Mark Garrison's lectures at the Collège de France

Les professeurs du Collège de France, sur la proposition du Professeur Pierre Briant,
vous prient de leur faire l’honneur d’assister aux leçons qui seront données par

M. Mark GARRISON
Professeur à Trinity University, San Antonio (USA)
sur le sujet suivant :

New Light on Persepolis: The Glyptic Imagery from the
Persepolis Fortification and Treasury Archives

1. Seals and Archives at Persepolis: An Introduction
2. Glyptic Imagery as Social Identity: The Seals of Ziššawiš
3. The Religious Landscape at Persepolis: New Glyptic Evidence
for the So-Called "Fire Altars"
4. Glyptic Imagery and Ideology: The Emergence of a Visual
Language of Empire at Persepolis

Ces leçons auront lieu le mercredi 4 novembre et les jeudis 12, 19, 26 novembre 2009, à 11 heures.

salle 5
11, place Marcelin-Berthelot, 75005
www.college-de-france.fr

The PFAP '09 Event to raise awareness and funds for the Persepolis/Parsa Fortification Archive Project [PFAP] at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago on October 11th, 2009, is only a week away:

Friends of Persepolis Fortification Archive Project (PFAP)
&
World Association of International Studies (WAIS)

cordially invite you for an informative evening

to hear the story of the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

PFAP '09
Sunday, October 11^th, 2009
16:00 – 22:00
Four Seasons Hotel
Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto
CA, USA

Friends of Persepolis Fortification Archive Project

The PFAP '09 Event to raise awareness and funds for the Persepolis/Parsa Fortification Archive Project [PFAP] at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago on October 11th, 2009, is only a week away:

Friends of Persepolis Fortification Archive Project (PFAP)
&
World Association of International Studies (WAIS)

cordially invite you for an informative evening

to hear the story of the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

PFAP '09
Sunday, October 11^th, 2009
16:00 – 22:00
Four Seasons Hotel
Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto
CA, USA

Tickets*

Couple	$75
Single	$50
Academia	$30
Student	$15

*Non-profit Organizational Friends Rate: $30

Cocktail Attire

Further details will be available soon...
Limited seating.
Please email PFAP-09@pavasta.com for availability.

All proceeds will benefit

Persepolis Fortification Archive Project

at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

Planning is underway to create and post an educational video on YouTube, Google Video, etc., suitable for K-12 level audience,
therefore we graciously limit the attendance of PFAP ‘09 event to 18+ age group.

Speakers

Matthew W. Stolper
Head of Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

Nema Milaninia
President of the Iranian American Bar Association

Glenn Schwartz
Professor of Archeology
Johns Hopkins University
Representative of Archaeological Institute of America

Followed by:

Roundtable Discussion
Moderated by:
Richard Saller
Dean of Humanities and Sciences
Stanford University

Partial List of Roundtable Participants:

Touraj Daryaee
Professor of the history of Iran and the Persianate World
University of California, Irvine

Renée Dreyfus
Curator in Charge of Ancient Art and Interpretation
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor Museum

Babak Hoghooghi
Executive Director
Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)

Fredun Hojabri
Former Academic Vice-President of Sharif (Aryamehr) University of Technology

Gita Kashani
Board Member
National Iranian American Council (NIAC)

Sabrina Maras
Visiting Scholar in Near Eastern Studies
White-Levy Award Recipient-Persepolis Fortification Seal Project

Dr. Ali Mousavi
Assistant Curator of Ancient Iranian & Near Eastern Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Member of Academic Committee of Farhang Foundation

Martin Schwartz
Professor of Iranian Studies
University of California, Berkeley

Related lecture...

Matthew W. Stolper

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
16:00 - 18:00
Department of Near Eastern Studies
250 Barrows Hall
University of California, Berkeley
nes@berkeley.edu

Persepolis at University of Chicago Humanities Day 2009

University of Chicago Humanities Day 2009

JOIN US SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, for a day-long feast of world-class scholarship and artistic performance as we celebrate the 31st annual Humanities Day at the University of Chicago.

SESSION III 3:30pm-4:30pm includes

NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES & CIVILIZATIONS / ORIENTAL INSTITUTE
Matthew Stolper
Recording Persian Antiquities in Crisis: The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project

Since 1936, scholars at the Oriental Institute have been studying tens of thousands of tablets excavated at Persepolis, the complex of palaces that Kings Darius and Xerxes built in the heartland of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Their results have transformed modern understanding of the languages, art, society, and institutions of the Persian Empire. But, since 2004, they have been working under a cloud of litigation that threatens the future of these tablets. This presentation discusses what the Persepolis Fortification Archive is, why it is important, and how the PFA Project is using digital tools and methods to record and publish it.

Radio Interview with Matthew Stolper

John Anderson of Marfa Public Radio KRTS 93.5 FM, Marfa TX, interviews Matthew Stolper on the Persepolis Fortification Archives Project.

Lecture: Wheaton College: "The Persepolis Fortification Texts and the Achaemenid Economy" Matthew W. Stolper

October 21, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Archaeology Lecture

"The Persepolis Fortification Texts and the Achaemenid Economy" Matthew Wolfgang Stolper, Professor of Assyriology, University of Chicago
Todd M. Beamer Center, Phelps Room, 421 Chase Street, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL
For more information, call 630.752.5886 or email

News: Iran publishes Persepolis petroglyph translations

Iran publishes Persepolis petroglyph translations, PRESSTV, Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:33:30 GMT

Iran's Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE) has published Persian translations of a number of Persepolis petroglyphs.

The inscriptions have been translated by Iranian linguist and inscriptions expert Abdolmajid Arfaei and published in a book titled Translations of Persepolis Walls.

In an interview with ISNA News Agency, Arfaei said that the book contains 164 texts translated between 1998 and 2003.

“The original texts belong to Iran's National Museum and there might still be some inscriptions which have not been translated,” Arfaei said.

“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.

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.

His Decree of Cyrus the Great is a detailed account of the inscriptions on the Cyrus Cylinder, considered to be the world's first charter of human rights.

Go to the chronicle of news on Persepolis.

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

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

Now is our chance to save the Persepolis tablets!

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

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

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

Pierre Briant books online

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

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

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

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

News: "Alla scoperta di Persepoli"

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

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

Go to the chronicle of news on Persepolis.

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

ARTA 2009.001-00: Tang-e Bulagh

ARTA 2009.001-006

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal Threats to Cultural Exchange of Archaeological Materials

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

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

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

News: Indemniser les victimes d'attentats en vendant de l'art ?

Indemniser les victimes d'attentats en vendant de l'art ?, Rue89, Par Marlene Belilos | Journaliste | 24/06/2009 | 15H50.

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.

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.

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...

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

News: The Artifacts of Life

The Artifacts of Life, By Carl Marziali, USC News Science / Technology, June 23, 2009 11:16 AM.

USC’s first pilgrims to a temple of high-energy physics will be seeking answers to worldly questions about ancient commerce.

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...

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...

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.

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.

“Looking at a text is probably the most damaging thing you can do to it,” Zuckerman said.

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

News: "The Big Apple Raises $110,000 to Protect the Persepolis Tablets "

The Big Apple Raises $110,000 to Protect the Persepolis Tablets, NIAC, Thursday, 11 June 2009.

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...

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.

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

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

News: "Victims of terrorist attack in Israel can proceed with claim for US antiquities"

Victims of terrorist attack in Israel can proceed with claim for US antiquities, The Art Newspaper. From issue 191, May 2008. Published online 1.5.08.

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.

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

Blog change

I've made a small change to the blog recently. If you're reading this in a feed reader or by email you may not it, so if that's the case, click the through to the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project blog.

In the righthand side bar is a form allowing you to receive notifications of updates to AWOL by email. This seems useful for those for whom news feeds are not. Your address will be safe. Neither we nor feedburner will send you spam. I have been testing it and I'm satisfied that it works reliably.

A. J. Cave on Cyrus

I am Kurush - part one

They say Alexander III [336-323 BCE], the Macedonian King who had defeated Dâriuš III [336-330 BCE], the Achaemenid Great King, in 3 pitched battles and savagely burned Pârsâ [Persepolis] to ashes, admired Great Kuruš [Cyrus II, the Great, 559-530 BCE] - the first Great King who had brought most of the known world under the sway of the Persians over 200 years earlier...

I am Kurush - part two

Second Isaiah's prophecy that the divine action to release the Judean exilic community in Babylon from bondage was to be through the human hands of the 'Persian Cyrus' must have come as a surprise to Judeans.

This 'Cyrus', the mythic figure of the Holy Bible, was no other than the historical King Kuruš II [559-530 BCE], namesake of his grandfather, King Kuruš I. Kuruš was given the epithet of 'Great' by the Romans of the Roman Empire centuries later and became known throughout the history of the world as the Latinized 'Cyrus the Great'...

A. J. Cave is an Iranian-American writer based in California, USA and a member of Stanford University's World Association of International Studies (WAIS). She is currently working on her second historical novel Cyrus Romance: Kuruš Nâmeh. Information about her first historical novel Roxana Romance: Rošanak Nâmeh is available at www.pavasta.com.

NIAC New York Cocktail Fundraiser to Protect the Persepolis Artifacts and Preserve our Heritage

NIAC New York Cocktail Fundraiser to Protect the Persepolis Artifacts and Preserve our Heritage

Guests of Honor*

Roger Cohen, New York Times
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
Prof. Matt Stolper, Persepolis Fortification Project

Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10021

Saturday, May 30, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm - 9:30 PM

Tickets: $150 per person ($100 is tax-deductible)

Purchase your tickets online before May 26, 2009!

Persepolis in the Oriental Institute 2003-2004 Annual Report

Oriental Institute 2003-2004 Annual Report is now online. It includes the following article:

Persepolis Fortification Tablets, By Gil J. Stein

In late April–early May 2004, I had the privilege of helping to work toward the fulfillment of a seventy-year-old promise made by the Oriental Institute to the people of Iran by returning 300 clay tablets from the larger body of Persepolis Fortification Tablets that had been on long-term loan to the Oriental Institute for study and publication. The texts on these tablets have extraordinary importance for our understanding of the Persian empire and ancient Iran...

For a report of the progress of the project four years later, see Persepolis Fortification Archive Project Annual Report 2007-2008, by Matthew W. Stolper.