Month: April 2010

d.m. Samuel M. Paley

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 4 Comments

Samuel M. Paley, Ph. D, an internationally known archaeologist who frequently took University at Buffalo students on digs in the Middle East, died of brain cancer March 31 in his New York City home. He was 68.

Dr. Paley, who led the most recent excavation last summer, had been on leave from the university since his illness was diagnosed before the current semester.

A professor of classics and head of Judaic studies at UB, he conducted digs in Cyprus, Israel and Turkey for more than four decades. He specialized in interpreting Assyrian reliefs and helped create a digital program that brought to life the Northwest Palace of King Ashur-nasir-pal II.

Born in Manchester, N. H., and raised in Boston, Dr. Paley received his undergraduate degree from New York University and his doctorate from Columbia University. He had a lifelong interest in ancient and modern languages.

He joined the UB classics department 33 years ago and founded the Judaic Studies program in 1992.

Dr. Paley published three books about the Northwest Palace, begining in 1976 with “King of the World: Ashur-nasir-pal II of Assyria (883-859 B. C.)” The series documented the ruins with meticulous descriptive detail and architectural renderings.

Later, in collaboration with architects and virtual reality specialists, he produced the virtual version of the museum, which can be viewed by visiting http://www.learningsites.com/ NWPalace/NWPalhome. html.

Dr. Paley also assessed the palaces of Nimrud and Nineveh for conservation projects during the Iraq War and had recently been a consultant for UNESCO World Heritage sites.

A tireless excavator and fundraiser for his projects, he helped uncover a Hellenistic sanctuary and late Bronze Age remains on the Phlamoudhi plain in Cyprus, and he participated in several digs at Tel Nagilah, Tel Arad and Tel Dan in Israel.

He later became co-director of research on early, middle and late Bronze Age settlements in west-central Israel and was part of two projects that explored 6,000 years of civilization in central Turkey.

“Unwavering in the search for excellence and knowledge,” and an entertaining speaker, Dr. Paley mentored hundreds of students and was deeply respected by scholars around the world, his family said.

He was religious director of Temple Emanu-El in Batavia.

Surviving are his wife, Barbara “Bobbi” Koz Paley; three daughters, Raquel, Michal and Avital Lazar-Paley; a stepson, Jamie Koz; and two brothers, David and Norman.

Services were Friday in Manhattan’s Central Synagogue.

via Samuel M. Paley, noted archaeologist, UB professor | The Buffalo News.

Addendum: Dr Paley is also survived by two sons-in-law and three grandchildren.

Roman pots found off Italy’s coast

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Not sure how you stumble underwater but …

Researchers have stumbled upon a collection of rare Roman pots while scouring ship wrecks off the Italian coast of Capo Palinuro, near Policastro.

The British team from the Aberdeen-based Hallin Marine International energy company found hundreds of ancient pots 1,640ft under the sea while trawling modern wrecks for radioactive materials.

Five of the 2,000 year-old vessels were recovered intact and taken to an archaeology museum in the northern Italian city of Paestum, mailonline reported.

“They would have probably been loaded on some kind of merchant ship which sank all those years ago,” said team supervisor Dougie Combe.

“It was a big surprise when we came across the pots as we were looking for modern wrecks from the last 20 years or so,” he added.

“We managed to get five up altogether, but there must have been hundreds of them there.”

via Roman pots found off Italy’s coast | Press TV.

More Coverage:

Harpocrates in ‘Devotion and Ritual’ Exhibition

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
Statuette en argent représentant Harpocrate, é...
Image via Wikipedia

Nice little feature, but lacking a photo (the one accompanying this post is not the one mentioned in the article):

Today, the Keith and Zara Joseph Collection goes on public display for the first time in the Potter Museum’s classic and archaeology gallery as part of an exhibition called Devotion and Ritual.

Before the exhibition’s opening its curator, Andrew Jamieson, showed some of the works that were, at that point, still stacked away in storage. He donned white gloves, opened the lid of an ordinary-looking box and from it gently removed a bronze statuette of Harpocrates from Alexandria, dated from around the 1st century BC.

“For me this is magnificent,” says Jamieson, “a wonderful example of a Roman bronze miniature statuette. It all comes together in a powerful way to make this a real standout example of Roman culture.

“It portrays all the hallmarks of Roman civilisation.”

Harpocrates was the Greek and Roman god of silence and secrecy but he originated with the Egyptians. After the Greeks conquered Egypt under Alexander the Great, the Greeks merged the Egyptian sun god Horus into their own god, who became known as Harpocrates.

Statuettes of Harpocrates were in demand throughout the Roman Empire when mystery cults and oriental religions became increasingly popular. Because of this popularity, images of Harpocrates were manufactured and mass produced. They were made either from inexpensive mould-made terracotta, suitable for house shrines, or from bronze, becoming in-demand cabinet pieces for wealthy connoisseurs.

“Unlike terracotta, works in bronze were considered luxury arts and they would have been treasured by their wealthy owners,” says Jamieson. “The small bronze statuette of Harpocrates was probably intended for personal use. Very high prices were paid for good specimens, especially when they were the work of well-known craftsmen. The fact precious objects were hoarded by the Roman elite accounts for their survival, in something like their original condition.”

According to Jamieson, in Egyptian representations of Harpocrates the god is often presented as a naked boy with his finger on or near his mouth, which indicates childhood. But the Greeks and Romans misunderstood this gesture and made Harpocrates the god of silence and secrecy.

Jamieson points out that Harpocrates is depicted as the child of the Egyptian gods Isis and Horus. Harpocrates is wearing a crown: the crown of the unification of upper and lower Egypt. In his left hand is a cornucopia, a symbol of abundance and plenty. His right hand is raised, with the finger pointing towards his cheek or lips.

“During the classical period and into ancient Rome, the deity of Harpocrates enjoyed a resurgence of interest, along with the cult of Isis,” says Jamieson. “So this is a really wonderful work in that we can learn so much about that time from the one figure.”

via Public Works: Bronze statuette of Harpocrates | The Australian.