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Learning Intentions:
Success Criteria:
Use chapter 6 Antiquity.
Problems associated with reconstructing the past through archaeological evidence, for example in relation to understanding ancient customs and religious beliefs
How have sources survived?
Draw a table with the following headings:
Preserved by chance; Preserved on purpose
Brainstorm types of artefacts, buildings, remains (human and physical) that would have been preserved by chance or on purpose.
What types of sources may have been deliberately destroyed?
Source A - archaeological evidence
Excavation of a Roman gladiator cemetery in York, England
Describe what you see in Source A.
What evidence can be gained from Source A?
What questions do historians ask of sources?
Questions should an archaeologist asks of physical remains.
.How old is the body?
.Is it a burial or are there signs of foul play?
.What is the cause of death? Accident, disease, murder, sacrifice? Any injuries?
.Has is been preserved or mummified?
.Analyse the body: ie last meal? body decoration such as tattoos, personal items, clothing? tools or weapons that might shed light on the history and death
.Are the bones human or animal?
.Examine internal organs,,bones,teeth, hair, DNA
.Gauge maturity, determine age, sex, height, build, general health, lifestyle and whether any injuries happened before death
.Genetic mutations, familial relations, migration patterns, blood groups and infections in ancient remains
.What materials are any artefacts made from and where did they come from?
.Confirm or refute previous held historical beliefs
Use the questions to interrogate the Source A above.
Compare your responses with your original responses to this source.
Below are two examples of archaeological sources: marble Cycladic figurines and the Mildenhall Great Dish. Interrogate each of these sources using the six questions to ask of sources.
The Cycladic figurines are human shaped marble sculptures which were found in the Cycladic Islands of Greece. They have been dated to the Bronze Age and provide much information about the Greek culture of that time. However complete understanding of the of the figurines still remains speculative.
You be the archaeologist
In groups research one example of an archaeological source.
Interrogate the source using the Checklist for archaeological sources (pages 25-7).
Each group will present their findings to the class.
Who owns the past?
Who owns the past?
The issue of ownership and custodianship of the past became prominent in the second half of the 20th century as countries sought to regain control of their own heritage.
The issue of ownership and custodianship of the past became prominent in the second half of the 20th century as countries sought to regain control of their own heritage.
Closer study of four examples shown below.
Closer study of four examples shown below.
Below is the Nefertiti Bust, Elgin marbles, Rosetta Stone and the Assyrian collection at the British Museum.
Below is the Nefertiti Bust, Elgin marbles, Rosetta Stone and the Assyrian collection at the British Museum.
In pairs research how each one of these examples were acquired and where they are housed now?
Outline the arguments the country of origin have put forward for their return?
What rights does a country have to ownership of artefacts found in that country? Why is it important?
Outline the arguments of the museums for keeping them?
Plan their return. Which way do you do think would be most successful? Persuasion, trickery or theft?
Research how would the law respond now days to theft? How does that compare to the past?
Which object or collection do feel most angry about? Which example is the hardest to justify?
Class debate/discussion justify your choices.
More on the Assyrian Collection-
More on the Assyrian Collection-
Assyrian Artefacts from Iraq
The Assyrian artefacts from Iraq were acquired (stolen?) by the British Museum from Iraq in the mid-19th Century, largely as a result of the archaeological work on Sir Austen Henry Layard. As well as the British Museum, there are Assyrian artefacts spread throughout the world in museums and private collections. The other most significant collection is housed in the Louvre in Paris.
Extract from the British Museum website regarding acquisition of the Assyrian collection:
The collection was dramatically enlarged in the mid-nineteenth century following A.H. Layard’s (1817-94) excavations at the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh. At Nimrud, Layard found the state apartments of the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, as well as three other palaces and various temples.
In the Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh he opened ‘no less than seventy-one halls, chambers and passages, whose walls, almost without an exception, had been panelled with slabs of sculptured alabaster recording the wars, the triumphs, and the great deeds of the Assyrian king.'
These excavations produced large numbers of stone bas-reliefs, stelae, including the Black obelisk of Shalmaneser III, gigantic gateway figures and an assortment of small finds. Layard's work was continued by his local assistant, Hormuzd Rassam, who went on to discover the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh and its many reliefs, including the famous Royal Lion Hunt series. Layard and Rassam discovered the remains of the Library of Ashurbanipal, the oldest surviving royal library in the world and perhaps the single most important group of cuneiform tablets ever found.
Nineveh history.
The legality of the removal of Assyrian artefacts from Iraq is not as controversial as that of the Parthenon marbles. There has been no call from Iraq for their return.
The British Museum has been custodian of many of the Assyrian artefacts for over 150 years allowing them to be documented, studied and conserved. The Assyrian galleries within the British Museum allow the public to enjoy these works.
Problems of removal of artefacts from the original sites:
The context of the artefact is lost. The significance of a lamassu (a protective deity in the shape of a human-headed winged bull or lion) is much clearer if it can be seen as one of a pair at the entrance of a throne room, rather than on display in a museum.
Both the English and French excavations in the 19th century sought large and impressive items for their collections. Many smaller pieces were abandoned on site to be scavenged by locals and either destroyed or sold on the black market with no reference to the context of the object.
The artefacts are dispersed throughout the world in dozens of museums. It is difficult to make a thorough study of all the artefacts because of their wide dispersal.
The safety of objects depends on the security of the country in which they are held. Objects in Iraqi museums have suffered considerable damage over the past twelve years. Iraq is not the only country to suffer war damage. During World War I portable objects were removed from the British Museum for fear of German bombing. During World War II the entire collection was relocated. Parts of the museum were damaged during air raids.
Should the Assyrian artefacts be returned to Iraq?
Destruction of archaeological sources
What is the fate of artefacts that remained in Iraq and of the ancient Assyrian sites within Iraq?
Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1831. After World War One, in which the Ottomans were defeated, the Britishtook control of Iraq until independence was granted in 1932. A revolution brought an end to the monarchy in 1958 and in 1968 a further revolution brought the Ba’ath Party into power. The Ba’ath Party soon came under the control of Saddam Hussein, whose dictatorship lasted until the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Since then, the government of Iraq has had difficulty maintaining control over the whole country. The most recent, and most serious, challenge to its authority has come with the rise of ISIS which at present controls large parts of northern and western Iraq.
After World War I, the Iraqis, led by an American archaeologist, Gertrude Bell, began to ensure that major findings from archaeological excavations remained in Iraq. The collection was housed in a new building, the Baghdad Antiquities Museum, in 1926. In 1966 a new building was opened for the growing collection, and was called the National Museum of Iraq. The museum holds one of the greatest collections of antiquities from over 5,000 years of settlement in the Cradle of Civilisation. The museum has rarely been open to the public since the Iran-Iraq war beginning in 1980. In 2003, significant looting of the collections took place during the American invasion of Iraq. Many objects have been returned and the museum was officially reopened in 2015.
The looting of the Iraq National Museum in 2003
In the immediate aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of the Ba’ath Party, there was a power vacuum in Baghdad, during which time the Iraq National Museum, home to the main collection of Iraqi antiquities, was looted.
Read the following account of the looting:
Looting of the Iraq National Museum
What measures were taken by the Iraqis prior to the invasion to ensure the protection of the museum artefacts?
What measures were taken by the Americans when planning the invasion to limit damage to cultural property?
What loses were suffered by the museum and how much has been restored?
The greater threat to Iraqi (and world) cultural heritage has come from the rise of ISIS. In 2014 the group took control of Mosul in northern Iraq, the area which was the centre of the ancient Assyrian Empire and which contains the archaeological sites of ancient Assyria.
In February 2015, ISIS posted videos showing the destruction of artefacts within the Mosul Museum.
The Guardian report of the destruction of the Mosul Museum.
Destruction of the Mosul Museum
Destruction of Nimrud
Read The Guardian account of the destruction of Nimrud
News report of the destruction of Nimrud
Read the Aljazeera report on the reopening of the Iraq National Museum.
Taking into account the problems in Iraq over the last 20 years, answer the following question again:
Should the Assyrian artefacts be returned to Iraq?
Investigate the ancient site of Palmyra.
Why is it important?
What happened to this site?
What do you think should be done?
Read the embedded article and explain why does the Smithsonian Institute say we should n't worry?
What issues does this highlight concerning ancient sites?
The Buddha of Banyan was destroyed by the Taliban.There were two 6th-century monumental statues of Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in Afganhastan. They were respectively 35 and 53 m high. They were blown up and destroyed in March 2001 when the Taliban declared that they were idols. An envoy visiting the United States in the following weeks said that they were destroyed to protest international aid exclusively reserved for statue maintenance while Afghanistan was experiencing famine. International opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas.
Consider this resurrection of the Bamyan Buddha.
What purpose does it serve?
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