Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 06-Nov-2015
Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2
‘Nineveh has been ravaged! Who will console her?’: The Most Recent Destruction of the Assyrian Empire in the Wake of the Syrian Conflict
Description:
With the rise of ISIL in the midst of a destabilized Syria, archaeological sites and materials have increasingly become the target of hostile actions and their destruction has come to be part of the larger discourse surrounding the political situation. This talk will look in particular at the site of Nimrud, which was recently destroyed by ISIL. Excavated by Austen Henry Layard in the 19th century, the city was initially misidentified as Nineveh and the unearthing of its fabulous palace spurred interest in Mesopotamian archaeology. The excavation of the site will be recounted and the some of the major finds shall be surveyed. The talk shall explore some of the public discourse that emerged around the site and how the archaeological findings became part of the larger public imagination of ancient times. The destruction of the site by ISIL shall be documented and larger issues surrounding the plight of archaeological materials in unstable political environments shall be discussed.
About the speaker:
Kevin McGeough is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Lethbridge. He is the author of numerous books including a three-volume series called The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century, published by Sheffield Phoenix Press. He was the editor of ASOR’s Archaeological Report Series for six years and is currently the editor of The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Location:
Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.
