Life in Palmyra did not stop in the third century but has gone on more or less continuously at the site for the 1,700 years since.
Michael Press
Michael Press is an archaeologist who writes on Middle Eastern archaeology, biblical studies, and how these fields are presented to the public. He received a PhD from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in 2007. He blogs at textualcultures.blogspot.com and tweets @MichaelDPress.
Posted inOpinion
The British Museum Isn’t Doing Enough to Fight Illegal Antiquities Trafficking
While the museum presents its attempt to identify trafficked antiquities as an altruistic enterprise, its policing of the antiquities market also distracts from its historic role in acquiring looted objects.
Posted inArt
How the Pandemic Has Highlighted a Crisis in Contemporary Museums
In researching three Indiana institutions, it is clear that the lockdown has exacerbated trends in the museum field such as a lack of relevance to the general public and increasing reliance on private philanthropy.
Posted inBooks
Peeling Back the Hidden, Colonial Layers of Museum Objects
With her recent book, Alice Procter shows us the things many museums hide, the parts of objects’ histories that aren’t warm and fuzzy (or flattering for the institutions that now hold them).
Posted inArt
Who Really Owns Hagia Sophia?
As the Turkish government announced that the Hagia Sophia will be converted back into a mosque, one of the primary responses worldwide has been to assert that the edifice constitutes “universal” heritage, that it belongs to all of us.
Posted inBooks
Peeling Back the Messy and Myriad Layers of Tutankhamun’s Discovery
Thorough and rewarding, Christina Riggs’s Photographing Tutankhamun illuminates the reasons behind our fascination with one of Ancient Egypt’s most famous tombs.
Posted inOpinion
Who’s Responsible for Bad Reporting on Mummies?
From questionable race science to an inaccurate synthesis of a mummy’s voice, scholars regularly contribute to providing poor understandings of the past.
Posted inArt
Attempts to Reconstruct a Mummy’s Voice Are Cursed
After a group of British researchers claimed to synthesize the voice of Egyptian priest Nesyamun’s 3,000-year-old remains, it leads to questions about the ethics of Egyptology.
Posted inArt
Targeting Iran’s Cultural Heritage Means Targeting Human Beings
Targeting Iranian cultural heritage is first and foremost bad because of the devastating effects it would have on Iranians. We in the rest of the world may feel a real loss, but that is secondary at best.
Posted inArt
The Perennial Problem With the Excavation of Ancient Sites
Why chase after unprovenanced — and likely looted or forged — material when so much excavated material lies waiting for study?
Posted inArt
Photography’s Potential as Art and Science in Documenting Ancient Egypt
Signs and Wonders: The Photographs of John Beasley Greene features photographs that focus on ancient monuments and landscapes in Egypt and Algeria from the 1850s, rather than people.
Posted inArt
A Discovery of an Ancient Mosque in Israel Overshadows Planned Mass Evictions
Coverage of the discovery of an ancient mosque in Rahat has neglected to mention the planned mass relocation of thousands of people to the Bedouin town.