Since the first issue of Mār Šiprim, we have received a lot of positive feedback from our readers. Thank you very much for your support! For this second issue, we have tried our best to keep up with the first. It has been organized in the same way as before, through some recurring sections: In the Field, In the Spotlight, IAA-Initiatives and Recent Publications. On top of these themes, this issue contains three other articles. As usual, our stories originate from all over the world.
Archive | Issue 2013-2
DUSANE VII
Last Saturday, April 14th, the Dutch Symposium of the Ancient Near East (DUSANE) was held at the Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. It was the seventh DUSANE to be organized since its first edition in 2006. This symposium focuses on everything Near Eastern, from archaeology to assyriology. ‘DUSANE aims to highlight Dutch research on the Ancient Near East and brings together scholars, students and others interested in the Ancient Near East, in an interdisciplinary way’, as it was said in the programme-booklet. Every year, archaeology and assyriology students from the University of Leiden come together to organize this student initiative. Though it has become more difficult over the years to find students interested in organizing such an event, they have been able to put together a nice committee. Meliantha Lelieveld, Laurens Jansen, Sarah-Jayne Nogarede, Bernard Kemperman, Iris Houtdijk and Twan Peters have sacrificed their precious time to give Dutch scholars and students a chance to present their research.
IAA-Initiatives: Save money on Rencontre entrance-fees and other information
Important information about Rencontre discount for IAA-members, the IAA-Prize and the De Gruyter Dissertation Award
British Museum Blockbuster “Mesopotamia” Coming to the Royal Ontario Museum This Summer
From Juli 2013 to Januari 2014, The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Ontario will be welcoming the ‘Mesopotamia’ exhibit, in cooperation with the British Museum. The ROM’s own ‘Catastrophe!’-exhibit will shed light on the modern day state of this Ancient Culture.
In The Spotlight: California
Do you sometimes have the feeling, that although you know and have met people from all over the world, you miss really understanding how they live? To broaden the international aspects of the IAA and to bring understanding among the different continents, every issue the Mār Šiprim Newsletter will pay special attention to one specific location where the Near-East is being studied. The insight will be achieved by conducting an interview with both a student and a scholar from that specific country. For our second issue we have asked the United States to answer a few questions for us. Professor Niek Veldhuis and Ph.D-Student Jay Crisostomo from Berkeley University in California are in the spotlight!
The New Vorderasiatisches Museum
By: Prof. Dr. Joachim Marzahn, head-curator of the Tablet Collection at the Vorderasiatisches Museum
Since the news was spread some time ago by jack.m.sasson @ gmail.com many may have heard that the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin has moved. Now it has two addresses: one address remains the Museum Island in Berlin (but now without mailbox), because the exhibition is still there and can be visited. For visitors and tourists nothing will change, but for visitors of the department, specialists etc. the following address is now important: Vorderasiatisches Museum, Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 6, 10117 Berlin.
In The Field: A French Archaeological Project in Qasr Shemamok, Kurdistan, Iraq
By: Olivier Rouault, Director and Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault, Associate Director
Qasr Shemamok, a large site covering more than 70 hectares, is well-known in the landscape of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is situated about 30 km southwest of Erbil, close to the village of Tarjan on the road to Gwer and to the Tigris bank. Formed by a steep tell, an acropolis more than 30 meters higher than the plain, and a lower tell limited by urban walls, it is surrounded by a much larger anthropic surface marked by different ancient occupations In the 19th century, after the visit of this region by Layard, the site was identified as the remains of the ancient city of Kakzu (or Kilizu/Kilizi).
Recent Publications: January 2013 – April 2013
De Backer, F. L’art du siège néo-assyrien. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 61. Brill: Leiden & Boston 2013. De Graef, K. and Tavernier, J. (eds) Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives. Proceedings of the International Congress held at Ghent University, December 14-17, 2009. Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse […]