Excavate!
Dr. Paul Zimansky
SUNY Stony Brook
“City of the Grim Reaper: Rediscovery and Demise at Mashkan-shapir, Iraq”
January 20, 2009 (Tuesday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH
Dr. Paul Zimansky received his undergraduate degree in Classics
at Johns Hopkins University and then did his PhD at the Univer-
sity of Chicago in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. He
has taught at UC Berkeley and Boston University before his cur-
rent position as Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History at
SUNY Stony Brook, where his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr.
Elizabeth Stone, is a Professor in the Department of Anthropol-
ogy. Prior to the outbreak of the recent wars in Iraq, Dr. Zimansky
participated in and led excavations at Nippur, Bastam, Tell Hamide,
and Mashkan-shapir, which will be the site he presents to us. Mash-
kan-shapir is approximately 100 miles southeast of Baghdad and in
its heyday was larger than the famed Sumerian city of Ur. Mashkan-
shapir was dedicated
to the deity Nergal,
the Mesopotamian
god of death, and its rulers were rivals of the famed Babylonian
king, Hammurabi. Recent satellite and aerial photography reveals
that this once thriving city that contained extensive, well-preserved
and highly significant archaeological remains has been looted on an
industrial scale.
Archaeological Institute of America – North Alabama Society Volume 18, January 2009
Dr. Paul Zimansky
Chariot artifact, Mashkan-shapir, Iraq
References
http://history.sunysb.edu/blog/paul.zimansky/
(speaker biography with
additional references).
http://www.asor.org/pubs/nea/back-issues/ba/zimansky.html
(“An Urartian
Ozymandias” by Paul Zimansky).
Elizabeth Stone and Paul Zimansky, “The Tapestry of Power in a
Mesopotamian City.”
Scientific American 272/4 (April, 1995): 92-97.
Elizabeth Stone and Paul Zimansky, “Mashkan-shapir and the
Anatomy of an Old Babylonian City.”
Biblical Archaeologist 55/4
(December, 1992): 212-218.
Page 2
Humanities Center Visiting Eminent Scholar Program
Dr. Paula Girshick
Indiana University
“Molders of the Gods: the Priestess as Artist in
the Benin Kingdom, Nigeria”
February 17, 2009 (Tuesday)
12:45 PM
Roberts Hall 419, UAH
“ ‘There Are Three Things in the Palace That
Are Threatening’: Royal Ritual Symbolism in
the Benin Kingdom, Nigeria”
February 17, 2009 (Tuesday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH
Viewing and discussion of film “In and Out of Africa”
February 18, 2009 (Wednesday)
12:30 PM
Union Grove Gallery, UAH
“National Monuments and the Re-figuration of the Past in Post-Apartheid
South Africa”
February 19, 2009 (Thursday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH
Dr. Paula Girshick comes to Huntsville as a
Humanities Center Visiting Eminent Profes-
sor. She is a Professor of Anthropology and
African Studies at Indiana University, where
she is also affiliated with the Center for Ar-
chaeology in the Public Interest. Dr. Girshick
has had a distinguished career doing signifi-
cant field research on the Benin Kingdom in
Nigeria, and analyzing the cultural, political,
and historical significance of the highly ritual-
ized royal art of the Benin. She is an expert on
the priestesses devoted to the powerful deity
Olokun. She has published significantly on
Altar to Oba Ovonramwen, c. 1914,
Benin peoples, Benin City, Nigeria
Dr. Paula Girshick
Page 3
Benin art and her book,
The Art of the Benin, published by the British
Museum Press and the Smithsonian Institution, remains the most
important survey of Benin visual culture. More recently, Dr. Girshick
has turned her attention to the use of art and museums in establishing
national identity in post-Apartheid South Africa. She also investigates
the dynamics of the South African market for so-called “traditional”
African art. At Indiana University Dr. Girshick teaches a wide range
of fascinating courses that relate to her research areas: “Art and Com-
modity,” “Exhibiting Cultures: Museums, Exhibitions, and Worlds’
Fairs,” “Theories of Material Culture,” “The Anthropology of Tour-
ism,” and “Public Art: Monuments and Memorials.”
References
http://www.indiana.edu/~anthro/people/faculty/girshick.html
(speaker biography with additional references).
Paula Girshick,
The Art of Benin, 1995.
Paula Girshick Ben-Amos,
Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Cen-
tury Benin, Indiana University Press, 1999.
Paula Ben-Amos, “Symbolism in Olokun Mud Art”,
African Studies, 6,
4 (1973), pp. 28-31 + 95.
Kate Ezra,
Royal Art of Benin: the Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art, 1992.
Suzanne P. Blier,
The Royal Arts of Africa, 1998.
A. Remer,
Enduring Visions: Women’s Artistic Heritage around the World,
Davis (2001); see material on Benin priestesses.
Charles Gore,
Art, Performance and Ritual in Benin City, 2007.
P. Ben-Amos, Artistic Creativity in [the] Benin Kingdom,
African
Arts, 1986, XIX (3): 60-63.
H. Kuklick, “Contested Monuments: The Politics of Archaeology in
Southern Africa”,
History of Anthropolog y 7, 1991, 135-169.
S. Nuttall and C. Coetzee (eds.)
Negotiating the past: The making of memory
in South Africa, 1998. See especially essays by Patricia Davison, Har-
riet Deacon and Martin Hall.
Entrance to Robben Island, South Africa
We’re Blogging!
With the help of Dr. Stephen Waring,
our blog flourishes. New archaeolo-
gy-related news articles from around
the world are posted weekly. See
photos from our recent fundraising
event, past publicity posters, and in-
formation about forthcoming speak-
ers. Recent issues of this
Excavate!
newsletter are also linked. Feel free
to post comments.
http://excavate-aia.blogspot.com/
c. 1848 shrine to Oba Osemwede
Page 4
Ret. Special Agent Robert Wittman
FBI Art Crime Team
“US vs. Art Thieves: Tales from the FBI’s
Real Indiana Jones”
March 10, 2009 (Tuesday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH
Robert K. Wittman joined the FBI as a Special Agent in 1988 and
was until a few months ago assigned to the Philadelphia Field Di-
vision. As a result of specialized training in art, antiques, jewelry
and gem identification, he served as the FBI’s investigative expert
in this field worldwide. He has been responsible for the recovery
of more than $225 million worth of stolen art and cultural prop-
erty and has been instrumental in the prosecution and conviction
of numerous individuals involved in these crimes. Because of
this unique experience, SA Wittman was the Senior Investigator
of the FBI’s rapid deployment national Art Crime Team (ACT),
working under cover in a variety of roles.
SA Wittman’s
investigation
of a theft at
the Pennsbury Manor, the historical home of William Penn,
founder of Pennsylvania, resulted in the first prosecution and
convictions under the federal Theft of Major Artwork Statute
(18 USC 668). His most recent recoveries include one of the
original 14 copies of the Bill of Rights, which is valued at $30
million. The original had been sent to North Carolina for rati-
fication in 1789 and was later stolen by a Union soldier during
the Civil War. Wittman led an international undercover opera-
tion that netted $50 million worth of paintings stolen from a
private estate in Madrid, including two paintings by Goya. He
was involved in another undercover operation responsible for
the recovery of a Rembrandt
“Self-Portrait” which was stolen
from the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm and valued at $36 million. SA
Wittman recovered three of five Norman Rockwell paintings stolen from a private
gallery in Minneapolis from a farmhouse in Brazil. Also in South America, he led
the operation to return a 2,000 year-old golden Pre-Columbian piece of body ar-
mor known as a “Backflap,” created by the ancient Moche people and looted from
the Royal Tomb of the Lord of Sipan in Peru. For his efforts, the President of
Peru awarded Wittman the “Peruvian Order of Merit for Distinguished Service.”
In 2004, the Smithsonian Institution presented SA Wittman the “Robert Burke
Memorial Award for Excellence in Cultural Property Protection” at the National
Conference on Cultural Property Protection in Washington, D.C.
References
http://www.robertwittmaninc.com/
(speaker’s web site)
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/artcrimeteam.htm
(Art Crime Team site).
Robert Wittman
Recovered Moche Backflap
Recovered Rembrandt
Self Portrait
Page 5
Dr. John E. Kelly
Washington University in St. Louis
“Cahokia’s Mound 34 and the
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex”
March 30, 2009 (Monday)
7:30 PM
Chan Auditorium, UAH
Dr. John Kelly of Washington University in St. Louis is
an expert on eastern North American archaeology, particularly Mississippian culture as evidenced at the extensive
site of Cahokia, just outside of St. Louis. Cahokia, a World Heritage UNESCO Site, possesses approximately 120
mounds, including Monk’s Mound, the largest mound in North America. It is also the location of the intriguing
“Woodhenge,” a monument that marked the solstices and equinoxes much like Stonehenge in England. Dr. Kelly
has been working frequently at Cahokia and other nearby Mississippian sites since 1969. He is interested in the role
of ritual and kinship as manifested in the imagery and the dispersal of various artifacts and techniques. This mani-
festation of Mississippian cultured is referred to as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC).
References
www.cahokiamounds.com/
http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~archae/faculty/kelly.htm
(speaker biography with additional references).
Richard Townsend, editor,
Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. Yale University Press (2004).
Benefit a Big Success!
Our recent fundraiser for next year’s lecture
series held at the Lowe House in Novem-
ber was fun, informative, and successful.
Approximately 60 members and friends of
our organization enjoyed sampling Spanish
and South American wines while perusing
and then purchasing all of the items in our
Silent Auction. We wound up our event with
a fascinating and poignant talk by member
Dr. Tom Sever, who spoke about parallels
between Mayan and modern interventions in
the environment. We raised $3400 to help bring future speakers to Huntsville.
Acknowledgements
Program Committee: Cathie Dunar, Molly Johnson, Andrée Reeves, Ruth Ann Stephens, Tim Stephens, Martha
Vines, and Barbara Wright
Speaker: Tom Sever
Volunteers: Andy Dunar, Elaine Poché, Ingrid Reck, Christine Sears, Stephen Waring
Lowe House: Margie and Dave Williams, Cynthia Doubet, Susan Garrison
Silent Auction Items: José Betancourt, Huntsville Botanical Gardens, K. Jill Johnson, Ingrid Reck, Andrée Reeves,
Ruth Ann Stephens, Tim Stephens, Terrame Spa, Townhouse Galleries, Susan Webb
Food: Costco, Rosie’s, our members
Wine Expertise: Tami Herrington of Pinnacle Imports
Monk’s Mound, Cahokia, Illinois
Dr. Tom Sever speaking at Local Society Benefit,
Lowe House, Huntsville
Page 6
Calendar of Coming Events
Dr. Paul Zimansky (Iraq)
Chan January 20, 2009
Dr. Paula Girshick (Benin)
Roberts February 17, 2009
Dr. Paula Girshick (Benin)
Chan February 17, 2009
Dr. Paula Girshick (Africa)
Union Grove February 18, 2009
Dr. Paula Girshick (South Africa)
Chan February 19, 2009
FBI SA Bob Wittman (Art Thieves)
Chan March 10, 2009
Dr. John Kelly (Cahokia)
Chan March 30, 2009
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Tut Coming to Atlanta
The National Geographic exhibition
Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the
Great Pharaohs opened in Atlanta on November 15, 2008, and runs through
May 2009. Additional information at
http://www.kingtut.org/home
.
Thank You
The Alabama Humanities Foundation
UAH Global Studies
UAH Humanities Center
UAH Humanities Center Visiting Eminent Professor Grant
UAH Women’s Studies
Point from Mound 72, Cahokia