rogueclassicism

Sicilia, i beni culturali finisco all’asta Traffico di reperti rubati su E-bay – Interni – ilGiornale.it del 12-03-2010

Seems the Carabinieri have to keep an eye on eBay again … the following article details the online auction site’s use by antiquities smuggler types in Sicily. This case had close to 600 ancient coins being offered:

E’ difficile vincere la guerra contro i “tombaroli” e, più in generale, contro chi trae profitto dalla vendita illegale di reperti storici e archelogici. Le forze dell’ordine sono impegnate attivamente sul campo e, periodicamente, si ha notizia di sequestri di opere d’arte, più o meno famose, che finiscono in un sotterraneo mercato illegale, in Italia ma anche all’estero. Ora questo traffico è ancor più robusto di un tempo, perché può giovarsi di uno strumento in più: il web. I moderni “tombaroli”, infatti, lavorano sul web. La denuncia arriva dalla Sicilia.

Traffico sgominato Un colossale traffico di compravendita su E-bay di reperti archeologici rubati – circa 600 pezzi, quasi tutti monete greche, romane, bizantine e arabo-normanne è stato sventato dai carabinieri del Nucleo tutela patrimonio culturale della Sicilia. Su internet, infatti, era possibile acquistare 576 monete antiche in bronzo e argento, la più pregiata delle quali, una moneta di epoca tardo-antica, costava attorno ai cento euro. I carabinieri hanno effettuato quattro perquisizioni domiciliari e quattro persone sono state denunciate per impossessamento illecito di beni culturali appartenenti allo Stato. Tutti i reperti recuperati saranno consegnati alla locale Soprintendenza.

Traffico sul web È solo l’ultimo di una serie ormai preoccupante di traffici illeciti di beni archeologici siciliani su E-bay, sventati anche grazie alla collaborazione degli stessi gestori del famoso sito di aste online. Nel 2005 fece scalpore il sequestro di oltre 9.000 reperti in vendita sul web, con la denuncia di 25 persone, che per la prima volta mise in luce un fenomeno dilagante. Non a caso, dopo l’ultimo episodio, a lanciare l’allarme è l’assessore ai Beni Culturali della Regione Gaetano Armao, che invoca “una vera e propria tolleranza zero contro i trafugamenti ed il commercio clandestino di reperti del nostro straordinario patrimonio culturale”.

Affari più facili In passato, ricorda Armao, “i tombaroli e i ladri di reperti dovevano andare oltreoceano per tentare di vendere la refurtiva a qualche collezionista privato, e spesso questi oggetti finivano poi ai grandi musei americani, come nel caso dell’Afrodite di Morgantina conservata per anni al Getty Museum e che siamo riusciti recentemente a riottenere. Ma oggi per i malviventi è più facile: basta mettere inserzioni su internet, e sperare di farla franca”.

Una norma più severa Per questo l’assessore annuncia: “Intendo riproporre alla giunta regionale la proposta che avevo già formulato qualche mese fa: ovvero estendere la norma, che già opera contro i mafiosi, sulla costituzione di parte civile obbligatoria nei processi contro ladri e trafficanti di reperti archeologici. Spesso infatti gli interessi dei trafficanti di opere d’arte si intrecciano con quelli della criminalità mafiosa”.

via Sicilia, i beni culturali finisco all’asta Traffico di reperti rubati su E-bay – Interni – ilGiornale.it del 12-03-2010.

See also:

• Scoperta vendita illegale su Ebay di reperti archeologici rubati | Sicilia Today

Middle School Latin Program in Peril!

Seen on Latinteach (please send any responses to the folks mentioned in the quoted text, not to rogueclassicism!):

Dear Colleagues,
I would like to ask your help in saving our Latin program at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School in Bridgewater, NJ. Due to extreme budget cuts, our Board of Ed. is considering eliminating the 2 years of middle school Latin in our district at the end of this year. This will also eliminate one of our teacher positions. It will leave our current 7th graders with nowhere to go next year, & will probably also eliminate the possibility of students reaching the AP level, since they must now begin Latin in 9th grade. Our district is currently experiencing unprecedented cuts; currently over 116 staff have lost their jobs in the first round of cuts, & more are anticipated in a second round this week when Governor Christie announces cuts to municipal budgets.

We used to be a K-12 world language district, with 6 languages offered from the 6-12 grades. Now only Spanish survives at the lower levels & Latin would reduce down to only HS level. IF A THIRD ROUND OF CUTS BECOMES NECESSARY, IT IS MY FEAR THAT THE ENTIRE LATIN PROGRAM WILL BE ELIMINATED.

Therefore, would you please consider e-mailing your support of our Latin program to any of the Board members whose e-mails are located on the "BOE" link at:
http://www.brrsd.k12.nj.us

There is also a Superintendent’s link, where I believe you can e-mail him, as well. I am hoping that by the time of our next board meeting, your e-mails of support will have filled their in-boxes! Thank you so much.

Your grateful colleague,

Dr. Kimberle Gray
Latin teacher
Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Schools

Citanda: Aeschylus’ Persians

Over at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen, Rufus has some more thoughts for us:

• Aeschylus, “The Persians” & war and blasphemy | The League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

CFP: Etruscan Literacy in its Social Context

Seen on Rome-arch (please send any responses to the folks mentioned in the quoted text, not to rogueclassicism!):

Etruscan Literacy in its social context

Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, 22-23 September 2010

The social impact of literacy in early societies is a topic which has been
the subject of much recent research. In the study of ancient Italy,
specifically, new discoveries and new analyses of Etruscan inscriptions have
flourished in recent years. However, many of these studies have focused
primarily on epigraphic and linguistic aspects. Although this conference
aims to contribute to these studies, its aim is to move away from issues of
linguistic and morphological analysis and concentrate instead specifically
on the social context of writing in the Etruscan world. We will examine the
social and cultural impact of the adoption of writing, and will address
themes such as how we can define literacy and assess how widespread it was;
what groups adopted literacy, and what the social purposes of reading and
writing were. The conference will examine these issues from a range of
perspectives, and in the context not only of Etruria itself, but of the
Etruscan world as a whole, within the general context of Italy in the first
millennium BC. Examples of questions we would like to address are:

Writers and readers among the Etruscans: Was literacy restricted by class,
gender, age or any other social parameter? Were the people who did the
inscribing (potters, metal-workers, stone-carvers etc) fully literate or
not? What was the relationship between those who composed or commissioned
texts and those who inscribed them? How was writing taught and transmitted?

The social purposes of Etruscan writing: Were inscriptions meant to be read
and, if so, by whom? Was writing used for single or multiple purposes,
practical or symbolic? Was it used to convey everyday messages and, if so,
between living people or between the living and the dead/divine? Were the
messages conveyed by the content of the writing, by the material employed,
by the use and location of the artefact or monument, or by combinations of
all of these?

Writing and identity formation: The creation and reinforcement of identities
at different levels – individual, kin group, community, supra-community – is
characteristic of state societies. How might Etruscan writing, and
particularly the practice of naming, have contributed to these processes?

The organisers, Kathryn Lomas, Ruth Whitehouse and John Wilkins, invite
papers that address any of these issues or related themes. We particularly
welcome contributions that trace changes in any of these aspects through
time or compare their development in different areas of the Etruscan world.
Abstracts (no more than 500 words) should be send to both Ruth Whitehouse
(R.Whitehouse AT ucl.ac.uk) and Kathryn Lomas (K.Lomas AT ucl.ac.uk) by April 30th
2010.

Dr Kathryn Lomas, FSA
Honorary Senior Research Associate
Institute of Archaeology
UCL

Cyrus I’s (maybe) Tomb Threatened

From CAIS:

Construction by local residents, ignored by the authority has imperiled an Achaemenid tomb, believed to be the tomb of Cyrus I, the Achaemenid king and son of Teispes and grandfather of Cyrus II the Great, near the village of Tang-e Eram in Bushehr Province.

Experts have demarcated a 100-meter perimeter for the site, which was registered on the National Heritage List in 1997, the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Any construction done on this perimeter is illegal, however, construction of buildings has increased in the vicinity of the boundary.

The first breach of the site’s perimeter was done by the Islamic Republic regional electrical supplier when they installed a power line some 4 meters from the tomb a few years ago.

Known as Gur-Dokhtar (the burial of Daughter) by the local people, the site was discovered in 1960 by Belgian archaeologist Louis Vandenberg, who believed the tomb belonged to Cyrus I.

In addition, a number of experts have said that Mandane, mother of Cyrus the Great, is buried at the site, but other scholars believe that the tomb belongs to Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great and the wife and Queen of Darius the Great.

Built of 24 pieces of stone, the structure is very similar in architecture to the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae in Fars Province. However, it is several times smaller than the Cyrus the Great mausoleum. The tomb is 4.5 meters in height and contains a small pool.

A team of Iranian experts led by Hassan Rahsaz conducted a series of restoration efforts on the structure in early 2000’s.

via Illegal Construction Threatening The Achaemenid Tomb in Bushehr | CAIS-SOAS.

Citanda: Greek Podcast

Evan Millner turns from Latin to Greek:

First Steps in Ancient Greek.

DIG: Roman Binchester Excavations and Field School

Seen on Romarch (please send any responses to the folks mentioned in the quoted text, not to rogueclassicism!):

VINOVIUM 2010 – The Binchester Excavation Project

Season dates: July 4, 2010 – July 31, 2010

Application Deadline: April 15, 2010

This brand new major archaeological project is currently seeking enthusiastic excavation volunteers to work in a part of the Roman frontier that includes Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site. The Binchester Roman Town Excavation Project is excavating the fort and expansive town near Durham, located in one of the richest archaeological landscapes in the world.

Known to the Romans as Vinovium (“On the Wine Road”), Binchester protected Dere Street, the main road that ran from the legionary headquarters at York northwards to Hadrian’s Wall. It was a key element of the complex frontier system that lay on both sides of the Wall, forming the edge of empire for nearly four hundred years. Previous excavation has so far uncovered the best preserved Roman bath house in the UK and some of the most impressive mausolea seen on a Roman site for 150 years; geophysical survey reveals a large town that stayed thriving long after the empire fell; across the river at Escomb is one of the oldest churches in Britain, built from the stones of Binchester in the 7th century, still standing as a reminder of the kingdom of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, the heartland of Celtic Christianity and land of Arthurian romance.

The project represents an international partnership between scholars at Stanford University (USA) and Durham University (UK). Volunteers will spend 4 weeks excavating, processing artifacts, and visiting key archaeological sites in this area of the Hadrian’s Wall frontier zone.

The cost of $ 4,000 (USD) covers housing in the medieval town of Durham, all meals, archaeological instruction, and weekend field trips. Flights and travel to Durham are not included. Academic accreditation is possible (contact us for details).

To apply and learn more about the Binchester project, please see our website at http://humanitieslab.stanford.edu/Binchester/Home