Announcements

2.3.23 – ASOR Collections Fellowship Report

In November of 2022, Matthew Suriano traveled to Paris to study the collection of Charles Clermont-Ganneau in the Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS) at the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (AIBL) / Institut de France. While there he worked through Clermont-Gannaeu's material with Maria Gorea, the director of the Cabinet du CIS. The collection consisted of papier-mâché squeezes, photographs, drawings, and papers (notes, letters, and drafts of reports). Research into this material provided insight into Clermont-Ganneau's efforts to acquire the two inscriptions from Silwan in 1870–1871 as well as his ongoing work in translating the inscriptions, which were ultimately unsuccessful. 

Read more about it in the report published in ASOR News, January, 2023.

1.18.23 – Lecture by Matthew Suriano

If you are in the DC-area, you can hear Matthew Suriano lecture on the project, "Exploring a Forgotten Tomb: The Royal Steward Inscriptions & Their Settings," for the Biblical Archaeology Forum .

12.18.22 – Social Media Outreach

Our project has launched multiple social media and online open-media accounts as part of our public engagement. Follow us on Mastodon, our account is @mmo_vas@archaeo.social, where we will share news regarding the project's progress. On Flickr our display name is "Monoliths of the Mount of Olives." There we plan to share photographs, maps, and other images featured in our ongoing research. Towards this end, we have also set up an account with Wikimedia Commons under the user name "MMO:VAS Monoliths." This is an important step for our project, as it will aid us in organizing our archival research in the commons. We also plan to upload into Wikimedia images produced through our work and research over the next several years. As we move into the new year, we look forward to sharing more about our research.

10.15.22 – New article in Near Eastern Archaeology

Recently the project's first article appeared in Near Eastern Archaeology 85.3 (September 2022). “Rediscovering the Royal Steward Inscription: A Photographic Study,” co-authored by Matthew Suriano and Chris McKinny, identifies a small group of photographs that show the Royal Steward Inscription in situ, prior to its removal from Silwan by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in 1871. 

One of the photographs discussed in the article, taken of Silwan in 1858 by Francis Frith, shows the embossed frame of the inscription along with the distinctive beam hole. Although it is too distant to make out any of the writing, the photograph is important because it establishes a viewshed for Monolith-1 and its monumental inscription. The article also includes the first publication of a photograph taken of Charles Clermont-Ganneau just before the two inscriptions were removed from the monolith's façade. Although Clermont-Ganneau mentions the photograph in a footnote in Volume 1 of his Archæological Researches (1899: 307), the picture remained in his unpublished papers in Paris. The digital image of the photograph, published in the article, was made by Matthieu Richelle in May of 2020. It is the only known photograph of the two inscriptions on Monolith-1 taken up-close.

We extend our thanks to Prof. Richelle. We would also like to thank Christian Robin of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres for his generous permission to publish this and other images from Clermont-Ganneau's collection in the Cabinet du Corpus inscriptionum semiticarum. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the assistance we received from Stephanie Herrmann of the Reiss-Engellhorn-Museen, as well as Bruce Nielsen of the Library at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, the University of Pennsylvania, and Micah Messenheimer of the Library of Congress.

9.27.22 – London research, summer of 2022

In July 27–29, our research team was in London to work on the inscriptions from Monolith-1, including the Royal Steward Inscription. This work involved laser scanning the inscriptions, which the museum did at our request. We were also able to do research in the museum’s archives. Our archival research included a day at the Palestine Exploration Fund, which was barely enough time to scratch the surface of their incredible collection of historic photographs. Our thanks to everyone in London, particularly Jamie Fraser at the British Museum and Felicity Cobbing at the PEF. We hope to see you again in 2023!