes and shipped to the
university’s Oriental Institute. The Iranian government of the day
allowed the export, with the understanding that the tablets would be
translated and then returned. But the task of piecing together and
understanding the vast number of fragments has been under way for more
than seven decades and the majority of the collection remains in
Chicago. Now, fearing loss of the archive, the university has moved into
high gear to create thousands of digital images of the tablets, which
record the day-to-day accounts of the empire during the reign of Darius
the Great (521–486 B.C.) and include records of those traveling on
behalf of the king, lists of workers’ rations, and careful notation of
offerings made to deities.</span> <br />
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Researchers hope to have most of this intensive effort completed within
the next two years. To get the job done, the institute has assembled
what Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute, calls a “dream team”
of textual scholars, archaeologists, and technical experts in digital
cataloguing to take images of the tablets and make them available for
public use. Translations are also being done, though it will take much
longer to complete that daunting task. “Whether they are seized for sale
or the government of Iran demands them back, the tablets will be out of
the building soon. We all understand how important and urgent this is,”
says Stein.</span> <br />
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://archaeology.k-online.biz/?loadItem=A1202" target="_blank"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://www.archaeology.org/1201/cover_thumb.gif" hspace="5"" id="id9957867067825704" style="vertical-align: middle;" vspace="5" width="50" /></a><br />
<i>To read more, find ARCHAEOLOGY in your local newsstand or bookstore, or <a class="highlight" href="http://archaeology.k-online.biz/?loadItem=A1202" target="_blank"><b>click here to buy a copy of the issue online</b></a>. And if you'd like to receive ARCHAEOLOGY in your mailbox, <a href="http://www.archaeology.org/subscribe/"><b>click here to subscribe</b></a>.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="bio">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div class="bio">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Andrew Lawler</b> is a contributing editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.
</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2011/09/massachusetts-court-dismisses-rubin-v.html">Massachusetts Court Dismisses Rubin v. Government of Iran v. Boston MFA and Harvard </a><br />
Thursday, September 29, 2011<br />
<a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/">CULTURAL HERITAGE LAWYER</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5WfaNEPxMw/Tkp8x5ObmgI/AAAAAAAAAC4/e0Wq9d1_pb8/s1600/LogoA3.jpg" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5WfaNEPxMw/Tkp8x5ObmgI/AAAAAAAAAC4/e0Wq9d1_pb8/s1600/LogoA3.jpg" /> </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A Massachusetts federal court has ruled that the Museum of Fine Arts and
Harvard University will not lose their collection of ancient Persian
objects to eight plaintiffs injured in a 1997 terrorist bombing. The
United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, issued a five
page opinion on September 15, 2011 denying the plaintiffs’ efforts to
gain control over the artifacts to satisfy their multi-million dollar
court judgment against the government of Iran.<br />
<br />
Jenny Rubin and several other Americans were injured in Jerusalem after
Hamas carried out three bombings. Because the terrorist group received
backing from Iran, the eight plaintiffs sued the government of Iran in
federal district court in Washington, DC, winning a $71.5 million
default award after the Iranian government failed to show up to court.
Since then, the plaintiffs have sought to recover that judgment.</span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<br />
The government of Iran would not be expected to pay the court award, so
the plaintiffs searched for local Iranian assets to seize. One place
they looked was Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts, where museums housed
artifacts excavated from ancient Iran. The plaintiffs initiated a court
action--known as an attachment--against the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,
Harvard, the Harvard University Art Museums, the Busch-Reisinger
Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, the Sackler Museum, the Semitic Museums,
and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. But the judge
dismissed the plaintiffs’ case in his recent court order.</span>..<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/9/27/artifacts-many-museums-western/">Cultural Loot: Harvard and others should be more open to art repatriation</a><br />
By <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/writer/1626/The%20Crimson__Staff/">The Crimson Staff</a><br />
Published: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="text">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Last week, Harvard escaped from a bizarre and potentially damaging <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/terrorism-victims-blocked-from-seizing-persian-artifacts-from-harvard/36413">lawsuit</a>
after federal judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. threw out a request from a
group representing victims of Iranian terrorist attacks to seize various
Persian artifacts from Harvard. Still awaiting unpaid damages that a
U.S. court ruled they were owed by the Iranian government, the
group—under the leadership of Jenny Rubin—has recently set its sights on
certain artifacts they believe to be the property of the Iranian
government. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, however, these artifacts
are held in various collections such as the University of Chicago’s <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Lawsuits-by-Victims-of/126610/">Oriental Institute</a> and Harvard’s Peabody Museum, which acquired them long before the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="text">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">And
while Judge O’Toole’s ruling appears in part a straightforward and
appropriate rejection of what seems a patently opportunistic attempt to
benefit financially from both the tainted reputation of the Iranian
regime and a warped view of history, it included a broader stance on the
issue surrounding the ownership of formerly stolen artifacts—a
controversy in which Harvard’s own position, in our view, warrants a
re-evaluation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“As a general matter,” O’Toole <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/article/2011/9/20/iranian-iran-rubin-university/">wrote</a>,
“establishing that a particular item was unlawfully exported or removed
from Iran is not equivalent to showing that it now should be regarded
as property of Iran subject to levy and execution.” </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="text">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Of course, we
cannot imagine any other appropriate response to such an attempt. After
all, the argument of Rubin et al concerns an alleged—and obviously
false—association between the Persian Empire and the belligerent Iranian
Islamic “Republic” that currently exists within its former borders.
But, even still, we worry that these words may set some sort of
dangerous legal precedent that gives Western institutions such as
Harvard the right to keep artifacts regardless of the circumstances
under which they were acquired. While Harvard has a very good argument
for keeping possession of the particular items concerned in the Rubin
case, it’s troubling that this case may only lead to Western
institutions keeping a tighter stranglehold over the rest of the world's
stolen cultural heritage...</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://meetings.abanet.org/webupload/commupload/IC936000/sitesofinterest_files/A&CH_Law_Newsletter_Summer_2011.zip">Should National Treasures be Subject to the Judicial Auction?: The Implications of Rubin v. Iran</a><br />
By LAINA LOPEZ, ESQ.<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The main question at issue in Rubin v. Iran, a case
pending in both the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois in Chicago and the U.S. District Court for the District of
Massachusetts, is whether national treasures of cultural heritage should
be – or legally can be – subjected to a court-ordered auction to
satisfy judgments. In that case, a group of plaintiffs who won a default
judgment against Iran have asked the Chicago court to seize collections
of Iranian national treasures to be auctioned off – with no guarantee
that they will be auctioned off as collections – so that the proceeds
can be used to satisfy part or all of the judgment...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Even though the Seventh Circuit has ruled, the core
issue still is not resolved. That is, the district court will now have
to answer the main question – can the antiquities be seized and sold at
judicial auction?</span> </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Read the article in the <a href="http://meetings.abanet.org/webupload/commupload/IC936000/sitesofinterest_files/A&CH_Law_Newsletter_Summer_2011.zip" style="text-decoration: none;">Summer 2011 Newsletter</a> of the American Bar Association Art & Cultural Heritage Law Committee.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranian.com/main/2011/sep/heritage-hunters">Heritage Hunters: Trying to cash in on what Darius and Xerxes left us!?</a><br />
Iranian.com<br />
by <a href="http://www.iranian.com/main/member/ari-siletz" title="View user profile.">Ari Siletz</a><br />
<i>22-Sep-2011</i><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div style="clear: both;">
<div class="pic300">
<div class="img-frame-inner">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class=" active" href="http://www.iranian.com/main/2011/sep/heritage-hunters"><img alt="Heritage Hunters" class="article-img" src="http://www.iranian.com/main/files/storyimages/tab_4.jpg" height="295" title="Heritage Hunters" width="440" /></a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 2010 James Dolan, chief executive officer
of Cablevision got paid about $13 million, or about 400 time the wages
of an ordinary you and me. By comparison the manager of the royal
household of the Achaemenid king Darius the Great was paid 700 sheep,
600 loads of flour, and 32000 liters of beer and wine. This is about 100
times the wage of an ordinary Achaemenid postal worker (courier).
Never mind how much Darius got paid—the king was a national symbol, and
therefore beyond labor pricing--but when it comes to income disparity
Achaemenids seem to have the U.S. beaten four to one in terms of social
justice. How do we know how much workers and top administrators got paid
during the Achaemenids? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The information comes from deciphering a fraction of the 12000+
clay tablet “file cabinet” found at Persepolis circa 1930, and now
stored mostly in the U.S. These are the famous Persepolis tablets now
facing death by lawsuit in the U.S. legal system. The U.S. says the IRI
is a state sponsor of terrorism and therefore U.S. citizens can sue Iran
for injury resulting from IRI sponsored terrorist activity. For
example, if Hamas hurts an American citizen during a terrorist attack,
the injured person can sue Iran for supporting Hamas’ act. In fact many
plaintiffs have already won large damages against Iran; the only problem
was how to collect the court awarded money. After some hunting around
in law books, they found out that a loophole in the 2002 Terrorism Risk
Insurance Act (TRIA) allows them to auction off the Persepolis tablets
housed in U.S. universities. That should raise a few million, they
thought. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But just last week the NIAC news email brought good tidings that
some of the tablets have been rescued, apparently through clever use of a
legal technicality. Lawyers defending the tablets in Massachusetts
successfully argued that the plaintiffs couldn’t prove that the items
actually belong to the IRI. To get more detail on the temporarily good
news I talked on the phone with NIAC president Trita Parsi. NIAC has
been involved in the tablet rescue efforts, leading where it can and
assisting where it can. When I asked what would happen to the tablets if
they were auctioned, Parsi’s typically measured interview voice became
troubled: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>“When you have a lot of artifacts--as we see in this case--the
relative market value of each item drops. And as has happened before,
the business owners destroy many of the items in order to increase the
value of the remaining ones. We have seen this happen with Egyptian
artifacts in the past. There’s a significant risk. It may actually
happen that there will be a deliberate effort to destroy the stocks to
make sure that the remaining 500 out of the 12000 fetch the best price!
Then this part of our history and heritage will be destroyed.”</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> This is simply barbarism, committed in the name of 21st century
justice. From a perfectly reasonable angle these tablets are just as
important as the Darius Behistun inscriptions or even the Cyrus
Cylinder. Why? Because archeological sites and museums are full of
self-descriptions by rulers of what kick-ass heroes they were and how
justly they ruled. <i>Bein e khodemoon</i>, “Cyrus Cylinder” kings
were a dime a dozen. Even today, Kayhan is a daily Cyrus Cylinder made
out of paper. To give substance to our past we need more than the words
of Cyrus and Darius; we need to audit their receipts. And this is
precisely what these tablets are: receipts, invoices, pay stubs, wage
tables, reimbursement, how much food and wine the priests of different
religions got to offer their gods, etc. sampling several periods of
Achaemenid rule. So far the tablets reveal an empire buzzing with a
complex economy, an active society and run by an intricately structured
administrative system. There’s an astonishing amount of detail about
Achaemenid life in these tablets, beyond what we could have reasonably
hoped; their discovery is a cultural windfall for Iranians. Ironically
if it hadn’t been for another barbaric act—Alexander’s--more than two
millennia ago, these tablets may have been scattered centuries ago. The
quick collapse of the Persepolis building hid the tablets and made them
inaccessible<a href="http://www.iranian.com/main/2011/sep/heritage-hunters">... </a></span><br />
<br /></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.parsacf.org/Page/272">PARSA CF Awards $370,000 to Museums and Institutions for Preserving and Advancing Persian Arts</a><br />
<blockquote>
<h2 align="center" style="margin: 10pt 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: x-small;">June 2, 2011</span></h2>
<h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></h1>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/">The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago</a></b>, which is the recipient of two previous PARSA CF grants, has been awarded a $200,000 grant for their important work on capturing, recording, and distributing the information from the famous tablets of the <b><a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/pfa/">Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA)</a></b>. The archive is comprised of some 30,000 clay tablets and fragments found in 1933 by the Oriental Institute archeologists, examining and clearing the ruins of Persepolis palaces of kings Darius and Xerxes and their successors, near Shiraz. The tablets contain close to 20,000 original texts in cuneiform and Elamite language, Aramaic script and language, and seal impressions, and are currently on loan from Iran at the Oriental Institute. <br />
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">PFA is the <b>largest and most consequential single source of information on the Achaemenid Persian Empire</b> at its zenith. It provides a very important portal into the languages, art, society, administration, history, geography and religion in the heart of the Persian Empire in the time of Darius I, around 500 BC. It has fundamentally transformed every aspect of modern research on Achaemenid history and culture. <br />
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The PFA Project at the Oriental Institute is responsible for carefully cleaning these important ancient tablets, taking high resolution digital imagery of the texts on the tablets, exploring various technologies for the best imaging of the tablets such as 3D, laser, and CT scanning), and recording the texts and impressions. An editorial team within the group reviews and prepares editions of the texts, and all of the tablets, texts and impressions are carefully cataloged for publication and archiving. At this point more than 8000 tablets are completed, resulting in almost 40 Terabytes of data, and the team expects to grow the collection to approximately 11,000 over the next two years. <br />
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The tablets have been subject to a <b>long legal battle</b> where plaintiffs suing the Iranian government are asking for the ancient tablets as compensation. With the fate of the archive hanging in balance, the PFA Project has been under pressure to clean, scan, and record as many tablets as possible and as fast as possible. The grant from PARSA CF helped the PFA Project during an urgent time, since the project was in critical need for servers and other resources. An appellate court ruling a while later at the end of March came out with favorable result for the PFA, although the battle still continues. <br />
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The PFA project has received support from many other organizations besides PARSA CF, including the Andrew Melon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. <a href="http://www.iranheritage.org/">Iran Heritage Foundation</a> is also working closely with the PFA project, and supports and promotes their work. <br />
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"After almost eighty years, the Persepolis Fortification Archive is producing a growing stream of new information, deeper understanding, and surprising discoveries. Making sure that this stream continues to flow repays the trust and hope that Iran's loan of the Archive to the Oriental Institute entailed, magnifies the cultural heritage of which these tablets are the humble vessels, and lays that heritage before its cultural heirs and before the civilized world"</i> said Matthew W. Stolper, Director, Persepolis Fortification Archive Project.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/05/ancient-persian-treasures-in-american-courts.html"> Ancient Persian Treasures in American Courts </a><br />
<blockquote>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">by ARASH KARAMI</span></h4>
<h5>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">02 May 2011 23:40<span class="comlink"><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/05/ancient-persian-treasures-in-american-courts.html#disqus_thread"> </a></span></span></h5>
<div id="textbody">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="Persepolis-Fortification-tablets1.jpg" class="mt-image-right" src="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/images/Persepolis-Fortification-tablets1.jpg" height="519" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px;" width="489" /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<i>Legal dispute over Persepolis tablets threatens international lending of cultural assets.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 1930, archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld came across 30,000 clay tablets on a dig in the ancient city of Persepolis, near modern-day Shiraz. Now these same Persepolis tablets are embroiled in a legal battle involving the Islamic Republic of Iran, the University of Chicago, and a pedestrian mall bombing in Jerusalem. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">After they were unearthed in the 1930s, the inscribed and sealed tablets have been on loan to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago for study, where many still remain. They have become a treasure trove in revealing the inner administrative workings and social structure of ancient Persia during the reign of Darius I around the time of 500 BCE. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Among many facts, they hold the records of the different rations apportioned to women and men, receipt and taxation, redistribution to priests and artisans, means of travel and communication, storage of food and livestock. Not least of all, they have proven to be a valuable asset in the study of ancient languages such as Elamite, which died off with the invasion of Alexander the Great, and Old Persian, a language which the tablets show was surprisingly used more often than expected by everyday Persians. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The tablets hold a further value: What is known about this era historically comes from Greek and Arabic sources, and the Aramaic and Hebrew versions of the Old Testament. For the first time, scholars had the day-to-day story of the Persians, by the Persians, and for the world. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 2002, the Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute began state-of-the-art 3D imaging of the tablets that had not already been returned to the government of Iran. Though the primary purpose of the Fortification Archive is to store digitally the clay tablets for future scholars who happen to find the daily administrative routine of the Persian Empire titillating reading, there was a more immediate motivation for initiating the process. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Only one year before the Oriental Institute began the 3D imaging, five American victims of a 1997 Hamas suicide bombing that occurred on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street sued the government of Iran in a U.S. court for its support of the Palestinian organization... </span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/29/us-usa-iran-antiquities-idUSTRE72S6G420110329">U.S. court backs Iran in dispute over assets</a><br />
Reuters<br />
CHICAGO | Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:58pm EDT<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday backed <a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/iran" title="Full coverage of Iran">Iran</a> in a dispute with Americans who demand that Persian antiquities in two Chicago museums be used to pay damages for victims of a 1997 suicide bombing in Israel.<br />
<br />
</span><span id="midArticle_0"></span>The decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a lower court ruling allowing the U.S. plaintiffs to search for any and all Iranian assets in the United States to pay a $71.5 million judgment against Iran.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span>The case grew out of a September 1997 triple suicide bombing at a Jerusalem pedestrian mall that killed five people and injured 200. Two members of the Islamist group Hamas were convicted.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>The lawsuit filed by five groups of Americans who were either seriously wounded or relatives of the injured argued Iran bore responsibility because it provided training and support to Hamas for attacks.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>Having won their case, the plaintiffs embarked on a search for Iranian assets to pay the judgment. They found three collections of ancient Persian artifacts -- prehistoric pottery, ornaments, and precious tablets with Elamite writing -- owned by or on loan to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span>The museums argued the artifacts qualified for immunity under U.S. law and could not be used to pay the judgment. They said seizing the artifacts would set a dangerous precedent for institutions who rely on scholarly interest to trump political and legal disputes.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span>But the plaintiffs insisted the artifacts were fair game, arguing U.S. legal protections afforded to foreign-owned property do not apply when the property is used for commercial purposes, or when it belongs to an agent linked to a terrorist group.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span>Iran initially ignored demands that it appear in U.S. courts to assert its sovereign rights. It later hired an American lawyer to represent its interests.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span>The appeals court did not rule on the fate of the antiquities but it said the lower court wrongly denied Iran its sovereign immunity, which it says is presumed and did not need to be asserted in court by Iran.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span>The ruling also voided the lower court's order that all Iranian assets in the United States be disclosed, and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings "consistent with this opinion."<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_9"></span>(Reporting by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=andrew.stern&">Andrew Stern</a>; Editing by <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=xavier.briand&">Xavier Briand</a>)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695"> </a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="dateline">
<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/U-of-ChicagoMuseums-Win/126923/">U. of Chicago and Museums Win Key Ruling in Legal Battle Over Iranian Antiquities</a> </div>
<div class="dateline">
The Chronicle of Higher Education</div>
<div class="dateline">
March 29, 2011 </div>
<div class="byline">
By David Glenn</div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute won a victory on Tuesday in their efforts to maintain possession of thousands of ancient Iranian artifacts. In a <a href="http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/6L0OCMUS.pdf">ruling,</a> the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a lower court's order that might have handed the artifacts over to several American victims of a 1997 terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Those victims won a $90-million judgment in 2003 against the government of Iran, which is believed to have financed and trained the terrorists who carried out the Jerusalem bombing. But the victims and their families have struggled to collect any of that judgment from Iran, and their lawyers have <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Lawsuits-by-Victims-of/126610/">sought instead to seize purported Iranian assets in the United States,</a> including antiquities held in American museums. Those <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1592743">legal efforts have been condemned</a> by some scholars as a dangerous politicization of the world's archaeological heritage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">In Tuesday's ruling, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit ruled that the lower court had misinterpreted the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, which generally protects the property of foreign governments in the United States. The plaintiffs have asserted that the antiquities in Chicago are exempt from that immunity because of a provision in the 1976 law that excludes property "used for a commercial activity."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The lower court had ruled that the plaintiff's argument on that point must win by default because Iran had not come forward to assert its immunity under the 1976 law. But the Seventh Circuit, like other appellate courts in similar recent cases, ruled that the 1976 law requires courts to decide for themselves which foreign immunities apply to each case, whether or not a foreign government has explicitly demanded those immunities. (Complicating the case, Iran did eventually come forward to assert its immunity.) <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/U-of-ChicagoMuseums-Win/126923/">...</a></span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Lawsuits-by-Victims-of/126610/">Lawsuits by Victims of Terrorism Imperil Archaeological Studies</a><br />
<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Lawsuits-by-Victims-of/126610/">In claiming $4-billion in damages from Iran, American plaintiffs demand that colleges and museums turn over ancient Persian artifacts</a><br />
By Peter Schmidt <br />
Chronicle of Higher Education<br />
March 6, 2011<br />
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Lawsuits by Victims of Terrorism Imperil International Exchanges of Art and Artifacts 1" src="http://chronicle.com/img/photos/biz/photo_10703_landscape_large.jpg" /> </div>
<div class="cred-wrap">
<div class="credits" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">U. of Chicago</span></div>
<div class="caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Matthew Stolper, a professor of Assyriology at the U. of Chicago's Oriental Institute, examines a tablet on loan from the government of Iran.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="show-enlarge enlarge" href="http://chronicle.com/article/Lawsuits-by-Victims-of/126610/#">Enlarge Image</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="byline">
<br /></div>
Their original owners, in what is now Iran, probably saw them as ordinary records of day-to-day transactions, like today's ATM statements or store receipts. More than two millenniums later, however, clay tablets housed at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute have assumed extraordinary significance, as both objects of archaeological study and sources of modern conflict...</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6893"><span class="headline">Major New Grant Awards Will Help Build the Capacity of Iranian-Americans</span></a><br />
<span class="byline" style="font-size: x-small;">Thursday, December 2, 2010 <br />
By: NIAC Press Release </span><br />
<div class="subheading">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">NIAC has received three major grant awards totaling $446,000 from the Parsa Community Foundation, the leading philanthropic organization serving the Iranian-American community. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>For Immediate Release</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Contact: Nobar Elmi</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Phone: 202-386-6325</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Email: nelmi@niacouncil.org</span></div>
<blockquote>
.<span style="font-size: x-small;">.. A third grant will<b><i> </i></b>underwrite a comprehensive media and education campaign about the Persepolis artifacts, priceless Persian antiquities currently caught in a legal battle. The case is ongoing and its outcome could set potentially shattering precedents for the art world, museums and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as have a deep, negative impact on the cultural identity of Americans of Iranian descent.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iwu.edu/CurrentNews/newsreleases10/fea_IdesNovSpeakerRevised_01010.shtml"><span class="heading1">Professor Studying Embattled Tablets Being Returned to Iran to Speak for Ides of November</span></a><br />
Oct. 26, 2010<br />
<a href="http://www.iwu.edu/news/">Illinois Wesleyan News</a><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University will welcome Professor of Assyriology Matthew Stolper on Monday, November 15 at 4 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium of The Ames Library (1 Ames Plaza, Bloomington). His talk, titled “Shattered Window on the Persian Empire: Rescuing the Persepolis Fortification Archive,” is sponsored by the Greek & Roman Studies Department, Eta Sigma Phi and the Classics Club, and is part of the Ides Lecture & Performance Series.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The director of the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, Stolper studies clay tablets discovered in the ancient ruins of Persepolis in the 1930s by a University of Chicago expedition. Stolper is hoping to make the tens of thousands of the Persepolis clay tablets, which recorded the daily rule of Achemenid Persian kings from 550-330 B.C., available online. American survivors of terrorist bombings are asking Federal courts to award them possession of the Persepolis Fortification tablets to satisfy punitive judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“There is only one Persepolis Fortification Archive,” Stolper said. “It’s the richest, densest, most complex source of information on the languages, society, institutions, and art of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Breaking it up or losing it entirely without harvesting all of this information would leave a tragic wound in the history of civilization.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">For additional information about the speaker or the Ides series, contact the Greek and Roman Studies Department at (309) 556-3173.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div align="right">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Contact: Rachel Hatch, (309) 556-3960</i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2010/June/20100601093040cjnorab0.5233881.html">A Battle over Ancient Bits of Clay</a><br />
02 June 2010<br />
By Jeff Baron<br />
Staff Writer<br />
<a href="http://www.america.gov/">America.gov</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Washington — The fate of clay tablets that recorded details of everyday government transactions in the Persian Empire 2,500 years ago might depend on maneuverings in the government of the modern United States.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">The tablets — more than 10,000 of them from a long-buried Persian government archive at Persepolis — are at the center of a lobbying effort in the U.S. Congress. They were discovered in 1933 and have been in the United States since 1936, on loan from Iran for study. Scholars, research institutions and Iranian-American groups are trying to protect them from being seized and auctioned off for the benefit of people who have legal claims against the current Iranian government over acts of terrorism</span><span style="font-size: 85%;">...</span></blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_1/060110_elamite2_500.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_1/060110_elamite2_500.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 384px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.mud-brick.com/2010/05/279/">Suicide Bombings and Archaeology: Unpredictable Connections</a><br />
<a href="http://www.mud-brick.com/">mud-brick.com</a><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Monday, May 17th, 2010</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">In 1933 and 1934, archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld excavated an astonishingly large cache of inscribed tablets at Persepolis, once the monumental capital of the Persian Empire, and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.<br />
<br />
On Sept. 4th, 1997, a Hamas-sponsored suicide attack at the Ben Yehuda mall in Jerusalem took the lives of five people, including three young girls.<br />
<br />
Thought these two events would be completely disconnected? So did I, and maybe normally they would be. What they have in common is the Islamic Republic of Iran, the country where the tablets were found, and the country that partially funds Hamas. This connection has linked the tablets and the suicide bombing together in an unpredictable lawsuit that threatens the increasingly fragile nature of international archaeological cooperation...<br />
<br />
</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/iran-gambles-with-its-cultural-heritage-in-us-lawsuits-a231710">Iran Gambles with its Cultural Heritage in U.S. Lawsuits</a><br />
Apr 29, 2010<br />
E. E. Mazier <br />
<blockquote>
By ignoring lawsuits against it and failing to take an active role in the post-judgment phase of those cases, Iran is at risk of seeing a major component of its cultural heritage broken up and sold in pieces. That was the underlying message of an April 27, 2010 lecture by Matthew W. Stolper at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia about the Persepolis Fortification Tablets<a href="http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/iran-gambles-with-its-cultural-heritage-in-us-lawsuits-a231710">...</a></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1699&Itemid=2">Inside Washington: NIAC’s Battle to Save the Persepolis Tablets</a> <br />
Written by NIAC Staff<br />
Tuesday, 30 March 2010<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Washington, DC - The campaign to save the <a href="http://www.museum-security.org/?p=1472">Persepolis Tablets</a> is quietly gaining momentum, as NIAC and some of the nation’s top universities work to protect thousands of priceless cultural artifacts at risk of being seized by lawyers and auctioned off to the highest bidder...<br />
<br />
...Soon, NIAC will also deploy the Persepolis Center, an online resource that will not only serve as a clearinghouse for background information about the Persepolis Tablets but will also provide a direct connection between NIAC and members with the latest updates on our efforts, new opportunities for members to mobilize, tools for contacting elected representatives, and profiles of endangered collections.<span style="font-size: 85%;">If we are successful in our efforts, the Iranian American community can take pride in protecting not only our own cultural artifacts, but all cultural artifacts from the threat of lawsuit in the U.S.</span></span></blockquote>
<a href="http://calitreview.com/7851">Iran’s Cultural Heritage Under Threat</a><br />
by Alix McKenna<br />
<a href="http://calitreview.com/">California Literary Review</a><br />
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:40 am<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">...The use of the Iranian antiquities to satisfy the Rubin judgment could also put American cultural property at risk and cause foreign policy complications for the United States. The U.S. Government has filed several statements of interest with the court expressing these concerns. On June 6, 2006 Abbas Salimi-Namin, the former head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization sent a letter to the United Nations that illustrates the potential for problems. The missive demanded the immediate return of the tablets. While the Oriental Institute had previously enjoyed a good relationship with Iran based on a shared interest in gleaning knowledge from the tablets, the letter accused the museum of keeping the objects “on various grounds and pretexts” and ominously suggested that if the antiquities are turned over to the terror victims, American museums with objects in Iran would “face a similar measure from Tehran.”</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.pbk.org/userfiles/file/flashversion/Spring2010/pageflip.html">Should Cultural Heritage Be on the Judicial Auction Block?</a><br />
By Laina Catherine Wilk Lopez<br />
Phi Beta Kappa: <a href="http://www.pbk.org/infoview/pbk_infoview.aspx?id=72">THE KEY REPORTER</a><br />
Volume 75, Number 1<br />
Spring 2010<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">...Consider the following real life case on which I am currently working. In 1997, several persons, including some Americans, were injured in a suicide bombing in Israel for which Hamas later took credit. In 2003, the U.S. victims of that bombing, in a lawsuit entitled Rubin v. Iran, sued Iran in a U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C. pursuant to a section of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in effect at the time. That portion of the law, 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(7), permitted Americans who suffered injury (or death) to sue those nations designated by the United States as “state sponsors of terrorism” for providing “material support” to commit an act of terrorism. At the time of the lawsuit, the nations designated as state sponsors of terrorism were Iran, Cuba, Syria, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. Today, only Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan remain on the list. In the Washington, D.C. case, the Rubin plaintiffs won against Iran a multi-million dollar default judgment, which Iran refused to pay. The plaintiffs, still determined to collect their money, thus registered their judgment in jurisdictions in the United States where the plaintiffs believed Iranian assets were located. They asked the courts in those jurisdictions to permit them to “attach” (a legal term meaning essentially judicial seizure) the various alleged Iranian assets, sell them at judicial auction, and use the proceeds of such sales to satisfy their multi-million dollar judgment.<br />
<br />
In one such instance, the plaintiffs registered their judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs selected that court because there are three collections of ancient Persian artifacts owned by Iran or alleged to be owned by Iran in Chicago. One of the collections is not a true collection but rather a smattering of artifacts at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum of Natural History collectively known as the Herzfeld Collection. The artifacts are so named because, according to the plaintiffs, noted archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld surreptitiously took the items from Iran in the early 20th Century and later unlawfully sold the allegedly stolen items to the University of Chicago and the Field Museum. Iran makes no claim to these artifacts and the university and the Field Museum vigorously defend their lawful ownership of the items. The plaintiffs assert that Iran nonetheless owns the Herzfeld items by operation of an Iranian patrimony law which, according to the plaintiffs, provides that any item unearthed in Iran is owned by Iran. Notably, the Rubin plaintiffs also have sued Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging that those museums also have in their possession several items stolen by Herzfeld and hence are Iran owned. Like the museums in Chicago, however, the Boston museums vigorously defend their lawful ownership of the items.<br />
<br />
The other two collections involved in the Chicago litigation, the Persepolis Collection and the Chogha Mish Collection, are housed at the Oriental Institute and are, everyone agrees, owned by Iran. These two collections arrived at the Oriental Institute in the 1930s and 1960s, respectively, following archaeological digs. In the 1930s, the Oriental Institute sent a team of its archaeologists – led by Ernst Herzfeld – to Iran, with the Iranian government’s consent, to excavate the ancient Persian city of Persepolis. Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, was built by Darius I in approximately 515 B.C. and destroyed by Alexander the Great in approximately 330 B.C. Though largely destroyed by Alexander, the site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979 due to monumental ruins which were left standing. Following the excavation, Iran agreed to loan to the Institute for study a grouping of rare tablet and tablet fragments found in the fortifications. Some of the tablets are written in an ancient text known as Elamite, a now extinct language understood today by a handful of people. The tablets contain administrative records of daily Achaemenid society, such as the amounts and recipients of food rations...</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/06/old-persian-text-in-persepolis.html">Old Persian text in the Persepolis Fortification Archive</a> appears on the cover of the new book<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521878180">Numerical Notation<br />
A Comparative History</a><br />
Stephen Chrisomalis<br />
Wayne State University, Michigan<br />
Hardback<br />
(ISBN-13: <a class="libx-autolink" href="http://bobcat.library.nyu.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?fn=go&ct=search&vid=NYU&mode=Basic&indx=0&dum=true&vl%28freeText0%29=0521878187&vl%28323251961UI1%29=all_items&vl%281UI0%29=contains&vl%28212921975UI0%29=isbn&scps=" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted;" title="libx-autolink">9780521878180</a>)</blockquote>
<img src="http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/78180/cover/9780521878180.jpg" /><br />
It is also discussed on p. 256 ff.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_22BF1UqWS3c/RnUsXRgyF3I/AAAAAAAAANU/ww2Eb3EzHW8/s400/optablet.jpg" /></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/touraj-daryaee/auctioning-ancient-irania_b_378962.html">Auctioning Ancient Iranian Artifacts: Implications for US Cultural Policy</a>, By <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/touraj-daryaee">Touraj Daryaee</a>, Associate Director, Center for Persian Studies at the University of California, Irvine, The Huffington Post, December 3, 2009 02:35 PM .<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">... These tablets only make sense if they are studied as a group and not dispersed throughout the world in the hand of dealers and private collectors. It is a rare archive from antiquity, and so it should remain as such to be studied and understood. It would be a shame to have had in the twenty-first century a unique source for understanding the ancient Persians that got arbitrarily partitioned and dispersed, forcing us to remain in the dark for another 2,500 years about the social and cultural history of these people and the region. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><br />
As citizens of a society which promotes the understanding and accepting of diversity here and for the world, we must not let this happen. Our people need to be able to go to museums and see these objects to understand the antiquity, beauty, and diversity of the world in which they live in. The auctioning ancient artifacts would be a great mistake. If the current administration allows their sale to private dealers and collectors, the cost, in terms of the destruction of evidence for the study of the history of humanity, as well as with regard to America's reputation, is incalculable.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.uchicago.edu/news.php?asset_id=1732">Technology brings new insights to ancient language</a>, University of Chicago News Office, October 14, 2009<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img class="asset-align-right" src="http://news.uchicago.edu/images/assets/091014.aramaic.jpg" /></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 85%;">New technologies and academic collaborations are helping scholars at the University of Chicago analyze hundreds of ancient documents in Aramaic, one of the Middle East’s oldest continuously spoken and written languages.<br />
<br />
Members of the West Semitic Research Project at the University of Southern California are helping the University’s Oriental Institute make very high-quality electronic images of nearly 700 Aramaic administrative documents. The Aramaic texts were incised in the surfaces of clay tablets with styluses or inked on the tablets with brushes or pens. Some tablets have both incised and inked texts.<br />
<br />
Discovered in Iran, these tablets form one of the largest groups of ancient Aramaic records ever found. They are part of the Persepolis Fortification Archive, an immense group of administrative documents written and compiled about 500 B.C. at Persepolis, one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Archaeologists from the Oriental Institute discovered the archive in 1933, and the Iranian government has loaned it to the Oriental Institute since 1936 for preservation, study, analysis and publication.<br />
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The Persepolis texts have started to provide scholars with new knowledge about Imperial Aramaic, the dialect used for international communication and record-keeping in many parts of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires, including parts of the administration at the imperial court of Persepolis. These texts have even greater value because they are so closely connected with documents written in other ancient languages by the same administration at Persepolis.<br />
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“We don’t have many archives of this size. A lot of what’s in these texts is entirely fresh, but this also changes what we already knew,” said Annalisa Azzoni, an assistant professor at the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. Azzoni is a specialist on ancient Aramaic and is now working with the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project at the Oriental Institute. “There are words I know were used in later dialects, for example, but I didn’t know they were used at this time or this place, Persia in 500 B.C. For an Aramaicist, this is quite an important discovery.”<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Clearer images delivered more quickly</span><br />
Scholars from the West Semitic Research Project at the University of Southern California helped the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project build and install an advanced electronic imaging laboratory at the Oriental Institute. Together, the two projects are making high-quality images of the Aramaic texts and the seal impressions associated with those texts. They are distributing the new images to the international research community through the Internet.<br />
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Inked and incised texts pose different problems that call for different imaging solutions. Making high-resolution scans under polarized and filtered light reveals the ink without interference from stains and glare, and sometimes shows faded characters that cannot be seen in ordinary daylight. Using another advanced imaging technique, called Polynomial Texture Mapping, researchers are able to see surface variations under variable lighting, revealing the marks of styluses and even the traces of pens in places where the ink itself has disappeared.<br />
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Distributing the results online will give worldwide communities of philologists and epigraphers images that are almost as good as the original objects―and in some cases actually clearer than the originals―to study everything from vocabulary and grammar to the handwriting habits of individual ancient scribes.<br />
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Researcher Marilyn Lundberg and her colleagues from the West Semitic Research Project built two Polynomial Texture Mapping devices from scratch at the Oriental Institute. They trained Persepolis Fortification Archive Project workers in using them, and also in using filtered light with a camera equipped with a high-resolution scanning device. Now a stream of raw images is uploaded every day to a dedicated server maintained by Humanities Research Computing at Chicago, then uploaded for post-processing at the University of Southern California. Fully processed imagery is available on InscriptiFact, the online application of the West Semitic Research Project, and in the Online Cultural Heritage Research Environment, the online application of the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Seeing the whole picture</span><br />
The Polynomial Texture Mapping apparatus looks a bit like a small astronomical observatory, with a cylindrical based topped by a hemispherical dome. The camera takes a set of 32 pictures of each side of the tablet, with each shot lit with a different combination of 32 lights set in the dome. After post-processing, the PTM software application knits these images to allow a viewer sitting at a computer to manipulate the apparent direction, angle and intensity of the light on the object, and to introduce various effects to help with visualization of the surface.<br />
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“This means that the scholar isn’t completely dependent on the photographer for what he sees anymore,” said Bruce Zuckerman, Director of the West Semitic Research Project and its online presence, InscriptiFact. “The scholar can pull up an image on the screen and relight an object exactly as he wants to see it. He can look at different parts of the image with different lighting, to cast light and shadow across even the faintest, shallowest marks of a stylus or pen on the surface, and across every detail of a seal impression.”<br />
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“This is a wonderful way to look at seal impressions,” said Elspeth Dusinberre, another Persepolis Fortification Project collaborator. Dusinberre, an associate professor of classics at the University of Colorado, is studying the imagery and the use of seals impressed on the Aramaic tablets. “Some of the impressions are faint, or incomplete, on curved surfaces or damaged surfaces. Sometimes Aramaic text is written across them. You need to be able to move the light around to highlight every detail, to see the whole picture.”<br />
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The Persepolis Fortification Archive also includes about 10,000 to 12,000 other tablets and fragments with cuneiform texts in Elamite―a few hundred of them with short secondary texts in Aramaic. There are also about 4,000 to 5,000 others with impressions of seals, but no texts, and there are a few unique documents in other languages and scripts, including Greek, Old Persian and Phrygian.<br />
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“That’s what makes this group of Aramaic texts so extraordinary,” Stolper said. “From one segment of the Persepolis Fortification Archive, the Elamite texts, we know a lot about conditions around Persepolis at about 500 B.C. When we can add a second stream of information, the Aramaic texts, we’ll be able to see things in a whole new light. They add a new dimension of the ancient reality.”<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Impacts are far-reaching</span><br />
The collaboration between the Oriental Institute at Chicago and the West Semitic Research Project at Southern California began with support from a substantial grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2007. To date, the teams have made high-quality images of almost all the monolingual Aramaic Fortification tablets. The next phase of the work, supported by a second Mellon grant that runs through 2010, will make images of the short Aramaic notes written on cuneiform tablets, seal impressions on uninscribed tablets and previously unrecorded Elamite cuneiform texts.<br />
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The tablets have been studied since they came to Chicago in 1936, and many of them have been sent back to Iran. Oriental Institute scholar Richard T. Hallock published about 2,100 of the Elamite texts in 1969, and Margaret Cool Root and Persepolis Fortification Archive Project collaborator Mark Garrison are completing a three-volume publication of the impressions made on those documents by about 1,500 distinct seals.<br />
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These publications have had far-reaching results. “They have transformed every aspect of modern study of the languages, history, society, institutions, art and religion of the Achaemenid Persian Empire,” Stolper said. “No serious treatment of the empire that Cyrus and Darius built and that Alexander destroyed can ignore the perspectives of the Fortification Archive.”<br />
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“If that is the effect of a sample of one component of the archive,” added Garrison, “imagine what will happen when we can have larger samples and other components, and not just the written record, but the imagery, the impressions made by thousands of different seals that administrators and travelers―the men and women who figure in the texts―employed.”<br />
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By 2010, the collaborating teams expect to have high-quality images of 5,000 to 6,000 Persepolis tablets and fragments, and to supplement these with conventional digital images of another 7,000 to 8,000 tablets and fragments. The images will be distributed online as they are processed, along with cataloging and editorial information.<br />
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“Thanks to electronic media, we don’t have to cut the parts of the archive up and distribute the pieces among academic specialties,” said Stolper. “We can combine the work of specialists in a way that lets us see the archive as it really was, in its original complexity, as one big thing with many distinct parts.”</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/09/video/aramaic.html">Click here for video<br />
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<a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202435093688&DOJ_Urges_th_Circuit_to_Shield_Iranian_Artifacts_From_Seizure_by_Terrorism_Victims"><br />
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<a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202435093688&DOJ_Urges_th_Circuit_to_Shield_Iranian_Artifacts_From_Seizure_by_Terrorism_Victims">DOJ Urges 7th Circuit to Shield Iranian Artifacts From Seizure by Terrorism Victims</a><br />
Arguments focus on foreign sovereign immunity<br />
Lynne Marek<br />
The National Law Journal<br />
November 02, 2009<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">While the United States and Iran heatedly battle over nuclear disarmament on the world stage, they joined forces last week before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">...At oral argument, the 7th Circuit panel seemed to favor the arguments of the United States, Iran and the institutions, questioning the lower court's authority to disregard the artifacts' apparent statutory immunity. The artifacts "enjoy presumptive immunity" under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, said Judge Diane Sykes. "It can hardly be interpreted otherwise -- that's what it says.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.ajaonline.org/pdfs/113.3/AJA1133_Heath.pdf">Legal Threats to Cultural Exchange of Archaeological Materials</a>, by Sebastian Heath and Glenn M. Schwartz, American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 113 No. 3 • July 2009<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">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.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.rue89.com/2009/06/24/indemniser-les-victimes-dattentats-en-vendant-de-lart">Indemniser les victimes d'attentats en vendant de l'art ?</a>, Rue89, Par Marlene Belilos | Journaliste | 24/06/2009 | 15H50.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">L'Institut oriental de l'Université de Chicago -celle où Obama a été chargé d'enseignement-, dépositaire d'un ensemble d'environ 20 000 tablettes trouvées à Persépolis en 1933, se trouve au centre d'une bataille judiciaire inédite : des victimes d'un attentat réclament la vente de ces objets originaires d'Iran comme indemnisation. <br />
<img alt="Tablette trouvée à Persépolis en 1933 (DR)." class="asset-align-right" src="http://asset.rue89.com/files/imagecache/asset_wizard_vignette/files/Marie-SophieKeller/2009_06_24_Tablette_perse2_0.jpg" id="image_asset_wizard_vignette_3491" title="Tablette trouvée à Persépolis en 1933 (DR)." />Un tribunal de Washington a condamné l'Etat iranien à verser 412 millions de dollars (323 millions d'euros) aux familles des victimes et survivants d'un attentat perpétré à Jérusalem en 1997. <br />
Les plaignants arguent, en effet, que l'Etat iranien aurait financé et entraîné le Hamas, responsable de l'attentat. Ils s'appuient dans leur action sur une loi de 1970 permettant d'attaquer un Etat. Cette législation a encore été élargie en novembre 2008 par le sénateur du New Jersey, Lautenberger, levant l'immunité d'un Etat souverain...</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_technology/the_artifacts_of_life.html">The Artifacts of Life</a>, By Carl Marziali, USC News Science / Technology, June 23, 2009 11:16 AM.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">USC’s first pilgrims to a temple of high-energy physics will be seeking answers to worldly questions about ancient commerce.<br />
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Archaeologist Lynn Swartz Dodd of USC College and her students are taking trade artifacts from Egypt to the Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source, home of the most powerful X-rays in the country...<br />
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The group hopes to return to Argonne this fall or next spring for a second round of studies, this time to analyze Assyrian and Persian artifacts found in Israel, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, which are on loan from the Oriental Institute of Chicago...<br />
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This is not the first time that USC has brought modern technology to bear on ancient problems. Dodd’s colleague Bruce Zuckerman leads a team that has been creating digital images of the ancient writings on the Persepolis Tablets at the Oriental Institute in Chicago.<br />
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The project has two goals: to preserve at least digital access to the Iranian government-owned tablets, which may be sold off as part of a lawsuit seeking to punish Iran for its ties to the terrorist group Hamas; and to reduce physical study of the tablets by scholars.<br />
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“Looking at a text is probably the most damaging thing you can do to it,” Zuckerman said.</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1444&Itemid=2">The Big Apple Raises $110,000 to Protect the Persepolis Tablets</a>, NIAC, Thursday, 11 June 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Washington, DC - Iranian-Americans from the New York tri-state area exceeded NIAC’s fundraising goals and helped raise over $110,000 to go towards preserving the Persepolis Artifacts on May 30th at the Asia Society in Manhattan...<br />
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Special guest, Professor Matthew Stolper who has dedicated his career to studying these tablets, made the gravity of losing just one of these artifacts crystal clear - If there are too many of these tablets being auctioned, their value will drop. So what do people do to ensure that the price remains high? "They destroy a good number of them," he exclaimed to a shocked audience. He also stressed the importance of keeping these items together, in fact, they are really to be seen as one item. Like a dinosaur fossil - if one bone is missing, we lose a sense of what the animal was. The same goes for these artifacts which tell the story of the Persian empire during the time of Darius the Great.<br />
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Thanks to our community in the City that Never Sleeps, NIAC is better positioned to ensure that not a single tablet from Persepolis is confiscated, auctioned or destroyed. NIAC is involved through legal, media and policy avenues to preserve the Persepolis tablets</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Victims%20of%20terrorist%20attack%20in%20Israel%20can%20proceed%20with%20claim%20for%20US%20antiquities/8446">Victims of terrorist attack in Israel can proceed with claim for US antiquities</a>, The Art Newspaper. From issue 191, May 2008. Published online 1.5.08.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">A federal court in Massachusetts affirmed on 31 March that Iranian antiquities at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Harvard University Art Museums might be subject to a claim by the victims of a terrorist bombing allegedly sponsored by Iran...In the latest round of litigation in Massachusetts, the court declined to reconsider its prior ruling that the plaintiffs might be able to claim the antiquities under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002. The case will now go to the federal appeals court.<br />
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<a href="http://farhangfoundation.ning.com/profiles/blogs/farhang-foundation-fundraising">Farhang Foundation fundraising in support of the Persepolis Tablet Project of Professor Matthew Stolper at the University of Chicago</a>, Farhang Foundation Blog. Posted by Bita Milanian on May 28, 2009 at 2:02pm.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">On May 16, 2009, a private gathering hosted by members of the Farhang Foundation’s board of trustees, was attended by a number of enthusiasts in history and culture of ancient Iran, to raise funds to support Prof. Stolper’s efforts to preserve the contents the Persepolis Tablets...</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.pr-inside.com/iranian-american-bar-association-panel-r1300013.htm">Iranian American Bar Association Panel June 10th to Discuss Persian Antiquities in Peril</a>, © Business Wire 2009, 2009-06-04 19:38:02 - .<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">In September of 1997, three Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowded pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, killing five and wounding nearly 200. Several of the American victims sued the government of Iran, accusing it of being complicit in the attack, and won a $412 million default judgment. In seeking to satisfy that judgment, the plaintiffs have gone to court to seize ancient Persian artifacts being held by the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, the Chicago Field Museum, several Harvard University museums, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts...<br />
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In an effort to raise awareness about these cases and to further explore their cultural and scholarly impact, the Chicago Chapter of the Iranian American Bar Association (IABA) will host a panel discussion on Wednesday, June 10 from 5:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the University Center, 525 S. State Street, Lake Room, Chicago. The panelists include Dr. Gil Stein and Dr. Matthew Stolper of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, Dr. Patty Gerstenblith of the DePaul University College of Law, and Sue Benton, lead counsel for the Chicago Field Museum...</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1429&Itemid=59">Supreme Court Case can Decide Fate of Persepolis Tablets </a>, Written by Ehsan Tabesh, National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Friday, 29 May 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Washington DC - As the U.S. District Court decides the fate of thousands of historic Persian artifacts, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon determine whether U.S. citizens can sue the newly formed Republic of Iraq for the misdeeds of the former Saddam Hussein regime. The timing of the case is critical to not only future claims filed against sovereign nations including the United States, but also the outcome of two suits that seek to seize and auction off invaluable artifacts from Persepolis with great historical significance to Iranian Americans.<br />
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In the Republic of Iraq v. Beaty, the Supreme Court will soon decide whether the Republic of Iraq is immune from a civil suit brought by several U.S. military and media personnel allegedly captured and mistreated by the former Iraqi regime headed by Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Kuwait invasion. This case consolidates several lawsuits filed by over 236 plaintiffs that seek more than $3 billion in damages against the new government in Iraq for the misgivings of the former Hussein regime...</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://u.tv/News/Irans-treasures-arent-safe/367dfd7a-a220-43de-ac96-b66150faca23">Iran's treasures aren't safe</a>, by Kriston Capps, UTV Media, Wednesday, 13 May 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">The Tehran Times reports that Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance rejected a request from the US National Gallery of Art to borrow a painting by Gauguin from the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Speaking to the ministry's decision, office for visual arts director Mahmud Shaluii had heated words: "In response to the National Gallery of Art director, we said that the United States is not legally safe for Iranian artworks."<br />
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A curator in a snit hardly ranks among the heavy diplomatic conflicts that mar US–Iran relations. But on this front, Iran is not being churlish. In fact, the curator has it exactly right: Iran would be out of its mind to send a Gaugin – or anything else – to the US, because the US has no intention of returning it. A new judicial ruling on assets and cultural lending threatens to cut off cultural cooperation between the two nations, just as its leaders are taking tentative steps toward finding some middle ground...</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=192895">Iran rejects U.S. National Gallery of Art’s request for Gauguin painting</a>, Tehran Times Art Desk, Wednesday, April 22, 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) recently turned down a request from the National Gallery of Art in Washington for a loan of a Paul Gauguin still life for an exhibition ... it is not possible to loan the painting due to the lack of confidence that the United States will safeguard Iranian artworks,” noted Shaluii, who is also the curator of TMCA.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1378&Itemid=59">Iranian Americans Raise $50,000 to Preserve Persepolis Artifacts</a>, Written by NIAC, Wednesday, 25 March 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">McLean, Va - The Iranian-American community came together to celebrate the coming of Norooz and support NIAC's continued efforts to protect the Persepolis tablets and support diplomacy, on March 7, 2009 in Mclean VA. The event, which hosted more than 150 members of the Iranian-American community, raised an impressive $50,000. Dr. Paymaun Lotfi and Mrs. Bita Lotfi hosted the event and opened their home in Virginia to the local Iranian-American community...<br />
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NIAC's special guest was Professor Matthew Stolper of Chicago University, the caretaker of the prized Persian artifacts in the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project. He spoke extensively on the vast significance of the Persepolis artifacts to ancient Persian history and to the international community.<br />
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He expressed great concern for the risk of the artifacts being confiscated and auctioned off, arguing that the window the tablets provide into Iran's ancient history only exists if all of the tablets are kept. They are like bones in a skeleton - with a single tablet missing, the entire skeleton collapses...</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1361&Itemid=59">Appeal for Protection of Persian Artifacts Reaches New Heights</a>, Written by NIAC, Thursday, 12 March 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Washington, DC - Today, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) -- the largest Iranian-American grassroots organization -- presented a brief Amicus Curiae to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Illinois Eastern Division in a lawsuit that seeks to seize and auction off thousands of historic Persian artifacts of substantial historical importance currently on display at the University of Chicago.<br />
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"NIAC believes these artifacts qualify as cultural property and are part of the cultural heritage of all persons of Iranian descent," said Trita Parsi, President of NIAC. "Our role is to ensure that they are not confiscated and auctioned off to the highest bidder - an act that would not only contradict the principles embodied in numerous laws and treaties, but set a terrible precedent in America and for several similar cases as well as potentially result in retaliation against U.S. properties worldwide."<br />
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In presenting its brief, NIAC seeks to act as an amicus curiae or "friend of the Court," and will ask the Court to consider the cultural importance of these artifacts when interpreting the provisions of law that will govern its ruling.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.chicagomaroon.com/2009/3/5/trial-of-the-centuries-the-legal-battle-over-ancient-artifacts-and-global-terror">Trial of the Centuries</a>, By Alison Sider. Published: March 5th, 2009, Grey City, Chicago Maroon<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">Since 2004, the Oriental Institute has found itself at the unlikely nexus of archaeology, law, and terrorism. At stake are millions of dollars, a collection of 2,500-year-old tablets, and possibly the future of archaeological research.<br />
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With its stone fireplace and wood paneling, it would be less surprising to see Indiana Jones walk into Gil Stein’s office at the Oriental Institute than the visitor who stopped by five years ago.<br />
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“Are you Gil Stein?” the man asked, standing in the doorway to Stein’s office. Stein answered in the affirmative.<br />
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“You’ve been served,” the man said, handing over an envelope. And with that, he turned and left.<br />
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The envelope revealed a summons from the federal district court of the Northern District of Illinois, demanding that Stein, the Institute’s director, turn over ancient tablets from the Institute’s Persepolis Fortification Archive and Choga Mish collection. They would be sold, according to the summons, in order to compensate victims of a 1997 terrorist attack funded by Iran.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/09/mar/1070.html">"A Debt that cannot be repaid in full"</a>, By A. J. Cave, 03/06/09, Payvand<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">On March 4th, 1933, a group of American archaeologists from the Chicago University's Oriental Institute, excavating in the ruins of Pârsâ (Persepolis), struck pure gold. They found the largest ancient archive of its size under heaps of ashes and broken stones that had collapsed, preserving its treasure for centuries. That priceless treasure, Achaemenid Administrative Archives, more commonly known as the Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA), is now caught in the American legal system, as the coveted prize in a federal lawsuit - part of a series of related lawsuits, no longer just to seize commercial assets owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran, but a fight for the seizure of precious Persian antiquities held by western museums, regardless of who owns them...</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trita-parsi/obama-and-the-persian-tre_b_171679.html">Obama and the Persian Treasures in Chicago</a>, by Trita Parsi, Posted March 4, 2009 | 02:25 AM (EST), The Huffington Post.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">...Under the law, President Obama has the power to issue an executive waiver to stop the seizure of foreign assets if that would further US national security. Considering the importance of the President's efforts to reduce tensions with Iran and solicit its collaboration in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the dire consequences of failure, President Obama should do exactly that. It's not the easiest decision politically, but no one ever said overcoming 30 years of enmity would be easy.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/?p=29141">Persepolis Fortification Archive at center of lawsuits</a>, by Will Anderson, March 2, 2009. News from the Division of the Humanities, Posted on February 27th, 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">The victims of two different terrorist attacks have filed two separate lawsuits, both of them competing for the right to auction the Persepolis Fortification Archive.<br />
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Chicago Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle are two of several news sources that have picked up the story: the Persepolis Fortification Archive, on loan from Iran and under the care of the Oriental Institute since the 1930s, might be seized to help pay for damages awarded to over 800 victims of terrorist attacks. The archive consists of thousands of inscribed clay tablets, all of them 2500 years old, that taken together are scholars’ best aid in understanding the everyday workings of the Persian empire.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/?p=29141">Iran: on the Persepolis Tablets Case (A. J. Cave, US; ex-Iran) </a>, World Association of International Studies | PAX, LUX, et VERITAS, Posted on February 27th, 2009.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">My friends tease me that I wrote some 700+ pages of romance just to put the Persepolis Fortification Archive in the context of time and place and show the horror that the Persians must have felt at the time watching Persepolis [Parsa] burn by the hands of the bloody invading Macedonians. A grief that still burns the tips of my fingers.<br />
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The third chapter of my book: “Axis of Empire” passing through the ruins of Persepolis is available in PDF format, and <a href="http://www.pavasta.com/content/chapter3axisofempire.html">here</a> is a link.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/depeches/international/ameriques/20090224.FAP6865/les_tablettes_de_persepolis_au_centre_dun_bras_de_fer_j.html">Les tablettes de Persépolis au centre d'un bras de fer judiciaire aux Etats-Unis</a>, Le Nouvel Observateur, 24.02.2009 | 18:39<br />
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<a href="http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x1658751189/FOCUS-Terrorism-impacting-archaeology-02-22-09">FOCUS: Terrorism impacting archaeology, 02-22-09</a>, The Herald News, Posted Feb 20, 2009 @ 05:40 PM<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">[This is the first appearance of Associated Press article by Sharon Cohen, which also appears (with credit) under the title <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29315707/">"Terror victims seeking Persian relics in court"</a> at MSNBC and <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-tabletsvsterrorism,0,2780410.story">The Chicago Tribune</a>. No doubt it will appear elsewhere in the next day or two. -CEJ-]</span><br />
<blockquote>
CHICAGO — The professor opens a cardboard box and gingerly picks up a few hunks of dried clay — dust-baked relics that offer a glimpse into the long-lost world of the Persian empire that spanned a continent 2,500 years ago.<br />
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Matt Stolper has spent decades studying these palm-sized bits of ancient history. Tens of thousands of them. They’re like a jigsaw puzzle. A single piece offers a tantalizing clue. Together, the big picture is scholarly bliss: a window into Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire looted and burned by Alexander the Great.<br />
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The collection — on loan for decades to the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute — is known as the Persepolis Fortification Archive. These are, to put it simply, bureaucratic records. But in their own way, they tell a story of rank and privilege, of deserters and generals, of life in what was once the largest empire on earth.<br />
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For Stolper — temporary caretaker of the tablets — these are priceless treasures.<br />
For others, they may one day be payment for a terrible deed...</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 78%;">[Versions of this article have also appeared in several other sources, incuding <a href="http://www.current-news.org/2009/02/22/terror-victims-seeking-persian-treasures-in-court/">Current News Stories</a>, <a href="http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=234115">Telegraph Herald - Dubuque, IA</a>, <a href="http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/02/22/news/associated_press/doc49a1017bc8a56132560616.txt">The Pueblo Chieftain</a>, <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090222_Battle_over_ancient_relics.html?posted=y&viewAll=y#comments">The Philadelphia Inquirer</a>, <a href="http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/22/1n22tablets00126-terror-victims-seek-unusual-claim/?news">The San Diego Union-Tribune</a>, <a href="http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1442839,022209tablets.article">The Southtown Star</a>, <a href="http://www.museum-security.org/?p=1472">Museum Security Network</a>, <a href="http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=NEWS">Fort Wayne Journal Gazette</a>, <a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_11759119?nclick_check=1">Contra Coasta Times</a>, <a href="http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705286616,00.html">Deseret News</a>, <a href="http://www.pr-inside.com/terror-victims-seeking-persian-treasures-in-r1072814.htm">PR-Inside</a>, <a href="http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/fnnews.aspx?articleID=9015&fnpg=0">Charlotte Sun</a>, <a href="http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2009/02/21/ap-state-il/d96g6r6o3.txt">The Southern</a>, <a href="http://www.wandtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9883528">WAND TV</a>, <a href="http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/national/article/terror_victims_seeking_persian_relics_in_court/28286/">WSLS Roanoke</a>, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/22/MNSH160AQH.DTL">San Francisco Chronicle</a>]</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84448&sectionid=351020105">US urged to return Persepolis tablets</a>, by PRESSTV, Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:28:37 GMT.<br />
<blockquote>
International archeologists have asked US President Barack Obama to help return the Elamite tablets of Persepolis to their home in Iran.<br />
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Over 600 archeologists have signed a letter to President Obama asking him to stop the ancient artifacts, which are have been loaned to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, from being confiscated and sold...</blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/December-2008/Paying-with-the-Past/">Paying with the Past</a>, by Gwenda Blair, Chicago Magazine, December 2008.<br />
<blockquote>
In March 1933, an archaeological expedition from the Oriental Institute, a division of the University of Chicago, was working in southwestern Iran among the ruins of Persepolis, the onetime capital of the ancient Persian Empire. While building a road for trucks to bring in drinking water, laborers accidentally uncovered a huge archive of 2,500-year-old clay tablets, inscribed with wedge-shaped cuneiform characters, that had been stored inside a fortification wall.<br />
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Five decades later, in October 1983, a terrorist drove a Mercedes truck loaded with explosives into the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut and killed 241 American servicemen. Fourteen years after that, in September 1997, terrorists set off suitcase bombs at Ben Yehuda, a popular pedestrian shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing five people and wounding nearly 200. Claiming that Iran underwrote both bombings, the U.S. survivors and family members of those who were killed sued that country in separate federal lawsuits in Washington, D.C., in 2001. Iran did not make an appearance, and the plaintiffs won a total of more than $3 billion in default judgments.<br />
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The tablets, basically an administrative record, chronicle the distribution of food within Persepolis and the surrounding region.<br />
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Now these disparate elements are coming together in a Chicago courtroom. The plaintiffs in the bombing cases say that the only way they can collect what is owed to them is to force the sale of the Persepolis tablets, currently at the University of Chicago on loan from Iran, and they have filed lawsuits demanding that the archive go on the auction block.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://mathaba.net/news/?x=613770l">Iran wants US to repatriate inscriptions, antiquities</a>, Posted: 2008/12/16, Mathaba News Network.<br />
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi on Monday appealed to US institutions to repatriate Iranian inscriptions saying that their refusal has led to severance of Iran-US archaeological relations.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://intlawgrrls.blogspot.com/2008/11/on-art-beyond-babylon-to-federal-court.html">On Art! Beyond Babylon...to federal court</a>, In this installment of <a href="http://intlawgrrls.blogspot.com/">IntLawGrrls</a> "On Art!" series on artifacts of transnational culture, guest blogger <a href="http://judithweingarten.blogspot.com/">Judith Weingarten</a>, an archaeologist, returns to the blog with an account of legal issues swirling about a new show at a leading U.S. art museum, 25 November 2008.<br />
<blockquote>
The latest archaeological blockbuster at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/Special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7BF3EC2A76-071C-45DE-9713-B4EA77EBA531%7D">Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C</a>.<br />
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The exhibit, which opened a week ago today, runs through March 15, 2009, and is reviewed here by The New York Times, is the direct sequel to the Met's 2003 Art of the First Cities, which covered the third millennium B.C. But unlike the 2003 show, which took place as American troops invaded the heartland of ancient Mesopotamia, there is a gaping hole in the new show: 55 pieces from Syria — stone sculptures; frescoes; goldwork, including this stupendous bowl from the ancient city of Ugarit (left) – were not sent as promised to New York.<br />
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In a wall card near the beginning of the show, the Met thanks the Syrian government for its willingness to lend such important objects, and expresses "deep regret that recent legislation in the United States has made it too difficult and risky for the planned loans to proceed." That legislation, an amendment made in January to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, permits private individuals claiming to be victims of state-sponsored terrorism to file liens against property belonging to that state whenever the property is in the United States. Property loaned to museums may fall within the ambit of this amendment.<br />
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This is the almost inevitable sequel to the legal battle over the Persepolis tablets...</blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/images/PDF_files/iaba_review_2008.pdf">Persian Artifacts Case: An Insider’s Perspective</a>, By Babback Sabahi in The Iranian American Bar Association ("IABA") Review, volume 3, Fall 2008.<br />
[Babback Sabahi, who is an associate at Mayer Brown, LLP in Washington, D.C, reviews the status of the case and reports that "Mayer Brown, LLP will file an amicus brief in this case on behalf of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) encouraging the court to uphold the exempt status of the Iranian artifacts under the FSIA. Such ruling would be consistent with contemporary trends in the protection of cultural property as demonstrated by U.S. federal and state laws, and international treaties.]<br />
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<a href="http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/understrecket/artikel_1644099.svd">Persepolis skatter i rättslig tvist</a>, By Ashk Dahlén in Svenska Dagbladet, 1 september 2008.<br />
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/sep/1270.html">Battle over Persepolis Fortification Archive: Achaemenid Administrative Archives</a>, By A.J. Cave in Payvand's Iran News ... 09/24/08<br />
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<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=754423">Iran seeking more docs for case of Achaemenid tablets</a>, TEHRAN, Sept. 23, 2008 (<span dir="ltr">Mehr News Agency</span>)<br />
["Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) is searching for more documents to enable the country to win the court case against the University of Chicago on the matter of the Achaemenid tablets. CHTHO’s Judicial Office has set up a team of experts to look for the documents at the archives of Iran’s Customs Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and former prime ministerial office -- present Presidential Office, the office director Omid Ghanami told CHN on Monday..."]<br />
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<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-terror-libya_fang_06sep06,0,1798407.story">Libya deal may be model for others: U.S. looking to press more into paying for role in attacks</a>, By Bay Fang, Chicago Tribune Washington bureau, September 6, 2008<br />
[Persepolis Fortification Archive lawsuit in the context of theis week's Libyan claims settlement agreement]<br />
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<a href="http://ngm.typepad.com/stones_bones_things/2008/08/should-iran-tre.html">Should Iran Treasure Be Held for Ransom?</a>, By Chris Sloan in Stones, Bones ‘n Things (a National Geographic Society blog),Posted Aug 18,2008<br />
["...The tension surrounding these tablets reminds me of the current tension between the nations of Iran and the U.S.. There is a lot of old baggage, politics, pain and loss, and blustering. Cultural heritage should not be used as a weapon against nations. It is world heritage we're talking about..."]<br />
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<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=732718">Earth still ‘best trustee’ for Achaemenid palace</a>, TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA)<br />
[On the backfilling of the site in Sorvan near Nurabad Mamasani in Fars Province, believed by the excavators to be the location of the place "Liduma" mentioned in the Persepolis Fortification Archive.]<br />
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1152&Itemid=2">Background on Persepolis Artifact Case</a>, By rash Hadjialiloo , National Iranian American Council, Jun 27, 2008<br />
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<a href="http://www.nysun.com/foreign/hague-tribunal-figures-in-terror-case-involving/82074/">Hague Tribunal Figures in Terror Case Involving Iran, Chicago Museum</a>, By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun, July 17, 2008<br />
["...On Monday, Iran's representative wrote to the tribunal's clerks asking for various documents filed in connection with the American-Iranian dispute. "The documents are to be produced to the plaintiffs in a litigation pending before a domestic court," M.H. Zahedin-Labbaf wrote, a court filing in Chicago shows.<br />
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Clerks for the tribunal, whose cases often drag on for years, wrote back the same day that they would not provide the documents. "We respectfully inform you that we are unable to comply," the international court's co-registrars, Jessica Hilburn-Holmes and Ali Marossi, wrote, citing tribunal rules which keep such records confidential....]<br />
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<a href="http://www.nysun.com/national/terror-case-judge-iran-must-identify-us-assets/80907/">Terror Case Judge: Iran Must Identify U.S. Assets</a>, By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun, June 30, 2008<br />
["In an apparently unprecedented move, a federal judge in Chicago is ordering the government of Iran to comply with the requests of terrorism victims that the Islamic nation identify of all of its real estate holdings, financial assets, and other property in America. In issuing the order last week, Judge Blanche Manning effectively rejected the advice of the Bush administration that the court should put limits on what Iran is required to disclose about its American assets...]<br />
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<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jun/1201.html">Legal Dance on Persepolis Artifacts Continues</a>, By Arash Hadjialiloo, NIAC, 06/23/08, Payvand.<br />
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<a href="http://irancoverage.com/2008/06/19/niac-struggle-over-persian-artifacts-continues/">NIAC: Struggle over Persian artifacts continues</a>, June 19, 2008, IRANCOVERAGE.<br />
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<a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/978741,CST-NWS-IRAN30.article">'They can give us justice': Families of Marines killed in Lebanon join suit seeking Iran funds</a>, May 30, 2008, By Dave Newbart, Sun-Times News Group.<br />
["... While the Marine families wanted to proceed with their own case against Iran, Manning this week consolidated their claim with the one already pending. David Strachman, attorney for the mall victims' families, said that decision amounts to "terrorism victims attacking other victims. ... It's unseemly for lawyers for one gr<br />
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN29385461">US terrorism claimants compete for Iranian assets</a>, By Andrew Stern. Reuters Thu May 29, 2008 6:27pm EDT.<br />
[".. Families of those killed in the Beirut Marine barracks bombing 25 years ago staked their claim on Thursday to ancient Persian clay tablets, on loan to a U.S. museum, to satisfy a $2.7 billion judgment won against Iran..."]<br />
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<a href="http://www.nysun.com/foreign/judge-gives-terror-victims-a-victory-over-iran/78754/">Judge Gives Terror Victims a Victory Over Iran: Rules in Case Involving Artifacts Held by Chicago Museums</a>, By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the New York Sun, May 28, 2008.<br />
["In a ruling released yesterday, Judge Blanche Manning ordered the Iranian government to produce its records about how tens of thousands of ancient tablets and other antiquities ended up in the university's collections. In a five-page decision, Judge Manning rejected each of Iran's arguments against allowing discovery in the case. The Islamic Republic's claims that such procedures would lead to similar actions against America and other countries were "overblown," she found"]<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=51485&sectionid=351020105">US takes 3D shots of Iran inscriptions</a>, PressTV, Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:48:42<br />
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<a href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=166159">Achaemenid inscription names uncle of Darius in Old Persian for first tim</a>, Tehran Times.<br />
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<a href="http://www.iranian.com/main/2008/heritage-store-shelf">Heritage on a store shelf: U.S. federal court threatens Iranian-American heritage</a>, by Arash Hadjialiloo , 16-Mar-2008, Iranian.com.<br />
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1060&Itemid=2">NIAC enlists major law firm to protect Persian Tablets</a>, by Shadee Malaklou, Mar 12, 2008, National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Newsletter.<br />
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<a href="http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1059&Itemid=2">Federal Court Threatens Iranian-American Heritage</a>, by Arash Hadjialiloo , Mar 12, 2008, National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Newsletter.<br />
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<a href="http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/highered/2008/01/rubin-v-islamic.html">Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran: latest reported opinion</a>. Higher Ed Law Prof Blog: A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network.<br />
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<a href="http://www.persianacademy.ir/fa/x291186.aspx">اقتباس يا ابتكار، ميراثی از كورش يا داريوش خط ميخی فارسی باستان</a>. آخرين به روز رسانی, ۱۳۸۶/۱۱/۲۹ - ۱۱:۵۱.<br />
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<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=40608&sectionid=351020105">Iran's Arfaei finds new Elamite words</a>. Press TV, Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:25:23.<br />
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<a href="http://humanities.uchicago.edu/tableau/issues/Fall_Win_08.pdf">Of Ancient Empires and Modern Litigation</a>. Tableau: The Magazine of the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago, Fall/Winter 2008<br />
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<a href="http://works.bepress.com/james_wawrzyniak/1/">Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran - A Struggle for Control of Persian Antiquities in America</a>, James A. Wawrzyniak, Harvard Law School, 2007<br />
["This paper analyzes the multi-jurisdictional attachment and execution proceedings taking place sub nomine Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran. The Rubin litigation raises novel issues in the areas of art law and foreign relations. The first section of the paper evaluates whether third parties have standing to raise a sovereign state’s immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”). The second delves into the particulars of the commercial use exception to the FSIA. The final section considers various provisions of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2001, a new law with little judicial gloss. These three main issues are evaluated within a broader art law framework as historic and valuable Persian antiquities stand at the center of the execution proceedings."]<br />
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<a href="http://www.abanet.org/litigation/litigationupdate/2007/april_hottopics.html">The Persepolis Tablets: Terror Victims Target Ancient Persian Artifacts</a>, By Alicia M. Hilton. American Bar Association Litigation Update - Hot Topics, April 2007<br />
[n.b.: This is not a new article but it was not seen by me until today, Jan. 16, 2008. Alicia M. Hilton is a Visiting Professor of Law at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago where she teaches Cultural Property and Museum Law, Criminal Procedure, and Undercover Operations and Informant Management Law. Prior to practicing law, she was an FBI Special Agent and an art dealer]<br />
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<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=614583">Achaemenid tablet translation remains unpublished due to lack of funding</a>, TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (MNA)<br />
[An article on Abdolmajid Arfaei's project to publish the Hallock transliterations of Persepolis Fortification Tablets]<br />
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<a href="http://www.nysun.com/article/66872">Justice Dept. 'Helps Iran' in Court Case</a>, by Josh Gerstein, Staff Reporter of the New York Sun, November 23, 2007<br />
["...'This court should exercise circumspection in light of the potential foreign policy implications of requiring broad discovery of a foreign sovereign,' a Justice Department lawyer, Rupa Bhattacharyya, wrote in a "Statement of Interest" filed in federal court in Chicago last week. The attorney urged the court to limit the terrorism victims' ability to gather information about the antiquities because Iran is entitled to be treated with "grace and comity" in American legal proceedings..."]<br />
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<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=549887">Roads of time converge in Bolaghi Valley</a> Tehran: 19:36 , 2007/09/10, MehrNews.com<br />
["...The director of the Parsa-Pasargadae Research Center noted that the University of Chicago has 30,000 ancient Iranian tablets or fragments of tablets bearing cuneiform inscriptions in its possession and has translated 3000 of them, but added that they are gradually being returned to Iran...]<br />
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<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=54124&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">Iran to redeem Persepolis tablets</a> Sunday, September 09, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com<br />
["An American court is slated to hear on September 25 the case related to Persian tablets loaned by Iran to Chicago University in 1937..."]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=22191&sectionid=351020105">Iran to redeem Persepolis tablets</a> Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:16:41, PressTV<br />
["An American court is slated to investigate the issue of the priceless collection of Persian tablets, loaned to Chicago University."]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/07/jul/1349.html">American judge orders seizure of Persian artifacts</a> Tehran, July 31, IRNA<br />
[An unhelpful and inaccurate summary of the situation]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/07/070619.stein-sd.html">Everyday Text Shows That Old Persian Was Probably More Commonly Used Than Previously Thought</a> Science Daily, June 19, 2007<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/070615.oldpersian.shtml">Everyday text shows that Old Persian was probably more commonly used than previously thought<br />
</a>University of Chicago Press Release, June 15, 2007<br />
["For the first time, a text has been found in Old Persian language that shows the written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display. The text is inscribed on a damaged clay tablet from the Persepolis Fortification Archive, now at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. The tablet is an administrative record of the payout of at least 600 quarts of an as-yet unidentified commodity at five villages near Persepolis in about 500 B.C."]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cais-soas.com/News/2007/May2007/31-05-discovery.htm">Discovery of the First Old-Persian-Inscription among the loaned Persepolis’ Fortification-Tablets in the University of Chicago</a> London (CAIS) 31 May 2007<br />
[Researchers at Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago for the first time have identified an Old-Persian (Aryan) inscription among the loaned Achaemenid-clay tablets, announced Abdolmajid Arfaee, an Iranian Archaeologist with ICHT]<br />
<br />
See also the blog enty <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/03/pft-at-aos.html">PFT at the AOS</a>. The initial publication of the tablet will appear presently in ARTA at <a href="http://www.achemenet.com/">Achemenet</a>]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=10717&sectionid=351020105">Confiscation of Iranian tablets to end</a> Press TV, Posted: Wed, 23 May 2007 08:53:13<br />
[An Iranian official has said the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has assured Iran the confiscation of its tablets will end]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=8411&sectionid=351020105">Iran restates rights over ancient tablets</a> Press TV, Posted: Wed, 02 May 2007 17:19:02<br />
[The Judicial Office of Iran's CHTHO has demanded the extradition of Achaemenid tablets, a possession of Iran according to Iran and US law]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2d5771a600b3bcb07ba2b7b67812f70f&from=rss">Insulting The Magnificent Persians</a> Hamed Vahdati Nasab , Posted: Mar 28, 2007<br />
[One of a large number of stories criticizing the film 300, and citing Persepolis tablets as evidence]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1282.html">Cultural Barbarians are at the Gate</a> 3/22/07 - Payvand News<br />
[The Persepolis Fortification Archive mentioned in the context of a discussion of current geo-politics]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8512200370">Tablets will Return to Iran</a> 2007-03-11 - Fars News Agency<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1173363835376">Museum GC Oversees King Tut, T. Rex and More: The Field Museum of Natural History general counsel Joseph Brennan</a> March 9, 2007 - The National Law Journal<br />
[With a comment on the claim against objects of Iranian origin in the Field Museum of Natural History]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/news/2007/02/02/iran-tablets%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2-fate-remains-uncertain/">Iran tablets’ fate remains uncertain</a> Friday, February 2nd, 2007 - Chicago Maroon<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=440031">University of Chicago not showing goodwill on return of Achaemenid tablets: official</a> January 26, 2007 - MehrNews.com<br />
[This article has been repeated in a variety of Iranian news sources in the past few days]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=49101&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">No verdict on Iranian clay tablets</a> Monday, January 22, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6947">Fate of Persian Tablets Still Undetermined</a> Cultural Heritage News Agency, 2007-1-20<br />
<br />
<a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/01/18/PM200701188.html">Targeting ancient tablets to settle a score</a> Marketplace, American Public Media, 2007-1-18 [Audio story with transscript]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/01/heritage-threatened-persepolis-tablets.html">A Heritage Threatened: The Persepolis Tablets Lawsuit and the Oriental Institute,</a> by Gil J. Stein, The Oriental Institute News and Notes, Winter 2007<br />
<br />
<a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-are-persepolis-fortication.html">What are the Persepolis Fortification Tablets?, </a>by Matthew W. Stolper, The Oriental Institute News and Notes, Winter 2007<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48386&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">'Achaemenid tablets will be repatriated soon'</a> IranMania 2006-12-27<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8510050271">US Court Postpones Hearing on Iranian Artifacts</a> Fars News Agency 2006-12-26<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=427141">Achaemenid tablets will be repatriated sooner or later: official</a> MehrNews.com 2006-12-26<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-848913&Lang=E">Iranian clay tablets to return home</a> Iranian Student News Agency 2006-12-22<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8509050394">Iranian Tablets to Be Examined upon Return from US</a> Fars News Agency 2006-11-26<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8508300511">US Obliged to Indemnify Iran If it Sells Artifacts</a> Fars News Agency 2006-11-21<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8508150350">London Museum Defends Return of Artifacts to Iran</a> Fars News Agency 2006-11-06<br />
<br />
<a href="http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8508060241">National Museum Director Assures Return of Tablets to Iran</a> Fars News Agency 2006-10-28<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/08/national/main2072581.shtml">Art As Anti-Terrorism. Will U.S. Seize Persian Tablets At An American Museum As Compensation For A Suicide Bombing?</a> CBS News Oct. 8, 2006 [with video]<br />
<br />
<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/news/2006/10/02/iran-enters-legal-fight-over-oriental-institute-relics/">Iran enters legal fight over Oriental Institute relics</a> Chicago Maroon Oct. 6, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0610/chicagojournal/worth.shtml">Worth millions...or priceless? A lawsuit threatens to take ancient Iranian tablets from the Oriental Institute to compensate Hamas terrorist victims</a> University of Chicago Magazine, October 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.archaeology.org/0609/news/insider.html">Embattled Tablets</a> Archaeology News Volume 59 Number 5, September/October 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/060919.stein-voanews.html">Iran, US Fight to Protect Artifiacts</a> Voice of America, September 19 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.payvand.com/news/06/jul/1261.html">NIAC and IABA Join Forces to Protect Ancient Persian Article</a> Payvand News, July 27, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-754891&Lang=E">Iran UNESCO national commission request support on reclaiming Achaemenian tablets</a> Iranian Students News Agency, July 18, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/060718.stein-nyt.html">In a Lawsuit Aimed at Iran, Terror Victims Focus on Ancient Artifacts in a Chicago Museum </a>New York Times, July 18, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/060718.stein-wp.html">Iran, U.S. Allied in Protecting Artifacts. Priceless Tablets Sought as Settlement In Lawsuit Over 1997 Hamas Bombing</a> Washington Post, July 18, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5562022">Fight Over Ancient Persian Tablets Goes to U.S. Court</a> NPR Morning Edition, July 17, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranian.com/Ala/2006/July/Heritage/index.html">Crime against humanity: Auctioning off Iran's ancient artifacts</a> Iranian.com, July 17, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/060712.stein-reuters.html">Iran wants disputed clay tablets returned from US</a> Washington Post / Reuters, July 12, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2006/July/Heritage2/index.html">Looting Iran: What the University of Chicago has in its possession is part and parcel of a heritage that belongs to the Iranian people</a> Iranian.com, July 2, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/622">Are U.S. Courts Biased against Iran?</a> Daniel Pipes' Weblog, June 28, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/06/060329.iran-nyt.html">Antiquities and Politics Intersect in a Lawsuit</a> New York Times, March 29, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2006/01/13/victims_of_terrorist.php">Victims of terrorist act seek Iranian artifacts</a> Chicago Maroon, January 13, 2006<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/05/051213.tablets-st.html">U. of C.'s ancient tablets in terror dispute</a> Chicago Sun Times, December 13, 2005<br />
<br />
<a href="http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/040513/oi.shtml">Oriental Institute returns ancient tablets that explain an empire’s administrative life</a> University of Chicago Magazine's Web log, May 13, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.iranian.com/History/2004/May/Tablets/index.html">Going home. First instalment: On University of Chicago's return of ancient tablets to Iran</a> Iranian.com, May 2, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,1206828,00.html">US scholars woo Iran with return of ancient tablets<br />
</a>Guardian Unlimited, April 30, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2004/04/30/oriental_institute_w.php">Oriental Institute will return 300 artifacts to Iran</a> Chicago Maroon, April 30, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/04/040429.oi-trib.html">Museum keeps its word, after 67 years</a> Chicago Tribune, April 29, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/04/040429.oi-suntimes.html">Ancient Persian scratch pads going back to Iran from U. of C.</a> Chicago Sun Times, April 29, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://uchiblogo.uchicago.edu/archives/2004/04/">First to dig, first to return</a> University of Chicago Magazine's Web log, April 28, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1126404/posts">Experts Back in Modern Iran to Again Study Ancient Persia</a> New York Times, April 28, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=1523305">Researchers translate clay tablets from Persian Empire</a> ABC7 Chicago, April 28, 2004<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/04/040428.tablets.shtml">University of Chicago returns ancient Persian tablets loaned by Iran</a> University of Chicago Press Release April 28, 2004Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-86950837581853274292017-12-18T12:36:00.003-06:002017-12-18T14:42:34.536-06:00New from The Oriental Institute: The Ritual Landscape at Persepolis<a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/saoc/saoc-72-ritual-landscape-persepolis">The Ritual Landscape at Persepolis</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mark B. Garrison</span></span></h2>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img alt="" class="imgrt" src="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/styles/narrow/public/uploads/shared/images/SAOC%2072.jpg?itok=Li4J50uA" /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a class="publication ss-standard ss-download btn" href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/saoc72.pdf">Download</a> <a class="publication ss-standard ss-openbook btn" href="https://www.oxbowbooks.com/dbbc/the-ritual-landscape-at-persepolis.html">Purchase</a> <a class="publication" href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/electronic-publications-initiative-oriental-institute-university-chicago">Terms of Use</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are, perhaps, no more contentious issues within the study of
Achaemenid Persia than those surrounding its religion(s) and religious
iconography. Owing to the role that fire plays in Zoroastrian beliefs in
later periods in Iran, almost any discussion of the subject of
Achaemenid religion will eventually turn to the identification of sacred
fire, fire temples, fire worship, and fire altars in the
archaeological, epigraphic, and literary records. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The focus of this book is a corpus of glyptic imagery preserved as
impressions on two large archives of administrative tablets from
Persepolis, the Persepolis Fortification archive (509–493 BC) and the
Persepolis Treasury archive (492–457 BC). The glyptic imagery here
published concerns representations of what have been traditionally
termed “fire altars” and/or “fire temples.” Most of this glyptic
evidence has never been published; many of the structures and the scenes
in which they occur are strikingly original. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The goals of this study are to introduce a new corpus of visual
imagery concerning religious ritual in the Achaemenid period and to
explore the significance of this visual language for our understanding
of ritual traditions emerging within the heart of the empire at its most
critical formative period, the reign of Darius I. This study seeks also
to use the Persepolitan glyptic evidence as a springboard to re-visit
the most famous “fire altar” depicted in Achaemenid art, that on the
tomb relief of Darius I at Naqš-e Rostam. The glyptic images assembled
in this study are the most numerous, the most visually complex, and the
best dated and contextualized evidence that currently exists for the
study of fire in ritual, and religious ritual more broadly, in early
Achaemenid Iran. This study is also an initial step in the development
of a religious topography for the zone encompassing Persepolis and
Naqš-e Rostam, a topography that includes both images and the built
environment.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Table of Contents</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="rteindent1">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Preface<br />
List of Abbreviations<br />
Acknowledgments<br />
Bibliography<br />
Chapters<br />
1. The So-called Fire Altars in Achaemenid Art: Background and Previous Research<br />
1.1. Introduction<br />
1.2. The “Zoroastrian Question”<br />
1.3. Zoroastrian Fire Worship and “Fire Altars”<br />
1.4. Terminology<br />
1.5. The Sources for the Visual Representations of the Stepped and
the Tower Structures at Persepolis in the Reigns of Darius I and Xerxes<br />
1.6. Previous Research on the Depiction of “Fire Altars”<br />
1.7. Images and Contexts<br />
2. Seals and Archives at Persepolis: An Introduction<br />
2.1. Introduction<br />
2.2. The Persepolis Fortification Archive (509–493 BC)<br />
2.3. The Persepolis Treasury Archive (492–457 BC)<br />
2.4. Persepolitan Glyptic Imagery<br />
3. The Stepped and the Tower Structures in Persepolitan Glyptic: A Catalog<br />
3.1. Introduction<br />
3.2. Scenes Showing only the Stepped Structure in Persepolitan Glyptic<br />
3.3. Scenes Showing only the Tower Structure in Persepolitan Glyptic<br />
3.4. Scenes Showing Both the Stepped and the Tower Structures in Persepolitan Glyptic<br />
4. The Stepped and the Tower Structures in Persepolitan Glyptic: Discussion<br />
4.1. Introduction<br />
4.2. Typology<br />
4.3 Syntax of Scenes<br />
4.4. The Significance of the Stepped and the Tower Structures<br />
4.5. Synopsis<br />
5. Glyptic Imagery as Social Identity: The Seals of Ziššawiš<br />
5.1. Introduction<br />
5.2. Ziššawiš, a Persepolitan Administrator<br />
5.3. PFS 83*, the First Seal of Ziššawiš in the Fortification Archive<br />
5.4. PFS 11* (T1), the Second Seal of Ziššawiš in the Fortification Archive<br />
5.5. Concluding Remarks: The Seals of Ziššawiš<br />
5.6. PTS 6*, the Seal of Ziššawiš in the Treasury Archive<br />
6. A Return to Naqš-e Rostam<br />
6.1. Introduction<br />
6.2. The Setting<br />
6.3. The Façade of the Tomb of Darius<br />
6.4. Summation</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 72</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2017</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">ISBN 978-1-61491-034-3</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pp. xlvi + 448; 202 figures, 63 plates</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Softcover, 9" x 11.75"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="pubprice">$59.95</span></span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-38131596650566070722017-12-09T16:15:00.000-06:002017-12-09T16:15:31.873-06:00Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran: Recording and Transcript of the Oral Argument - December 04, 2017<a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-534">Rubin <span class="v">v.</span> Islamic Republic of Iran: </a><a class="ng-binding ng-isolate-scope" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Recording and Transcript of the Oral Argument - December 04, 2017</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img alt="Oyez" height="94" src="https://www.oyez.org/images/nav/logo_black.beb12aef.png" width="200" /> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Oyez (pronounced <i>oh-yay</i>), a free law project from Cornell’s Legal
Information Institute (LII), Chicago-Kent College of Law and
Justia.com, is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court
of the United States accessible to everyone. It is a complete and
authoritative source for all of the Court’s audio since the installation
of a recording system in October 1955. Oyez offers
transcript-synchronized and searchable audio, plain-English case
summaries, illustrated decision information, and full text Supreme Court
opinions. Oyez also provides detailed information on every justice
throughout the Court’s history and offers a panoramic tour of the
Supreme Court building, including the chambers of several justices. </span></blockquote>
<br />
<a class="ng-binding ng-isolate-scope" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Summary of the case and a recording and Transcript of the Oral Argument - December 04, 2017. Transcript reproduced below</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h1 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">JENNY RUBIN, ET AL., Petitioners, v. ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, ET AL., Respondents</span></h1>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><h2 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Oral Argument - December 04, 2017</span></h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><section class="transcript-section ng-scope"> <section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> We'll hear argument next in Case 16-534, Rubin versus the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mr. Perlin. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope active"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope active">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court: In 2008, Congress
comprehensively overhauled the terrorism exception to foreign sovereign
immunity to close gaps that had for years allowed foreign terrorist
states to thumb their noses at U.S. judgments finding them liable for
acts of terrorism while their victims were drawn into a long, bitter,
and often futile search for scarce assets that would be subject to
execution under the exceedingly narrow commercial exception to foreign
sovereign immunity. The centerpiece of that legislation is Section
1610(g). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That provision provides that American terrorism victims can execute
their judgments upon the property of a foreign state that is subject --
against which a -- a judgment has been entered under 1605A, and it makes
available the property of the state's agencies and instrumentalities. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> If -- if -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, as provided in this section. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> As provided in this section. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The question is what that -- what that provision means. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The Respondents would have the Court delete the three words between the
word "execution" and the words "as provided in this section." What it
actually says is that the property is subject to execution upon that
judgment as provided in this section. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
We know what -- that -- that Congress wanted to do away with what they
call the Bancec factors, and this statute was written perfectly to do
just that. You say it does something more. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It has to do more, Your Honor. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And why does it have to? What the statute did is it made more assets
available because you didn't have to worry whether it was the state
itself, an instrumentality of the state, an agency. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The -- the property of any of those entities was available. So it swelled the assets that would be available. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But it didn't say anything, not a word, about immunity. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, there -- there's two questions there. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It doesn't say anything about immunity, but those are magic words. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It does say that the property is subject to execution. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Magic words under (a) and (b). </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I'm sorry? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In 1610 in (a) and (b), Congress knew how directly to say property is
not or is subject, immune from attachment. But it used something very
different here. Rather, it says that property is "subject to attachment
as provided in this section." Those are two very distinct formulations. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They are different. Subsections (a) and (b) were part of the original Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act from 1976. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
There were other amendments since then. If you look at subsection
(f)(1), which the President has waived, it says "shall be subject to
execution." The -- the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which is codified
as a note to subsection -- to Section 1610, also says shall be subject
to execution to -- to execution. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So the language -- when Congress sat down to write subsection (g), it
was looking at the other terrorism exceptions to execution immunity that
it had already passed, and those were (f) in TRIA, and it modeled (g)
after -- after those sections. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Can they execute, your clients, on the embassy? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
On the uniform -- on the uniforms that the people in the embassy wear,
on -- on the papers that the ambassador keeps in his desk if, in fact,
you read "as provided in this section," the answer is no. If you read it
to include because it has to be commercial, all right? Under your
reading, where those words must mean something else, can't they do it? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They cannot. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Why not? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Subsection -- Section 1609 says that Section 1610 -- execution under
1610 is subject to international agreements like the Vienna Convention
which would protect diplomatic property, and Section 1611 protects
military assets, certain central bank assets. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Okay. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Congress, when they enacted 1610(g), they did not completely abrogate foreign sovereign immunity for terrorist states. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
They wanted to provide a remedy for the victims, they wanted to punish
and deter the terrorist states, but at the same time, Congress
recognized that Iran and North Korea, Syria, Sudan, these are sovereign
states, and they're entitled to a bare minimum of sovereign immunity,
and Congress retained that bare minimum by protecting quintessentially
sovereign assets while making everything else subject to execution. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samuel A. Alito, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What does "as provided in this section" mean? Am I right you think it incorporates only procedural requirements? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> No, Your Honor there are a number of -- a number -- no, Your Honor. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> A number of -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samuel A. Alito, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What does it -- what does it mean? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It means, as provided -- the way to read it is it refers to the judgment that's entered under 1605A. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
As provided in this section, it says, execution -- you can have
execution upon the property -- upon that judgment as provided in this
section. "As provided in this section" modifies the judgment, "upon that
judgment," and it -- and it refers to the section -- Section 1605A,
which is the only section mentioned in this sentence. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It's referring back to the section, 1605A, that was a couple lines
above in the same sentence. And what it says is that a judgment entered
-- that Section 1610(g), which provides sweeping remedies for terrorism
victims, is only applicable to those who hold judgments entered under
the statutory cause of action of 1605A. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It is not available to other plaintiffs holding terrorism judgments. It
also extends -- it also extends, "as provided in the section," extends
the remedies. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The remedies -- remember, the remedies of 1605A, capital A, are very novel, to say the least. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
You -- you -- you don't have a private right of action anywhere else in
the Sovereign -- Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. You don't have any
other provision that allows punitive damages against a sovereign state,
which is a sure sign that Congress was not concerned about affronting
the dignity of terrorist states. They allowed punitive damages. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They -- they expected those to be enforced. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
They allowed a pre-judgment lien of lis pendens to attach to all
sovereign -- all of the state's property that is subject to execution
under 1610, that -- including property of any party that the plaintiff
identifies as being controlled by -- by that terrorist state. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samuel A. Alito, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So "as provided in this section" is really superfluous, isn't it -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samuel A. Alito, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- under your interpretation? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's not. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It refers -- well, it's -- it emphasizes the centrality of the 1605 judgment to this provision. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And it also -- there's -- there's no other way to read it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> If you read it as -- as the Respondents would, there's no -- there's no provision within 1610 that can pair with 1610. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They say that it must pair with another substantive provision of 1610. But nothing works. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Try to -- try to go through. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It says that -- 1610(g) says that the property of a foreign state is
subject to execution and the property of an agency or instrumentality.
Now, if this were only a veil-piercing mechanism, as the Respondents
claim, there's no reason to mention the property of the foreign state.
You don't need to pierce the veil to reach the property of the -- of the
judgment debtor terrorist state. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> You just go straight for that property. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And if you have a judgment against the agency or instrumentality -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I'm sorry. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I thought that the University of Chicago had raised an interesting
argument, that the definition of foreign state in the statute includes,
by definition, an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, so that
the reference to foreign state that you're relying upon does include the
concept of piercing the corporate veil in its very definition. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, that would -- that would -- that itself would abrogate Bancec, the rationale that University -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Well, that -- not quite, because what -- I mean, this provision deals
directly in aid of the plaintiffs in the Bancec case and in the others
that had found against plaintiffs. There are at least three cases where a
class of plaintiffs were found not to be in a sufficiently tied
relationship to the foreign state and the plaintiffs there couldn't
recover, so there was a real issue this was addressing, the fact that
there were subsidiaries and agencies of foreign state who had commercial
property, and it wasn't being made available to plaintiffs. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So the question would be to ask the Respondents why they don't mention those cases in their briefs. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
We have maintained, consistently, that the property of the foreign
state, those words, are completely not just superfluous but misleading
if there -- if this is just a veil-piercing mechanism. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> If it's veil-piercing mechanism -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Why? It gave them what those three cases denied them. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It gives other plaintiffs with similar claims a lot -- access to a lot
of -- of property that they wouldn't have had under Bancec. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The provisions that allow execution upon the property of an agency or
instrumentality gives access to -- to the agency or instrumentality's
property. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, give an example. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I mean, there's a famous example which you know about, the -- the
letter of Cyrus, saying to everybody throughout the Middle East that the
Jews are free and they can go back to Israel, Palestine, the temple,
and that letter exists and Persia -- the Persian letter, and Iran has
sent it around the world. Now, in your view, they have -- and people
have looked at it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And if it comes to the United States, you can seize it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Is that -- that's your view of it? Because if it is, of course, if
Congress knew about it, then they -- they might have had a general idea,
given the nature of the stuff in Chicago. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I -- I would be surprised that they'd want to do that. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> We -- you might be surprised, but Congress has addressed -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Your view is, yes, you could seize it? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It would depend on -- yes, you could. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It -- Congress has addressed this very question, twice, in 22 U.S.C.
2459, Congress provided a very specific and limited immunity for
culturally significant objects being brought to the United -- culturally
significant objects being brought to the United States for display or
exhibition. There was a very specific immunity there that the -- that
somebody who wants to bring in that -- that property, those exhibits can
apply to the State Department in advance and receive a letter
immunizing those -- those assets from -- from judicial process. And --
and last year -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Did that -- did that exist in, what was it, 1939 -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It did not. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It did not. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- when Chicago got this? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But Congress could have made that provision retroactive, and it didn't. And Congress -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
But what about the provision that Congress did enact in -- and we've
been talking about (g) and so -- so this is subsection 3, refers to
nothing shall be construed to supersede the authority of a court to
prevent the impairment of an interest held by a person who is not liable
in the action. Why isn't the University of Chicago such a person?
They're certainly not liable in the action. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And they got this property when Iran was not listed as a terrorist state. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Uh-huh. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The Shah was in control, not the Ayatollah. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The university hasn't raised that as a defense. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And because Section 1610(g)(3) refers to a -- a party with an ownership
interest, not just a -- some other intangible interest -- and -- and
even to the extent that they do, that doesn't mean that the Court should
not be able to transfer title to a -- to whatever party would be ready
to -- to pay the price. And we think it would be Iran, by the way. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
If -- if the Court would construe this statute as Congress, we think,
as we read it, Congress would finally -- I mean Iran would finally pay
attention to a judgment, and they would say, we're -- we're about to
lose our -- our -- our artifacts -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, what are the terms of that? The University of Chicago has had this since 1939. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Iran has never tried to take it back. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What are the terms of the lease? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They have -- it's not a lease. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It was a long-term loan for the -- for the study and cataloguing,
publishing, photographing, cleaning, of these -- of these artifacts. And
University of Chicago does not assert an ownership interest. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
They -- they say that there -- in the briefs, they say they're
trustees, or they were entrusted -- they don't even call themselves
trustees even; they say they were entrusted with this. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Every -- they use language, but they never say we have a concrete right
in these -- in these assets. And if they do, the court can -- the
district court, when it orders the sale, it can make accommodation for
that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It can say that whoever buys it -- and we would be -- we're -- my clients would be perfectly happy if -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The University of Chicago -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- these artifacts remained with the University of Chicago. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- is not interested in this property for the money -- for money. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's interested in having these antiquities on display, to be researched, to be seen. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But it doesn't belong to them. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's not theirs. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And whoever it belongs to can decide whether they're the best university to study it. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> You're answering my question that, well, don't worry about University of Chicago, the district court can give them some money. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> No, not money. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Not money. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The district court, if they have a right, to the extent that they have a
right to retain the -- the artifacts and continue their work with them,
the district court can say that the sale should be conducted subject to
the rights of the University of Chicago. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It doesn't -- it doesn't mean that it's all -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But what would those rights -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- it's not all or nothing. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The property can be divided up. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- be? Their rights have been from 1939 on they have this property. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, since 1980, they've had the property because Iran couldn't get it back, for a big part of that time. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And for a big part of the time before that, every now and then, Iran
was asking, when are you going to finish -- when are you going to finish
studying these things. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And -- and they were not very forthcoming. When this lawsuit was filed,
they moved into -- they expedited their study of the assets because
they realized that they might lose them. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And, now, again, University of Chicago is really an amicus here. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They don't -- they have no interest in these assets. They -- and to the extent that they do, the Court can protect that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It -- it can protect that interest in a -- in a sale. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, assuming you're right, does that mean, if you lose here, you think Iran will be able to repatriate the assets? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Absolutely. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> There's nothing in their way. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They did. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They did. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
We lost -- we lost in the district court, and there was another
collection of Iran -- Iran-owned assets, and on the eve of the -- the
argument in the court of appeals, they were shipped back to Iran after
the court had denied our -- our motion to stay, but -- but they were
shipped back to Iran. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And they -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They have other things in the United States. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I mean, it seems to me so far, that the main difference between your
interpretation and the other side as a practical matter is that if
you're right, that private people will be able to take cultural assets
from Persia and sell them and ship them back to Iran, and if they're
right, you will have to limit your recovery to commercial objects
because that's what the other parts of the statute provide. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Now -- now, that's not perhaps going to turn out to be relevant to the decision. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I grant you that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But I -- I -- I -- it's something I'm -- I'm -- like to have in my mind. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Okay. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The -- the distinction under the foreign sovereign immunity -- let's put it this way. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
They want to cabin us into Section 1610(a)(7), which is the commercial
use exception for property owned by the state. That provision, as the
Seventh Circuit held, requires not just use for a commercial activity,
but it has to be used by the foreign state. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And a number of courts of appeal have held, as did the Seventh Circuit
and this Court did not accept review of this issue, that -- that it has
to be -- that the use must be by the foreign state itself, even though
that's not in the -- those words are not in the statute. But a number of
courts of appeal have looked at financial assets -- let's take the, you
know, proceeds of a -- of a commercial transaction between a state and
private parties that are proceeds that are held in an account, that are
intended for the foreign state, and the courts have said that's not
commercial use property. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Why? Not because it's the proceeds of a commercial transaction, but
because those proceeds have not yet been used by the foreign state for
commercial activity. They're just sitting in the account passively
waiting to be used, but they haven't been used yet, and the state can
say, we're going to put it in our general account -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That just seems like -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- in the Treasury. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- an issue Congress has to address. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, Congress -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And those courts may well be wrong. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I don't know. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
What I'm saying is that the practical difference between our
construction and the Respondents' construction is not antiquities. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It's all of these cases dealing with -- with passive bank accounts.
There's another case in California where there was a judgment obtained
by the Ministry of Defense of Iran against a defense contractor, and the
court said the money paid by the -- by the Ministry of Defense, that's
not commercial use property because it hasn't been used by Iran. There
-- there's -- there are countless cases like this, and this is the body
-- these are the -- these are the -- the cases that this provision is --
is -- or one group of cases this provision is intended to cover. It's
not intended to cover antiquities, and I don't think there's going to be
a -- a mad rush to grab antiquities. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That's what you're doing yourself in this case; that's what it is, isn't it? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That's all that they've left. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That's all -- this -- this proceeding below began in 2003. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The -- the terror attack in this case was in 1997. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> My clients have been waiting 20 years to enforce their judgment against Iran. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Iran does not pay judgments. You know -- you know, it's not Argentina, where they can't afford to pay the judgment. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They just don't. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And they don't -- they don't care what the American courts say. And
Congress finally said enough is enough, and -- and they said there's
punitive damages and we're going to waive res judicata, we're going to
waive collateral estoppel, we're going to waive statutes of limitations;
you can go back and convert your old judgments into a new 1605A
judgment and use -- and use that tool under 1610(g), under our provision
to enforce it. Congress said enough is enough. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> We want these judgments enforced. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And it's not about antiquities. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That's -- that's -- that's what the Respondents are writing about, but
they will not tell you what the -- what the property of a foreign state
applies to. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Is there anything -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The United States doesn't -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Is there anything -- is there anything in the legislative record that
shows that Congress was intending to do anything other than dispense
with the Bancec? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Absolutely. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Yes? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Yes, it says that it applies -- that the provision will apply to any
property in which the foreign state has a beneficial ownership. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That any property in which the foreign state has a beneficial ownership is subject to execution of that judgment. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It says the -- the -- the sponsors -- the Senate sponsors said that it
is intended to remove many of the barriers to execution of a judgment. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And according to Respondents, it only addresses one of those barriers.
It says that the -- the right to the -- to the property is subject to a
simple ownership test. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> A simple ownership test. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> When you start piercing veils and layers of veils, that is not a simple ownership test. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That might have been intended to be included in the -- but that's not
what was being addressed. And, finally, what the -- what the statute
does say, the legislative history -- the House report says that
"although it subjects to execution any property in which the state has a
beneficial -- beneficial interest, it does not extend to diplomatic
property." So once Congress is excluding specifically that narrow class
of quintessentially sovereign property, diplomatic property, you know
that it's extending to -- it covers everything else. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
There's no reason -- if it didn't cover commercial use property or non-
-- sorry, non-commercial use property, there's no reason to
specifically mention diplomatic property because, obviously, that's
going to be included in non-commercial. This applies to everything.
Everything except diplomatic, military, and certain central bank assets.
</span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The idea that -- that Congress would be concerned with affronting the
dignity of a state sponsor of terrorism and would extend protection to
their non-commercial assets for that reason, to avoid an affront to
their dignity, is just preposterous. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Do you have any other section that dispenses with the sovereign
immunity then that doesn't mention -- doesn't say anything that refers
to immunity? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, I mentioned Section 1610(f)(1). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It says that the property shall be subject to execution. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And the TRIA, Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which is a note. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I don't think I included it -- it was an oversight -- in the -- in the
statutory appendix, but it's -- it's codified as a note to Section 1610,
and that -- that provision -- these are the three terrorism provisions
-- execution immunity provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act,
and not one of them uses the word immunity -- it says we're abrogating
immunity here or limiting immunity. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So, again, it's not abrogating it wholesale; it's maintaining a -- a --
a skeletal remain of sovereign immunity because -- in recognition of
the fact that these states are sovereign. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samuel A. Alito, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> All right. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
In your brief, you offer several other interpretations of the phrase
"as provided in this section," interpretations that are different from
the one you provided this morning. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Are you disavowing those now? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I think that the best construction is that it refers to the judgment entered under 1605A. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I think that those are alternative constructions that are viable and
certainly more viable than the Seventh Circuit's. Again, if you sit down
and try to think of cases where -- where the property of a foreign
state will have applicability -- applicability under 1610(g) where it
wouldn't -- where this property wouldn't be subject to execution under
1610(a)(7), right, according to the Respondents' construction, you won't
find it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
You will not come up with a case or you're going to have to work very,
very hard and there's no reason Congress would have included -- if this
were only meant to pierce a veil, Congress would have said subject to
subsection (3), or paragraph (3), the property of an agency or
instrumentality of a foreign state against which a judgment has been
entered under 1605A is subject to execution -- to attachment and
execution. It did not need to mention the property of the foreign state.
</span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Iran and the government both talk about how it had to mention the foreign state. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Well, it's true, it had to mention the foreign state because a judgment
was entered against the foreign state, but it does not need to single
out the property of the foreign state, if all this were -- was a
veil-piercing mechanism. It doesn't work. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It doesn't -- you cannot pierce the veil of a company or a country to
reach the property the country owns directly. Now, let me just point out
that none of the other provisions of 1610 work with (g) either. (b),
which the Seventh Circuit relied on -- it said this section refers to
subsection -- really refers to subsections (a) and (b). Subsection (b)
applies only where there's a judgment entered against the agency or
instrumentality. If you have -- again, if you have a judgment against
the agency or instrumentality, you don't need a veil-piercing mechanism
to reach it because you go after -- you go after its property directly.
(c) is -- is -- specifically mentions (a) and (b) only, that an
execution referenced under (a) and (b), and it doesn't mention (g). And
Congress could have amended it to include executions under (g). (d) is
for prejudgment attachment where there's an express waiver of immunity.
None of these provisions work. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I'm going to -- I'd like to reserve the rest of my time for rebuttal,
but if you -- if you sit down and try to -- they don't work. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It just doesn't -- there's no way to read it according to the Seventh Circuit and -- and apply it. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you, counsel. Mr. Strauss. </span></div>
</section> </section><section class="transcript-section ng-scope"> <section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court: Let me first
pick up on a piece of the legislative history that my friend quoted to
the Court. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Senator Specter, who introduced the precursor of what became 1610(g),
did say that, as -- as Mr. Perlin said, that the provision was designed
to eliminate many of the barriers which are preventing U.S. citizens
from collecting on court-ordered damages. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> He then said it does this by changing the legal standard of the Bancec doctrine. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So that was the way in which this exposed more -- more property to
execution by terrorism plaintiffs. In fact, the Petitioners' position
about the construction of 1610(g) is wrong for four independently
sufficient reasons. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
One is the language the Court has focused on, "as provided in this
section." This section, is Section 1610, that is the section of which
(g) is a subsection. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So the phrase "as provided in this section" means the Petitioners have
to satisfy the provisions of 1610, which means that only property used
for commercial activity in the United States can be seized. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And Petitioners, I think, have just not come up with a plausible
alternative account of what "as provided in this section" means. But
there's a second reason. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And it has to do with the difference between subsection (g) and the
provisions of subsection 1610 that really do abrogate sovereign
immunity. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act says, in Section 1609, that the
property of foreign states in the U.S. shall be immune from attachment,
except as provided in 1610. Then the subsections of 1610 say in terms
one after another that certain property shall not be immune. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Subsection (a) says that, as does (b), as does (d), as does (e). Subsection (g) contains no such language. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The relevant part of subsection (g) does not refer to immunity at all. And there's a reason for that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The reason is that (g) is about Bancec, and the Bancec doctrine is not
an immunity doctrine. The Court was very explicit about that in the
decision, the Bancec decision itself. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Well, you do think -- agree with him, don't you, that the property of a
foreign state in -- in (g)(1) is a -- is a strong indication at least
that it is not limited to overturning the Bancec decision? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> No, I -- I don't agree with that, Mr. Chief Justice. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I think what's going on there is Congress wanted to make it very clear
that Bancec was no longer -- no longer going to be a barrier in these
cases. And so it said property of the state, property of agencies,
property of instrumentalities, property of separate juridical entities,
interests in separate juridical entities, all of these things are in the
same basket, and all of them are subject to attachment and execution. I
think that's why you have that -- that language in -- in (g)(1). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's not a -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> But Bancec wasn't about property of a foreign state. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It was about the agencies, instrumentalities, et cetera. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It's -- it is -- that is -- it's right that Bancec was not about the
property of a state itself, but the way the section is written, property
of a state including property that is in a separate juridical entity or
is an interest held directly or indirectly in a separate juridical
entity, what you see in the legislative history is a lot of concern that
state judgment debtors would be arranging their assets in ways that
would distance themselves from ownership. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Is it the case there on that particular point -- I was trying to work
out that does Bancec ever apply -- could it apply to funds or -- yeah,
funds of the foreign state itself? Is there anything that suggests it
applies where the -- where the foreign state deposits some money in a
bank? And then they argue, we -- that isn't our money, that's the bank's
money, and we're just the beneficial owner of that money. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And Bancec might have said, yes, that's right, it's not their money, it's an agency -- it's an agent's money. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I'll -- I'll say two things to that, Justice -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Stephen G. Breyer</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What about that argument? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- Justice Breyer. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I think the Bancec criteria are not very clear. The Court deliberately
left the criteria vague. And I think Congress was concerned about that
situation. And I think that's why you see this language in (g)(1) that
really tries to be comprehensive and cover every base. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
But what I think you don't get out of (g)(1) is anything about immunity
because it even applies to separate juridical entities who would have
no claim to -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, it doesn't want them to cover everything in every case. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It's titled property in certain actions. And I think the other argument
on the other side is that the certain actions are, you know, the ones
in -- in -- don't include the ones governing the property of the foreign
state. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Well, I think the certain actions, Mr. Chief Justice, are actions to execute judgments under 1605A. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> This is a special provision to make it easier for terrorism plaintiffs to get assets. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It doesn't apply to ordinary judgment plaintiffs. And I think that's the -- that's the property it's referring to. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
This is -- really was intended to make it much easier for plaintiffs
who have terrorism-based judgments to get their hands on assets, but
only those plaintiffs. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And I think those are the actions, and that's why a judgment entered
under 1605A, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the section does not
apply. In fact, it says the rest of the section does apply upon -- as
-- as provided in this -- in this section. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Mr. Strauss, I think you were cut off on three independent reasons. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> You went -- you went through one and two. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> What were three and four? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Two was the -- the repetition -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The one you were just talking about. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Not the repetition of -- shall not be immune. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The third is this: The Petitioners' position really would nullify a
decision Congress made at the very same time it enacted 1610(g) in 2008.
</span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
This is -- we go through this on page 25 and 26 of our brief. The --
the statute that added subsection (g) also created 1605, the cause of
action that -- the remedy the Petitioners invoke. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That statute then amended the FSIA to say that parties like
Petitioners, who are seeking to execute a 1605A judgment, must show that
the property they want to seize is used for commercial activity of the
United States. That same statute said that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It said that by inserting 1605A into subsection (a), which is a
subsection that requires commercial activity. So Congress did that. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It created 1605 -- 1605A. It said if you have a judge -- if you are trying to execute a 1605A judgment, here is how you do it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Section -- you go to section -- subsection (a), subsection (a)(7) says
you can execute a 1605A judgment, provided you can show that the
property is used for commercial activity in the United States. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That's what that statute does. Then the next provision -- or a few
lines later in the statute, really, it's not even the next provision,
sets up, enacts subsection (g). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So, as Petitioners would -- would have it, Congress created this
remedy, provided that if you want to execute a judgment based on this
remedy, you go to subsection (a) and you show that the property you're
seizing is used for commercial purpose -- commercial activity in the
United States. And then immediately Congress said, oh, never mind, you
don't have to show a commercial activity. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That's Petitioners' story. That's Petitioners' account of the significance of 1610(g). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And I think that's just no way to read Congress's actions. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That just does not -- is not a plausible account of what Congress might
have been doing. And there's really a fourth reason as well, and it has
to do with how central the commercial activity limit is to the FSIA and
to foreign sovereign immunity generally. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The principle at stake here is the principle that commercial property
may sometimes be subject to seizure, but non-commercial property is not.
And that principle is -- has the deepest roots in U.S. law and
international law. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It's actually anticipated by Chief Justice Marshall's opinion in the Schooner exchange. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It was the foundation of the Tate Letter, which led to the
reorganization of foreign sovereign immunity doctrines. That distinction
between commercial and non-commercial property is stated explicitly in
the FSIA itself in Section 1602. It's central to the U.N. Convention on
Immunities of States. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It was the holding of a recent decision of the International Court of
Justice which barred the seizure of, as it happens, a cultural center. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The ICJ barred the seizure of a cultural center because the cultural
center is non-commercial, and that case actually involved the victims of
Nazi crimes. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So this is an extremely deeply rooted principle. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Now, that's not to say Congress could not abrogate it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Of course, Congress could. But the Court said, just last term, in
Helmerich, the case involving the Venezuelan seizure of oil rigs, that
the Court is not going to assume that Congress has made a quote, in the
Court's words, "radical departure" from central principles like that
one, unless Congress has made its determination very clear, and here
what's really very clear is the opposite, that Congress did not intend
to override sovereign immunity in Section 1610(g). If the Court has no
further questions? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you, counsel. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Strauss</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you very much. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Mr. Tripp. </span></div>
</section> </section><section class="transcript-section ng-scope"> <section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court: These ancient Persian
artifacts are immune from execution under 1609, and nothing in 1610(g)
lifts that immunity. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And if I could just make three quick points about why that's right. The
first, as most of the questioning has already been focused on today, is
it just can't be squared with the statutory text. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The statute says that the property of these different entities is
subject to execution "as provided in this section." But the way
Petitioners read it, it would work exactly the same way if it said the
exact opposite. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
If it said that the property was subject to execution, regardless of
what is provided in the section, and that just can't be right. And then
so, second, I think another thing that really drives home that they are
misreading this law is that the way they read it, it gives with one hand
what it takes away with another. So, as my brother was explaining,
Congress added (g) at the same time it added (a)(7), and what (a)(7)
says is that these very same people, victims of terrorism with judgments
under 1605A, it says that they can execute against the property of a
foreign state, but only if it's used in commercial activity. But the way
they read (g), those people can defeat that limitation just by invoking
a different subsection of the same statute. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> They can get commercial, non-commercial property, whatever, and that's just not a sensible way -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Don't they -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -- to draft a statute. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Don't they explain (a)(7) as being present to permit state law claims based on the same actions as the federal action? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That would render (a)(7) -- </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So we -- we don't think that's right, and we also just don't think it really helps them. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I know you're saying it, but explain to me why. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Yes. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So the reason it's not right, we explain this on pages 24 and 25 of our brief. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> It has to do with the language of 1605A itself. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
This is on 12A of our gray brief if you want to see it. And what 1605A
says is "The Court shall hear a claim under this section if" and then
the prerequisites to jurisdiction are satisfied. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So we think anytime a court gets jurisdiction and enters a judgment,
it's a judgment under 1605A, regardless of what cause of action they
happen to invoke. I also think this doesn't really move the dial for
them much because, in practice, in the mine-run application of 1605A,
when somebody gets jurisdiction, they're also going to use the cause of
action. As Petitioners were -- were describing it, it's very powerful,
it's directly on point, punitive damages, vicarious liability, and so it
would still be true that, in the mine-run application of (g), they
would be reading the law to give with one hand what it takes away with
the other. And then the last thing I'd just like to mention here is
about the United States' competing interests in this case. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I mean, obviously, we have a very strong interest in combatting state-sponsored terrorism. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> We also have concerns in these cases about the reciprocal -- reciprocal treatment of our own property abroad. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And I think, particularly in light of those concerns which are quite
weighty, if Congress was really going to take the step of allowing
execution against property of a cultural and historic significance to
another country and its people, that would be a big deal and it would
not be the kind of thing you would expect to see buried in a conforming
amendment without remark. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Well, how about the cases, the other cases he was talking about, the
ones with proceeds in the bank from a commercial activity, et cetera?
His reading would take care of those rulings, wouldn't they? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
I -- so I think one thing about -- the way we read the statute too, I
think it does help to some extent with -- with the breadth of the using
commercial activity, is that the way we read (g), once you -- if you
have a judgment against the foreign state, you can pierce the veil down
through to the agency or instrumentality, and then you can go after the
agency or instrumentality's property under (b)(3). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And (b)(3) does not require that the -- the property be used in
commercial activity. It's enough that the instrumentality is engaged in
commercial activity. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sonia Sotomayor</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> So you think those other courts were wrong? </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Zachary D. Tripp</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Those other -- I believe the other decisions that he was talking about were interpreted in (a)(7), not (b)(3). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> And so -- but as we understand it, the statute works together with -- with all of it. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It works -- 1610, you can pierce the veil and use (a), (b), the
procedures in (c) would apply, (d) could apply, (f) could apply if it
weren't waived. And so I think a natural way for Congress to pick up all
those -- all those procedures was to say that the property is subject
to execution as provided in this section. And so what Congress did was
to tether the extent of execution under this veil-piercing provision to
all the protections that are already baked in elsewhere in 1610, and
those protections ensure that you can't execute against the ancient
Persian artifacts like these. So, if there's no further questions, we're
asking the Court to affirm. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you, counsel. Mr. Perlin, you have five minutes remaining. </span></div>
</section> </section><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The first point I want to make is that the -- the government and the
university claim that our reading would render this -- would render
subsections (a)(7) and (b)(3) superfluous. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
That's -- that's not the case. The private right of action under --
under Section 1605A(c) applies only where the plaintiffs are U.S.
nationals, members of the military, or government contractors or
employees. The immunity waiver that's also in 1605A, but subsection (a),
so 1605A(a), applies where the claimant or the victim is a U.S.
national, a member of the military, or a government employee or
contractor. It's a -- it applies to a broad -- it -- the immunity waiver
reaches a broader class of plaintiffs. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The remedy provided under 1610(g) is limited to those who hold
judgments under 1605A, and this judgment that's available under 1605A is
a -- is the statutory judgment. The provisions of 1610(a)(7) and (b)(3)
apply where the judgment relates to a claim for which the foreign state
is not immune under 1605A, which is explicitly referring to the
immunity exception and it's explicitly referring to the broader class of
plaintiffs. So we don't think that -- that there's -- there is some
overlap, but it does -- that does not render (a) and (b) superfluous.
Second of all, (b), as Iran argues and they argued below in -- in the
Bennett case, which is Case 16-334, I believe, there, there was a case
where VISA had collected money for Bank Melli, a bank -- an Iranian
bank, and was holding it because -- because of the sanctions. It could
not return that -- it could not pay that money out. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Terrorism victims came and said we want to -- we want to enforce a
judgment against that money that VISA collected on behalf of Bank Melli.
</span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
And VISA filed an interpleader action. Iran defended, and they said you
can't -- you cannot enforce your judgment under 1610(b)(3) because that
applies only where the judgment is entered against the instrument --
the agency or instrumentality, and Bank Melli -- there's no judgment
here. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> That's what Iran -- that's what Iran's argument was. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The -- and Iran continues to maintain that -- that it won't apply to
(b)(3). And I think that that's -- I mean, that's -- you would have to
say that -- you would have to read out of (b)(3) the limitation that you
need a judgment against the agency or instrumentality for it to apply
to (b)(3). Again, there's -- there's no way to read this through
according to their construction, to read it through and apply it. Now,
again, just to make clear the point about the "as provided" -- "upon a
judgment as provided in this section," if you look at the other
substantive provisions of 1610, they allow -- let's start with -- let's
look at 1610(a). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The opening paragraph says that the property of a foreign state used
for commercial activity in the United States shall not be immune from
attachment or from execution, upon a judgment entered by a court of the
United States. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Right? There's "execution, upon a judgment" and then words that modify the judgment. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Same thing in subsection (b). </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
It's the exact same structure. Subsection (f), it's not the exact same
words, but it's the same structure again that -- that the property is
subject to execution of any judgment relating to a claim for which the
state is not immune. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Again, the words following "judgment" are modifying the word
"judgment," which makes sense under the last antecedent rule, and it
also makes sense here because we're -- we're talking about a particular
judgment. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Section 1610(g) applies to -- to a particular judgment. The -- the word "execution" is separated from that phrase by a comma. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The words "upon that judgment as provided in this section" do not contain a comma. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Those words are meant to be read together, and the "as provided in this
section" is modifying the word "judgment." The U.S. concerns about
foreign -- about foreign -- foreign relations are misplaced. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The explicit purpose -- one of the explicit purposes of the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act was to remove foreign sovereign immunity
decisions from the executive branch and -- and place them with the
courts. And that was for two reasons. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
One, that -- that plaintiffs, American plaintiffs, were being treated
unequally based on whatever policy consideration was relevant at the
time. And, two, the government was subject to foreign pressure. </span></div>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
So to -- to remove this pressure from the government, Congress placed
this authority in the hands of the courts rather than the government. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you, counsel. </span></div>
</section><section class="transcript-turn ng-scope"> <h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asher Perlin</span></h4>
<div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thank you, Your Honor. </span></div>
</section><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><h4 class="ng-binding">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">John G. Roberts, Jr.</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><div class="ng-binding ng-scope ng-isolate-scope">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> The case is submitted.</span> </div>
</blockquote>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-85987522156144836852017-12-06T17:27:00.000-06:002017-12-06T17:27:03.141-06:00Supreme Court Hears Rubin v. Iran. Feds Say Taking Cultural Property A "Big Deal." Petitioners Want Justice, Arguing "It's Not About Antiquities."<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="https://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2017/12/supreme-court-hears-rubin-v-iran-feds.html"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Supreme Court Hears Rubin v. Iran. Feds Say Taking Cultural Property A "Big Deal." Petitioners Want Justice, Arguing "It's Not About Antiquities."</span></a></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire" height="41" id="Header1_headerimg" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ALJMuRsD2w0/VWOoAyqX9GI/AAAAAAAABSA/1W4rbNzfuVg/s320/CHL%2BBlog%2BRed%2BArch.GIF" style="display: block;" width="320" /></span></span><span></span></h3>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span>Wednesday, December 6, 2017</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can
American victims of terrorism seize and sell ancient Persian
antiquities located at the University of Chicago to satisfy a court
judgment against Iran? That's the question the United States Supreme
Court considered on Monday in the case of <i>Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</i>, a case examining </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the mechanics of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).</span></span></span></span>
</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Foreign
countries generally are immune from lawsuits filed in American courts.
But the FSIA outlines exceptions to this rule, including a terrorism
exception codified at <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1605A" target="_blank">28 U.S. Code § 1605A</a>. Congress penned this section in 2008 to allow </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">plaintiffs to sue designated state sponsors of terror that caused injury, harm, or death.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">To satisfy a civil
judgment won in a 1605A terrorism case,</span> a v</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ictorious plaintiff would <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">seek out the foreign nation's assets under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1610" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">§ 1610(g)(2)</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">, </span>which allows the plaintiff to take control of “</span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto; color: #333333;">[a]ny </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">property
of a foreign<span class="aolmail_apple-converted-space"> </span></span>state, or<span class="aolmail_apple-converted-space"> ag</span>ency or instrumentality of a
foreign state….”</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
But are <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">the assets that can be attached to execute the court judgment limited to those </span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">that are "used for a commercial
activity" as specified by <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1610" target="_blank">§ 1610(a)</a>?
Or can the assets be any kind whatsoever, including antiquities housed
at a museum? That was the topic of oral argument in the <i>Rubin</i> case. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Rubin</i> pits <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">American victims of a Jerusalem suicide bombing against the country of Iran, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a country designated by the US government as a state-sponsor of terror. Hamas claimed responsibility for the </span>Iranian sponsored attack in 1997, and a federal district court in
Washington, DC in 2003 awarded the plaintiffs $71.5 million in a default judgment,
holding Iran culpable. Read about the lengthy and complex </span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">case history <a href="http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/search/label/Rubin%20v.%20Iran" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="aolmail_MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then, the </span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">plaintiffs/petitioners
have tried to secure their award through the attachment process by
taking control of ancient Iranian artifacts located in <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a variety of American cultural institutions, including the Persepolis and Chogha Mish antiquities collections, </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">excavated during the 1930's and 1960's and housed in <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute </span>through a long-term academic loan...</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
</blockquote>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
</h3>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-71469442703419846082017-12-05T07:11:00.000-06:002017-12-05T07:11:04.487-06:00Argument analysis: Subdued justices parse immunity law<a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/12/argument-analysis-subdued-justices-parse-immunity-law/">Argument analysis: Subdued justices parse immunity law</a>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">These days, the Supreme Court is known as a “hot bench”: Lawyers
who argue there usually have to respond to a barrage of questions from
all sides. That fast and furious questioning can make it hard for
advocates to advance their arguments, but it also makes it easier for
both the attorneys and spectators to figure out what the justices care
about, and how they might rule. The flip side of this is that when the
justices are quieter, the advocates have more time to talk, but it’s
harder to know what the justices are thinking.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The latter scenario was on display this morning at the Supreme Court, when the justices heard oral argument in <em><a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/rubin-v-islamic-republic-of-iran-2/">Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</a></em>.
The case is the latest chapter in efforts by American victims of a
series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem in 1997 to recover a $71.5
million default judgment from the Islamic Republic of Iran for its role
in providing support to Hamas, the terrorist group that claimed
responsibility for the blast. After approximately 45 minutes of oral
argument, the justices seemed likely to rule against the victims, but
their relative silence made it difficult to know for sure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="more-264666"></span>Today’s case centers on the
interpretation of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a federal law
that carves out several narrow exceptions to the general rule that
foreign countries cannot be sued in U.S. courts. One of those exceptions
is known as the “terrorism exception”: It allows private citizens to
bring lawsuits against countries that have been designated as state
sponsors of terrorism. Another provision of the FSIA, Section 1610(g),
provides that when a judgment is entered against a foreign state under
the terrorism exception, both the state’s property and the property of
its “agencies or instrumentalities” – that is, organizations or
companies owned by the state –can be transferred to the prevailing
party, without having to consider five different factors related to the
foreign government’s control over the property.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Representing the victims at the Supreme Court today, attorney Asher
Perlin told the justices that in 2008, Congress overhauled the FSIA
terrorism exception to close a gap that had allowed state sponsors of
terrorism to “thumb their noses” at U.S. judgments holding them liable
for terrorism. Section 1610(g), Perlin asserted, was the “centerpiece”
of that overhaul: It allows victims of terrorism to seize the property
of either a foreign state or its agencies or instrumentalities, without
having to satisfy any of the other conditions imposed in Section 1610 to
“pierce the veil” separating a foreign state from such an organization
or company.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Several justices were skeptical, however, that this interpretation
was what Congress intended. Instead, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
suggested, Congress enacted Section 1610(g) to allow plaintiffs like the
victims in this case to overcome the presumption that a judgment
against a foreign state cannot be enforced against that state’s agencies
and instrumentalities. The provision, she posited, “does so perfectly,”
making more assets available for plaintiffs. But it doesn’t say
anything about immunity, she observed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared to agree. She observed that in at
least three cases seeking to seize the assets of a foreign state’s
agency or instrumentality, the plaintiffs could not recover because
there wasn’t a sufficiently close relationship between the state and
agency or instrumentality. “So there was a real issue,” she concluded,
that Section 1610(g) was addressing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Justice Samuel Alito asked Perlin to explain what role another phrase
in Section 1610(g) – which allows the property at issue to be seized
“as provided in this section” – would play under his interpretation.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Perlin responded that the phrase was intended to signal that Section
1610(g) only applies to judgments entered under the terrorism exception,
and it also extends the remedies available to plaintiffs in such cases,
including punitive damages. But Alito appeared unconvinced, telling
Perlin that the phrase was really “superfluous” under his reading.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The justices allowed Perlin to speak at some length without
interruption. Among other things, he emphasized exactly what is at stake
in the case. “My clients,” he told the justices, “have been waiting 20
years to enforce their judgment against Iran. But “Iran doesn’t pay
judgments,” he said. “Congress finally said ‘enough is enough’” and
created a “tool” to allow victims like his clients to enforce their
judgments.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Arguing on behalf of the University of Chicago, where the ancient
Persian artifacts that the victims are trying to seize are housed,
attorney David Strauss agreed that – as Perlin had argued – the history
of Section 1610(g) indicated that Congress had intended to “eliminate
barriers” facing victims of state-sponsored terrorism. But Strauss
parted ways with Perlin at that point, emphasizing that Congress sought
to remove those barriers by “changing the legal standards” for piercing
the veil between a foreign state and its agencies or instrumentalities.
And the phrase “as provided in this section,” Strauss asserted, means
that even victims of state-sponsored terrorism must still satisfy the
other requirements to seize property under Section 1610 – specifically,
that the foreign state use the property for commercial activity in the
United States. The justices allowed Strauss, even more than Perlin, to
speak at length, and he sat down early.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Representing the United States, which filed a “friend of the court”
brief in which it urged the justices to affirm the narrower
interpretation of Section 1610(g) advanced by the University of Chicago
and Iran, Assistant to the Solicitor General Zachary Tripp faced even
fewer questions than the advocates who went before him and sat down
after having used less than half of his 10 minutes. Tripp made clear
that the United States “has a very strong interest in combatting
state-sponsored terrorism.” But at the same time, he added, the federal
government also has concerns about how its own property overseas will be
treated if the court rules for the victims in this case. “Particularly
in light of those concerns which are quite weighty,” Tripp emphasized,
“if Congress was really going to take the step of allowing execution
against property of a cultural and historical significance to another
country and its people, that would be a big deal and it would not be the
kind of thing you would expect to see buried in a conforming amendment
without remark.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It’s hard to know what to make of the relative dearth of questions
today. Sometimes a quiet bench can mean that the justices agree with the
arguments being made, but other times it can signal that the justices
have already made up their minds and don’t feel that additional
questions will be useful. At today’s argument, the justices seemed more
skeptical of the victims’ interpretation than the university and Iran’s,
but we won’t know for sure until the court issues its opinion sometime
next year.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>This post was originally published at <a href="http://amylhowe.com/2017/12/04/argument-analysis-subdued-justices-parse-immunity-law/">Howe on the Court</a>.</em></span><br />
</blockquote>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-2924363443317652732017-11-21T11:38:00.003-06:002017-11-21T11:38:31.184-06:00Supreme Court to Hear Case Surrounding Seizure of Iranian Artifacts from Oriental Institute<a href="https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/11/21/supreme-court-hear-case-surrounding-seizure-irania/">Supreme Court to Hear Case Surrounding Seizure of Iranian Artifacts from Oriental Institute</a><br />By Madeleine Moore <br />
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NEWS /
November 21, 2017
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img src="https://maroon-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/static/img/Logo4-websm.svg" width="200/" /></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The University’s Oriental Institute (OI) is involved in an ongoing Supreme Court case in which American terrorist victims are seeking compensation from the Iranian government through seizing Iranian artifacts from the OI and the Field Museum.<br /><br />In September 1997, three suicide bombers associated with the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, carried out an attack on a shopping mall in Jerusalem. Among those affected were eight United States citizens, who later filed a civil action case in a U.S. court against the government of Iran and its involvement in providing financial support to the bombers.<br /><br />A federal judge in Washington, D.C. awarded the plaintiffs $71.5 million in damages, which the government of Iran refused to pay.<br /><br />The plaintiffs have since filed several lawsuits demanding Iranian artifacts and antiquities held by the University as compensation, and have also attempted to seize artifacts from the Field Museum in Chicago and other museums in Massachusetts and Michigan.<br /><br />The Supreme Court hearing will be the fourth time the case has gone to court since the plaintiffs were awarded $71.5 million in 2003. The University appealed the decision and since then has won subsequent trials in 2011 and 2014.<br /><br />The plaintiffs appealed the 2014 ruling, and it was chosen by the U.S. Supreme Court for review on June 27. The Court is scheduled to hear the case on December 4.<br /><br />If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it could set the precedent that a foreign government is subject to the terrorism exception of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and the property of a foreign government may be attached to a civil judgement, despite the location of the property or current ownership.<br /><br />This case could allow the Supreme Court to define what assets can be seized from a state accused of engaging in or supporting terrorism, even when the assets are held or owned by a separate entity unaffiliated with the foreign state.<br /><br />The plaintiffs have targeted three collections of ancient Persian artifacts held by the OI and the Field Museum of Natural History in downtown Chicago.<br /><br />The artifacts include prehistoric pottery, ornaments, and tablets with Elamite writing, the oldest known writing system from Iran.<br /><br />Both the OI and the Field Museum have stated that they own the items, but the plaintiffs maintain that Iran does.<br /><br />The case is centered on the FSIA, which places limits on the circumstances in which foreign entities may be sued in U.S. courts. Typically, foreign states are immune from lawsuits or property seizure due to this act.<br /><br />However, the plaintiffs have argued that FSIA contains a terrorism exception, which would allow them to request the artifacts as a means of compensation.<br /><br />This case has gone to the Seventh Circuit court, stating that there was not an exception included in the act that pertained to the case. This decision created a split with the Ninth Circuit court, which ruled in the plaintiff’s favor.<br /><br />The University and Iran have challenged the plaintiffs based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in First National City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior de Cuba (Bancec). This case created the “Bancec doctrine,” which states that a case against a foreign state may not be executed on the property of a separate entity.<br /><br />According to the University, since it owns the Iranian artifacts and is a separate entity from the government of Iran, the plaintiffs may not seize the artifacts to their case.<br /><br />The OI could not be reached for comment by press time.</blockquote>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-71854900405017676172017-07-20T17:07:00.000-05:002020-02-02T10:10:48.756-06:00The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Report for 2015-2016<div class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="https://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2018/03/persepolis-fortification-archive.html">See now here.</a></div>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-3910766278063807232017-06-27T11:44:00.006-05:002017-06-27T11:48:50.216-05:00Supreme Court Takes Up Dispute Over Iran Antiquities in Terror Case<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-takes-dispute-over-iran-antiquities-terror-case-n777106">Supreme Court Takes Up Dispute Over Iran Antiquities in Terror Case</a></span><br />
By Pete Williams<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #595959; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: -0.4045414328575134px; text-transform: uppercase;">JUN 27 2017, 11:30 AM ET</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up a long running legal battle over a claim by victims of terrorism to Iranian antiquities held in a Chicago museum.<br /> <br />Nine U.S. citizens sued Iran after a 1997 suicide bombing in Israel. The Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as Hamas, took responsibility for the attack, which killed five Israelis and injured others, including Americans who were in Ben Yehuda as tourists. Iran was sued as a sponsor of Hamas.<br /> <br />Although foreign countries are generally immune from U.S. lawsuits, the law makes exceptions for acts of terrorism. A federal judge eventually awarded the Americans $71.5 million. But because Iran has few assets frozen in the US — the usual source for satisfying such court judgments — lawyers for the Americans had to come up with other assets to seize.<br /> <br />The Supreme Court case involved thousands of small clay tablets from Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persia, on long-term loan by Iran to the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute for study. The tablets contain some of the oldest known human writing, records of daily transactions from 2,500 years ago.<br /> <br />In 2016, a federal appeals court ruled that the antiquities could not be used to help satisfy the court judgment, because Iran was not using them for commercial purposes.<br /> <br />The federal government has generally sided with Iran during the years of litigation. "Although the United States sympathizes with petitioners and other victims of terrorism, the seizure of a foreign sovereign's property via attachment or execution can affect the United States' foreign relations," said Jeffrey Wall, the Trump administration's acting solicitor general.
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-35499678486944024982017-06-16T11:36:00.000-05:002017-06-16T11:36:12.336-05:00PERSEPOLIS ADMINISTRATIVE ARCHIVES,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2017.Annalisa Azzoni, Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre, Mark B. Garrison, Wouter F. M. Henkelman, Charles E. Jones, and Matthew W. Stolper, “<a href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/persepolis-admin-archive">PERSEPOLIS ADMINISTRATIVE ARCHIVES</a>,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2017, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/persepolis-admin-archive (accessed on 09 June 2017).Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-60592979154535304012017-05-02T09:42:00.001-05:002017-05-02T09:42:11.417-05:00From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 6 The Dossier of Šarbaladda, Treasury Secretary at Persepolis.<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Stolper, Matthew W. “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/32662073/M._STOLPER_From_the_Persepolis_Fortification_Archive_Project_6_The_Dossier_of_%C5%A0arbaladda_Treasury_Secretary_at_Persepolis">From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 6 The Dossier of Šarbaladda, Treasury Secretary at Persepolis</a>.” <i>ARTA: Achaemenid Research on Texts and Archaeology</i> 2017, no. 001 (2017): 1–33.</span> </span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="csl-entry" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><a href="https://independent.academia.edu/ProjetAchemenet">See ARTA's New page at Academia.edu </a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="csl-entry" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="csl-entry" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>And see AWOL's<b> </b><a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2015/02/open-access-journal-arta-achaemenid.html">author index of all articles published in ARTA </a></span> </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695">Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695</a>Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-75254831353103833692016-10-05T13:20:00.003-05:002016-10-05T13:20:59.628-05:00Excavation coins from the Persepolis region<a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2016/09/ans-digital-library-ebooks.html">Courtesy of the American Numismatic Society Digital Library</a> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan143554">Excavation coins from the Persepolis region</a></span>
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<dl class="dl-horizontal">
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Author</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/results?q=creator_facet:%22Miles,%20George%20Carpenter,%201904-1975%22">Miles, George Carpenter, 1904-1975</a><a class="external-link" href="http://numismatics.org/authority/miles" itemprop="author" title="http://numismatics.org/authority/miles"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Series</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/results?q=series_facet:%22Numismatic%20Notes%20and%20Monographs%22">Numismatic Notes and Monographs</a><a class="external-link" href="http://numismatics.org/library/195778" itemprop="isPartOf" title="http://numismatics.org/library/195778"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Publisher</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/results?q=publisher_facet:%22American%20Numismatic%20Society%22">American Numismatic Society</a><a class="external-link" href="http://numismatics.org/authority/american_numismatic_society" itemprop="publisher" title="http://numismatics.org/authority/american_numismatic_society"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Place</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;">New York</span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Date</span></dt>
<dd itemprop="datePublished"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1959</span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;">Donum<a class="external-link" href="http://numismatics.org/library/143554" itemprop="sameAs" title="http://numismatics.org/library/143554"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;">Worldcat<a class="external-link" href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2410882" itemprop="sameAs" title="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2410882"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;">Worldcat Works<a class="external-link" href="http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/4893413" itemprop="sameAs" title="http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/4893413"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-new-window"></span></a></span></dd>
<dt><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source</span></dt>
<dd><span style="font-size: x-small;">HathiTrust</span></dd></dl>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">License</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" itemprop="licence"><img alt="CC BY-NC" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/3.0/88x31.png" title="CC BY-NC" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Export</span></h3>
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<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan143554.xml" title="TEI">TEI</a></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan143554/pdf" title="PDF">PDF</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://numismatics.org/digitallibrary/ark:/53695/nnan143554.epub" itemprop="exampleOfWork" title="EPUB">EPUB</a></span></li>
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-60440222180525966822016-08-10T13:49:00.001-05:002016-08-10T14:22:49.036-05:00More on the Old Persian Inscription from Phanagoria, Russia<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-new-inscription-of-darius-i-excavated.html">Last week</a> I noted the announcement of the discovery of an Old Persian Inscription on a stele excavated at <span style="color: #333333;">excavated at Phanagoria, on the Taman peninsula on the North coast of the Black Sea. Since then there have been a few cursory articles on this, including one in <a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/news/russian-archaeologists-uncover-ancient-persian-stele-inscribed-with-a-message-from-king-darius-i-/">The Art Newspaper</a>, but nothing giving any new information.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">But I was alerted this </span><span style="color: #333333;">morning by </span><span class="username js-action-profile-name" data-aria-label-part="" style="color: #8899a6; direction: ltr; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="745705455167614976" href="https://twitter.com/Spartokosalu" style="color: #8899a6; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #b1bbc3;">@</span>Spartokosalu</a> </span><span class="username js-action-profile-name" data-aria-label-part="" style="direction: ltr; text-decoration: none; unicode-bidi: embed;">of <a href="http://ren.tv/novosti/2016-08-08/kamennaya-plita-s-nadpisyu-persidskogo-carya-naydena-na-kubani">Russian television coverage</a> of the object, </span>complete with some very interesting images of the inscription:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<img border="0" height="167" src="https://o.twimg.com/2/proxy.jpg?t=HBh5aHR0cDovL3R2LnJlbi5jZG52aWRlby5ydS9zaXRlcy9kZWZhdWx0L2ZpbGVzL3N0eWxlcy90d2l0dGVyX29nL3B1YmxpYy9maWVsZC9pbWFnZS8yMDE2LzMyL3N0ZWxsYV9jYXJ5YS5qcGc_aXRvaz1wSmtMMmFzdBSAChScBRwUhAYUlAMAABYAEgA&s=tXhLJ68Uh9JmiN0qCj8LLAqSaDZcuuof0XtRO3hf1FA" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-67139357931975369362016-08-04T12:30:00.004-05:002016-08-04T12:30:54.261-05:00A New Inscription of Darius I excavated at Phanagoria, North of the Black SeaIt is reported today that excavations at <a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/854725">Phanagoria</a>, on the Taman Peninsula, on the North of the Black Sea, have uncovered a fragment of a stela bearing an Old Persian inscription of Darius I.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
La dernière découverte en date a été rendue publique le 4 août 2016. C’est un fragment de stèle cunéiforme, en lange perse, qui mentionnerait Milet et émanerait de Darius Ier, roi de Perse (521-486). Elle a été découverte dans un contexte archéologique de la première moitié du Ve s. Les inscriptions de ce type ont surtout été trouvées à Persépolis, capitale perse.</blockquote>
Read the report <a href="https://spartokos.wordpress.com/2016/08/04/une-inscription-de-darius-ier-au-nord-de-la-mer-noire-a-phanagoria/">here</a>, and the original Russian <a href="http://phanagoria.info/press-center/news/obekt-679/">language press release here</a>.Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-2389820374472070822016-07-21T17:13:00.005-05:002016-07-21T17:14:12.436-05:00Signs of Writing Paris ConferenceMatthew Stolper and Wouter Henkelman will speak on matters relating to Persepolis at:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://neubauercollegium.uchicago.edu/events/uc/signs_of_writing1/">Signs of Writing Paris Conference</a><br />
<div class="pull-right span4" id="sidebar">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="image carousel slide spacer" id="eventImages">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Cultural, Social, and Linguistic Contexts of the World’s First Writing Systems III
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Monday, July 25 - Wednesday, July 27</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://centerinparis.uchicago.edu/">University of Chicago Center in Paris</a><br />
6 Rue Thomas Mann<br />
Paris, France 75013</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="spacer">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The third and final international conference of the Neubauer Collegium
project, Signs of Writing: The Cultural, Social, and Linguistic Contexts
of the World’s First Writing Systems will be held at the University of
Chicago’s Center in Paris, July 25th-27th 2016.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
The theme of the Paris conference is, broadly, script, society, and
literature, within the context and process of the invention of writing.
Specific topics will include scribal transmission and education, the
development of literacy, the rise of literature from earlier genres and
the extension of incipient writing systems to serve this purpose, the
materiality and archaeological contexts of writing, as well as the
relationship between writing and the non-linguistic symbolic systems
that preceded it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Participants will include: John Baines (Oxford University); Wolfgang
Behr (Univeristy of Zurich); Françoise Bottéro (CNRS Paris); Stephen
Chrisomalis (Wayne State University); Jerry Cooper (Johns Hopkins
University); Sylvie Donnat Beauquier (Université de Strasbourg);
Jean-Jacques Glassner (CNRS Paris); Amalia Gnanadesikan (University of
Maryland); Michaël Guichard (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Wouter
Henkelman (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Stephen Houston (Brown
University); David Lurie (Columbia University); Massimo Maiocchi
(University of Chicago); Chrystelle Maréchal (CNRS/EHESS - CRLAO); Simon
Martin (University of Pennsylvania); Dimitri Meeks (CNRS - Université
Paul-Valéry - Montpellier III); Piotr Michalowski (University of
Michigan); Joel Palka (University of Illinois-Chicago); Annick Payne
(University of Basel); Christine Proust (CNRS - Université Paris
Diderot); Claude Rilly (CNRS/Inalco - Lacan); Gonzalo Rubio
(Pennsylvania State University); David Share (Haifa University); Ed
Shaughnessy (University of Chicago); Richard Sproat (Google Labs);
Andréas Stauder (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Matt Stolper
(University of Chicago); Anna Stryjewska (University of Zurich); Olivier
Venture (École Pratique des Hautes Études); Pascal Vernus (École
Pratique des Hautes Études); Haicheng Wang (University of Washington);
Gordon Whittaker (University of Göttingen); Maryanne Wolf (Tufts
University); Christopher Woods (University of Chicago); Marc Zender
(Tulane University); and Ilona Zsolnay (University of Pennsylvania)</span></div>
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-64311654530208187592016-07-20T12:00:00.002-05:002016-07-20T18:10:56.026-05:00The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the Persepolis Fortification tabletsOn 19 July 2016 the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment against the plaintiffs and in favor of the OI and Iran in the lawsuit over the Persepolis Fortification tablets. One of the judges filed a dissent and noted that the court’s decision creates a conflict between decisions by different federal appellate courts on a core legal issue. When this happens, the U.S. Supreme Court sometimes decides to review the cases and issue a decision that resolves the split, so there is the possibility of additional proceedings. Stay tuned here on the <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/">PFA Project blog</a> and to the <a href="http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/01/persepolis-tablets-in-news.html">Persepolis Tablets in the News</a> page for further developments and links to analysis of this decision.<br />
<br />
Oriental Institute Director Gil J. Stein said he is pleased with the ruling.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“While the university abhors the acts of terrorism that lead to this
proceeding, the artifacts at issue here are not subject to attachment
under either the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act or the Terrorism Risk
and Insurance Act, The Institute looks forward
to continuing its research on the Persepolis Collection, artifacts which
provide unparalleled insight into the history and languages of the
Persian Empire around 500 B.C.”</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://us7thcircuitcourtofappealsopinions.justia.com/2016/07/19/rubin-v-islamic-republic-of-iran/">Justia U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries</a></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<time class="post-date published" datetime="2016-07-19T22:56:16+00:00" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate="">July 19, 2016</time><br />
</span><div class="author vcard">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By <span itemprop="author"><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span class="fn author-justia-inc author-5 post-author-name" itemprop="name">Justia Inc</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">In 1997 Hamas suicide bombers blew themselves up on a crowded
Jerusalem pedestrian mall. The grievously injured included eight U.S.
citizens who filed a civil action against the Islamic Republic of Iran
for its role in providing material support to the attackers. Iran was
subject to suit as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Foreign
Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. 1605(a)(7). A district judge entered
a $71.5 million default judgment. Iran did not pay. Among other
efforts, the plaintiffs sought to execute on ancient Persian artifacts:
the Persepolis, Chogha Mish, and Oriental Institute Collections, all in
the possession of the University of Chicago; and the Herzfeld
Collection, split between the University and Chicago’s Field Museum.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district judge’s conclusion that
attachment and execution were unavailable under the Terrorism Risk
Insurance Act of 2002, 28 U.S.C. 1610, which permits holders of
terrorism-related judgments to execute on assets that are “blocked” by
executive order under certain international sanctions provisions. The
assets are not blocked by existing executive order. Nor does section
1610(a) apply. That provision permits execution on a foreign state’s
property “used for a commercial activity in the United States.” The
foreign state, Iran, did not put the artifacts to any commercial use. <a href="http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca7/14-1935/14-1935-2016-07-19.html">View "Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran" on Justia Law</a></span>
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-18029704530066679612015-10-23T16:46:00.005-05:002020-02-02T10:11:05.375-06:00 The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Report for 2014-2015<a href="https://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2018/03/persepolis-fortification-archive.html">See now here.</a>Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-71259925711910409562015-10-21T15:26:00.001-05:002015-10-21T15:26:03.582-05:00Persepolis From the Air<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://youtu.be/uJf5bnHUIQw">Persepolis From the Air</a></i> is a film featured in the Oriental Institute's special exhibit <a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/persepolis"><i>Persepolis: Images of an Empire</i></a> (October 13, 2015–September 11, 2016), produced by the <a href="http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/camel/about-camel">Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL)</a> at the Oriental Institute. </span><br />
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Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-51000770117563573672015-09-28T20:31:00.000-05:002015-09-28T20:35:31.306-05:00National Endowment for the Humanities support for the Persepolis Fortification Archive ProjectNational Endowment for the Humanities support for the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project<br />
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<table border="0" cellspacing="0" id="dlResults" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: top; width: 1200px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="head" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(189, 189, 189); color: darkblue; vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="75%"><span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)</span></span><br />
<div class="small">
<span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/24/2012 - present)</span></span></div>
<span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></td><td align="right" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="25%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://securegrants.neh.gov/PublicQuery/main.aspx?f=1&gn=PW-51344-13" id="dlResults_ctl00_linkToGrant">PW-51344-13</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span class="faqQuestion" id="dlResults_ctl00_lblProjectTitle" style="color: darkblue; padding-top: 12px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblDescription"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cataloging and digitizing ca. 2,000 administrative documents dating around 500 B.C. from Persepolis, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">t</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">he chief imperial residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
Since 2006, the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project has conducted an emergency program to record </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">t</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">ens of thousands of clay tablets and fragments with texts in several languages and with the impressions </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">of thousands of seals, a unique archive from the heart of the Achaemenid Persian empire at its zenith, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">about 500 BC. Access to these tablets in danger because of a lawsuit against the government of Iran; </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">the digital images, catalogs, text editions, and drawings that the Project compiles and distributes </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">online will preserve the archive's contents for scholars and the public in perpetuity.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblParticipatingInstitutions"></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Project fields: <span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblField">Ancient Languages</span><br />Program: <span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblProgram">Humanities Collections and Reference Resources</span><br />Division: <span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblDivision">Preservation and Access</span></span></td><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblWhichTotal">Total amounts</span>: <span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblAwardTotal">$280,000 (approved); $280,000 (awarded)</span><br />Grant period: <span id="dlResults_ctl00_lblGrantPeriod">5/1/2013 – 4/30/2016</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="head" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(189, 189, 189); color: darkblue; vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="75%"><span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)</span></span><br />
<div class="small">
<span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/19/2010 - present)</span></span></div>
<span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></td><td align="right" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="25%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://securegrants.neh.gov/PublicQuery/main.aspx?f=1&gn=PW-50767-11" id="dlResults_ctl01_linkToGrant">PW-50767-11</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span class="faqQuestion" id="dlResults_ctl01_lblProjectTitle" style="color: darkblue; padding-top: 12px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Persepolis Fortification Archive</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblDescription"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cataloging and digitization of administrative documents from Persepolis, the chief imperial </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.<br />
This proposal seeks funding to support key personnel of the Persepolis Fortification Archive </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Project, an emergency program conducted since 2006 to record the texts and seal impressions </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">on tens of thousands of clay tablets, a unique but imperiled archive from the heart of the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Persian Empire at its height, C. 500 B.C.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblParticipatingInstitutions"></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Project fields: <span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblField">Ancient Languages</span><br />Program: <span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblProgram">Humanities Collections and Reference Resources</span><br />Division: <span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblDivision">Preservation and Access</span></span></td><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblWhichTotal">Total amounts</span>: <span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblAwardTotal">$300,000 (approved); $300,000 (awarded)</span><br />Grant period: <span id="dlResults_ctl01_lblGrantPeriod">5/1/2011 – 4/30/2013</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="head" style="background-color: #fafafa; border-collapse: collapse; border: 1px solid rgb(189, 189, 189); color: darkblue; vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="75%"><span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)</span></span><br />
<div class="small">
<span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/19/2007 - present)</span></span></div>
<span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblGrantee"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></td><td align="right" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="25%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://securegrants.neh.gov/PublicQuery/main.aspx?f=1&gn=PW-50118-08" id="dlResults_ctl02_linkToGrant">PW-50118-08</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span class="faqQuestion" id="dlResults_ctl02_lblProjectTitle" style="color: darkblue; padding-top: 12px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Persepolis Fortification Archive</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblDescription"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cataloging and digitizing administrative documents dating from 500 B.C. from Persepolis, t</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">he chief imperial residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.<br />
In 1933, archaeologists from the Oriental Institute discovered tens of thousands of clay </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">tablets and fragments at Persepolis, the palace complex of the Achaemenid Persian kings </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">in Iran. They proved to be records of a regional administration from the imperial palaces </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">in the years around 500 BC. The Persepolis Fortification Archive is a unique source for t</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">he languages, art, history, society, and institutions of ancient Iran and is in danger of being </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">lost due to recent political and legal disputes. This project is conducting an accelerated program </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">of recording the Archive, both texts and seal impressions. The Project uses several forms </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">of electronic imaging, and co-ordinates the several kinds of information to be recorded </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">with a suite of on-line tools for managing and presenting archaeological and textual data i</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">n </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">a common environment. The results are to be distributed both in electronic form, on a </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">continuous basis, via both the web, and in conventional printed form.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" colspan="2" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblParticipatingInstitutions"></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Project fields: <span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblField">Ancient Languages</span><br />Program: <span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblProgram">Humanities Collections and Reference Resources</span><br />Division: <span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblDivision">Preservation and Access</span></span></td><td class="small" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;" width="50%"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblWhichTotal">Total amounts</span>: <span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblAwardTotal">$350,000 (approved); $350,000 (awarded)</span><br />Grant period: <span id="dlResults_ctl02_lblGrantPeriod">7/1/2008 – 6/30/2011</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: rgb(221, 238, 221); vertical-align: top;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-35383696955655082122015-09-17T16:57:00.001-05:002015-09-17T16:57:11.989-05:00Exhibition: Persepolis: Images of an Empire<a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/persepolis">Persepolis: Images of an Empire</a><br />
Members Opening October 11th, 2015<br />Public Opening October 13th, 2015<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2OySkJtWKJQ/Vfs3EOZq0mI/AAAAAAAABic/FxQRS1B34jk/s1600/P.%2B29002%2B_%2BN.%2B15272%2B_%2BPS-82%2B%25281%2529_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2OySkJtWKJQ/Vfs3EOZq0mI/AAAAAAAABic/FxQRS1B34jk/s320/P.%2B29002%2B_%2BN.%2B15272%2B_%2BPS-82%2B%25281%2529_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">From 1931 through 1939 Ernst Herzfeld and Erich Schmidt directed the Oriental Institute’s Persian Expedition in Iran. During their exploration, excavation, and restoration of this ancient site of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC), Herzfeld and Schmidt had photographers Hans-Wichart von Busse and Boris Dubensky document the architectural wonders and landscape of Persepolis. This rich collection of photographs is now housed in the Museum Archives of the Oriental Institute. The selection of photographs featured in <em>Persepolis: Images of an Empire</em> capture the quintessential elements of Achaemenid Persian architectural style: forests of columns, monumental audience halls, elaborate staircases, and stone relief carvings of people from all corners of the empire. This court style expresses the Achaemenid imperial ideology of harmonious order, power, and unity. The photographs on display also demonstrate the contrast between the imperial terrace with its imposing architecture and the surrounding barren landscape. This duality reinforced the magnitude and grandeur of Persepolis.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">While in Iran, Schmidt conducted two seasons of aerial survey explorations (1935–1937), a project the scale of which had never been done before. From his plane, gifted to him by his wife, and named <em>Friend of Iran</em>, Schmidt and his assistant Dubensky took aerial photographs of excavations already in progress, of sites under consideration for archaeological work, and of areas of Iran yet to be explored. The aerial photographs allow archaeologists to see ancient architectural plans and road networks, and to understand the relationship between ancient settlements and their surrounding environment. A digital video on display in the gallery created by the Oriental Institute’s Center for Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL) allows you to explore the architecture of the site and to observe some of the differences between the Persepolis of today and that of Schmidt’s era.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A selection of photographs from the Persepolis Expedition are included in an Oriental Institute text/mircrofiche publication entitled <em>Persepolis and Ancient Iran: Catalog of Expedition Photographs</em>, 1976. <a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/persepolis-ancient-iran" style="color: maroon; text-decoration: none;">View the online version of the publication</a>. </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">This exhibit is curated by Kiersten Neumann, PhD, Curatorial Assistant at the Oriental Institute Museum. </span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695">Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695</a></div>
Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35845387.post-40563054270363916132015-07-18T22:35:00.001-05:002015-07-18T22:36:26.276-05:00Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Support for the Completion of the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project<div name="news#1">
<a href="http://roshan-institute.org/634721"><b>New Support for the Completion of the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project</b></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div name="news#1">
<b><img alt="http://roshan-institute.org/clientimages/39783/Roshan-Banner-V10.gif" src="http://roshan-institute.org/clientimages/39783/Roshan-Banner-V10.gif" height="70" width="400" /> </b></div>
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<center>
<img align="right" src="http://roshan-institute.org/clientimages/39783/PFATabletOldPersian.jpg" height="208" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="200" /></center>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute</i></b> is pleased to announce that <b>Dr. Matthew Stolper</b>
(John A. Wilson Professor Emeritus of Oriental Studies, the Oriental
Institute at The University of Chicago) has been awarded a two-year
Roshan Institute Fellowship for Excellence in Persian Studies, in
support of the completion of the Persepolis Fortification Archive (PFA)
Project at the Oriental Institute. The PFA is a group of clay tablets
discovered at Persepolis in 1933 by archaeologists from the Oriental
Institute and provides an incredible source of information on the
languages, art, institutions and history of Achaemenid Persia at its
height. The PFA project, under the direction of <b>Professor Stolper</b> was first supported by Roshan Institute in 2013.
<br /><br />
The new grant allows <b>Professor Stolper</b> to complete the project
by engaging two students to work on the project during summer 2015 and
summer 2016, and up to eight students to work part-time during the
2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years. This funding and work are of
timely importance before the tablets leave the Oriental Institute to
return to the National Museum of Iran.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/persepolis-fortification-archive">Learn more about the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project</a></span></blockquote>
<a href="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695">Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695</a>Chuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.com0