Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East : Sites, Cultures, and Proveniences

1095 Pages·2013·21.35 MB·English

by  Oscar White Muscarella

Archaeology, Artifacts and
Antiquities of the Ancient Near East
Culture and History of the
Ancient Near East
FoundingEditor
M.H.E.Weippert
Editor-in-Chief
ThomasSchneider
Editors
EckartFrahm(YaleUniversity)
W.RandallGarr(UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara)
B.Halpern(PennsylvaniaStateUniversity)
TheoP.J.vandenHout(OrientalInstitute)
IreneJ.Winter(HarvardUniversity)
VOLUME62
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/chan
Archaeology, Artifacts and
Antiquities of the Ancient Near East
Sites, Cultures, and Proveniences
By
OscarWhiteMuscarella
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2013
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Muscarella,OscarWhite.
Archaeology,artifactsandantiquitiesoftheancientNearEast:sites,cultures,andproveniences/
byOscarWhiteMuscarella.
p.cm.
ISBN978-90-04-23666-0(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-23669-1(e-book)1.Middle
East–Antiquities.2.Excavations(Archaeology)–MiddleEast.3.MiddleEast–Civilization–To622.4.
Iran–Antiquities.5.Excavations(Archaeology)–Iran.6.Turkey–Antiquities.7.Excavations
(Archaeology)–Turkey–Gordion(Extinctcity)8.Forgeryofantiquities.I.Title.
DS56.M8482013
939.4–dc23
2013006440
Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100
characterscoveringLatin,IPA,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitablefor
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ISSN1566-2055
ISBN978-90-04-23666-0(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-23669-1(e-book)
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CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................ 1
PARTONE
SITESANDEXCAVATIONS
SectionOne.Iran
1. TheTumuliatSéGirdan:APreliminaryReport .................... 9
2. TheTumuliatSéGirdan:SecondReport........................... 43
3. TheChronologyandCultureofSéGirdan:PhaseIII ............... 83
4. Qalatgah:AnUrartianSiteinNorthwesternIran................... 97
5. ExcavationsatAgrabTepe,Iran .................................... 109
6. TheIronAgeatDinkhaTepe,Iran.................................. 161
7. WarfareatHasanluintheLate9thCenturybc..................... 255
8. TheHasanluLionPinsAgain....................................... 285
9. TheExcavationofHasanlu:AnArchaeologicalEvaluation......... 305
10. TheIranianIronIIIChronologyatMuweilahintheEmirateof
Sharjah ............................................................. 351
11. TheLocationofUlhuandUisˇeinSargonII’sEighthCampaign,
714bc............................................................... 369
12. SurkhDumatTheMetropolitanMuseumofArt:AMini-Report... 389
13. North-WesternIran:BronzeAgetoIronAge ....................... 459
14. Jiroftand“Jiroft-Aratta”:AReviewArticleofYousefMadjidzadeh,
Jiroft:TheEarliestOrientalCivilization.............................. 485
15. SargonII’s8thCampaign:AnIntroductionandOverview.......... 523
SectionTwo.Anatolia
16. KingMidas’TumulusatGordion................................... 533
17. TheIronAgeBackgroundtotheFormationofthePhrygianState.. 549
18. TheDateoftheDestructionoftheEarlyPhrygianPeriodat
Gordion ............................................................ 569
19. AgainGordion’sEarlyPhrygianDestructionDate:ca.700+/-bc... 601
20. UrartianMetalArtifacts:AnArchaeologicalReview ............... 621
vi contents
PARTTWO
ARTIFACTS,CULTURES,FORGERIES,ANDPROVENIENCE
SectionOne.TheAegeanandtheAncientNearEast
21. TheArchaeologicalEvidenceforRelationsbetweenGreeceand
IranintheFirstMillenniumbc..................................... 655
22. UrartianBellsandSamos........................................... 689
23. KingMidasofPhrygiaandtheGreeks.............................. 703
24. GreekandOrientalCauldronAttachments:AReview ............. 725
SectionTwo.Artifacts
25. FibulaeRepresentedonSculpture.................................. 767
26. PhrygianorLydian? ................................................ 783
27. FibulaeandChronology,MarlikandAssur......................... 803
28. ParasolsintheAncientNearEast .................................. 817
SectionThree.TheAntiquitiesMarketandthePlunderCulture
29. ThePopeandtheBitterFanatic .................................... 827
30. TheAntiquitiesTradeandtheDestructionofAncientNear
EasternCultures.................................................... 837
31. TheFifthColumnwithintheArchaeologicalRealm:TheGreat
Divide .............................................................. 861
SectionFour.Forgeries
32. BazaarArchaeology ................................................ 879
33. ExcavatedintheBazaar:Ashurbanipal’sBeaker.................... 889
34. VonBissing’sMemphisStela:AProductofCulturalTransfer? ...... 901
35. GudeaornotGudeainNewYorkandDetroit:Ancientor
Modern?............................................................ 915
36. TheVeracityof“Scientific”TestingbyConservators................ 931
SectionFive.ForgeriesofArchaeologicalProvenience
37. “Ziwiye”andZiwiye:TheForgeryofaProvenience................. 955
38. MedianArtandMedizingScholarship ............................. 999
39. MuseumConstructionsoftheOxusTreasures:Forgeriesof
ProvenienceandAncientCulture ..................................1025
40. ExcavatedandUnexcavatedAchaemenianArt.....................1043
INTRODUCTION
When asked by Jennifer Pavelko of Brill USA to compile a volume of my
pastarticles,onthemodelofthetwovolumesofIreneWinter’soutstand-
ingscholarshippublishedbyBrill,Iwasofcourseflattered.Andthenbegan
thedifficulttaskofdecisionmaking.Giventhelimitationofapproximately
forty articles to be selected by me, I had first to examine my curriculum
vitaandmakealistofwhichtochoose.WhenIreachedfiftyarticlesIwas
obliged to refocus my mind and eliminate ten of them. This exercise was
fortunate,Ibelieve,foritforcedmenotmerelytofocusonworksthattomy
mindreflectadiachroniccompendiumofmydecadesofwriting,butcon-
comitantly,andasobjectivelyaspossible,tocontemplatetheverynature
andthrustsofmyworkasawhole.Thescopeofmyresearchandwriting
haswidenedfromthe“pure”archaeologicalworkofexcavationreportsand
artifactanalysestoincludeasharpenedinterestinthevastnumberofunex-
cavatedantiquities—and,asIcametorealize,offorgeries—aswellasasso-
ciatedculturalphenomenathatoftenruncontrarytoarchaeologicalgoals.
InthisintroductionIpresentmyacademicandintellectualbackgroundasa
wayofexplaininghowmyinterestsmultipliedanddeveloped.Ivigorously
insist that although to some the subjects of artifact analysis, forgery, and
provenancemightappeartobediverse,theyaretothecontrarynotdiscrete
subsetsofarchaeologicaldiscourse;theycollectivelyformequalcomponents
ofthecoreofarchaeologicalresearchandconclusion-formation.
I readily identify myself as an archaeologist, one concerned with the
materialandhistoricalculturesoftheancientNearEast,primarilythoseof
ancient Iran and Anatolia; I do not further identify myself as a specialist,
suchasananthropologistorarthistorian,inasmuchasIseetheiractivities
asinherentinarchaeologicalresearch.OvertimeIcametotheconclusion
thatwhatsomecallarthistoryisinfacttheanalysisandculturalevaluation
ofartifacts,i.e.,normalarchaeologicalactivity.Idiscoveredquitesoon(in
the1960s)thatmanyarchaeologistsIencounteredhadlittleknowledgeof
artifactsingeneral(except,ofcourse,pottery)andcouldnotidentifythem
orunderstandtheirmanifestculturalandchronologicalvalue.AtHasanlu
when studying what we excavated I was teased by being called “object-
oriented.”Theseinteractionsonlyreinforcedmyopinionoftheimportance
ofartifactanalysisintheworkofarchaeology,asmyarticlesandbooksmake
clear.
2 introduction
MycareerasanarchaeologistbeganwithmyinterestinEgyptianarchae-
ology,determinedbymyreadingofBreastedandPetriewhileIwasastudent
atStuyvesantHighSchoolinNewYorkCity.1IthenattendedtheCityCol-
legeofNewYork,majoringinhistory(primarilymodernhistory)because
noarchaeologycourseswereinthecurriculum.2WhileatCCNY,duringthe
summerIexcavatedattwositesintheUnitedStates,thePueblositeatMesa
VerdeinColorado(1953)andaMandansite,SwanCreekinSouthDakota
(1955). At Swan Creek I received notice that I had been awarded a schol-
arship(includingastipendof$57.50amonth,withoutwhichIcouldnot
haveacceptedthescholarship)inclassicalarchaeologyattheUniversityof
Pennsylvania. I had first applied to study Egyptian archaeology but I was
rejectedforthisendeavor;whenaskedtochooseanothercourse,Ireplied,
“Archaeology.” I, whothen had no Greek,little German, and no academic
archaeological background, was accepted by Rodney S. Young as his stu-
dent.Henevertoldmehisreasonsforacceptingmebutitwasamiraculous
gift, for my life was utterly altered. Young was one of the most extraordi-
naryandintelligentarchaeologists(andhumanbeings)Ihaveeverencoun-
tered.
In1957Youngtookmeand(generously,indeed!)mywifeGrace,whomI
hadrecentlymarried,toGordionforfivemonths.3HereIexperiencedtwo
significantemotionalandintellectualevents:livingandworkingwithwon-
derful,friendlyTurkishvillagersinYassihüyük,andthemonths-longexca-
vationofTumulusMM,aburialenclosurefilledwithsumptuousartifacts,
builtandfurnishedbyKingMidasforhisfatherGordias.Buttherewasmore,
foritwasherethatImetmyfirstfibula,infactagroupofthemfastening
theclothingofKingGordias.Itwasacerebraldiscoverythatneverleftme,
forthoseartifacts,alongwiththesocketedarrowheadsIlaterencountered,
servedmeandothersovertheyearsasacriticalLeitmotivandplayedakey
roleindeterminingpostquemchronologies.Gordionremainedmyarchae-
ologicalhome,sotospeak,anditwasherethatIreturnedinthesummerof
1959,leavingtheAmericanSchoolofClassicalArchaeologyinAthens,where
IwasspendingayearasaFulbrightscholar.Iwasnotallowedtodiginthe
1 TheworksIreadincludedJamesHenryBreasted,AHistoryofEgypt(2nded.;NewYork:
CharlesScribner,1924),andW.M.FlindersPetrie,TheReligionofAncientEgypt (London:
A.Constable&Co.,1906),amongothers.
2 IattendedtheeveningsessionbecauseIhadtoearnmylivinginthedaytime.
3 GraceeventuallyworkedwithPietdeJongandbecamehisassistantaswellasafellow
archaeologicalartist.
introduction 3
Agorabecauseofunbearableclasssnobberyandwenteast.Giventhedif-
ferencesinthesetwoencounters,itisnowonderthatIchosetoremainin
theworldofancientNearEasternarchaeologyinsteadofclassical.
My firstengagement withIranian archaeologycame in1960, theyear I
finishedmycourseworkinclassicalarchaeologywithYoungandwashired
toteachhistoryatCCNY,beginninginthefall.SolelybecauseofmyGordion
background(IhadtakenonlyonecourseinancientNearEasternarchaeol-
ogyatPenn),RobertH.DysonJr.invitedmetocometoHasanlu,innorth-
westernIran,forwhichdeedIamindebtedtohim.ThereafterIexcavatedat
HasanluandeightotherIranianandAnatoliansites,andthroughthiswork
IbecameanancientNearEasternarchaeologist.Mydoctoraldissertation
(finalizedin1965andpublishedin1967)wasofcourseonPhrygianfibulae,
myfirstartifactuallove.In1964IleftCCNYforapositionintheDepartment
of Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA),
whichIleftuponmyretirementin2009.
In my early years at the MMA I continued to excavate and to publish
articlesderivedfromthoseactivities.Butafterafewyearsofworkingcon-
tinuously with purchased antiquities in the museum, I began to realize
that something was utterly wrong regarding the nature of how scholars
in the discipline, both at the museum and in academia, published antiq-
uities. The very first time I empirically learned about plundering and its
attendantdestructionofancientsiteswasintheearly1970s,whenIheard
lecturesbytheHarvardMesoamericanscholarClemencyCogginsandthe
IranianarchaeologistEzatNegahbanonthismajorbutformehithertofully
neglectedissue.Ifirstthennoticedthatnotonlymymuseumcolleaguesbut
manyothersfailedtomaketheobviousandnecessarydistinctionbetween
an excavated artifact and a purchased antiquity acquired from collectors,
antiquitydealers,ortheauctionhousesubiquitousinEurope,theUnited
States,andinmodernNearEasterncountries.Ialsolearnedthatthisactiv-
itywasinfactaworldwideculturalproblem.MymindstumbledbutIsoon
came into contact with a few other similarly minded colleagues, mainly
JamesWisemanofBostonUniversityandRossHollowayofBrownUniver-
sity.In1973weformedanewarchaeologicalgroup,theAssociationofField
Archaeologists,andsoonthereafterwebegantopublishTheJournalofField
Archaeology(mashallah,stillinexistence)throughBostonUniversity.The
battle had begun, and it has not ceased. My first article on plunder and
theroleofmuseumtrustees,officers,andcuratorsaswellasprivatecollec-
torsinthedestructionofthisplanet’shistoryappearedintheJFA(1/2,1974:
221–222), and the publications have continued nonstop; my most recent
appearedin2012.