LETTER TO MEMBERS ANNOUNCING THAT THE 2020 MEETING WILL SHIFT TO VIRTUAL
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Dear Members and Annual Meeting Participants,
It is with regret we write to inform you that we have determined ASOR’s 2020 Annual Meeting, scheduled for November 18-21 in Boston, cannot be held in person due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is particularly disappointing because 2020 marks the 120th anniversary of ASOR’s founding, and we had a particularly special meeting planned.
Even though the pandemic has forced us to hold a different type of meeting, the ASOR staff and Program Committee are preparing to rework this exciting program into a virtual format that will deliver the full content of our record-breaking number of submissions in a manner that will serve our community most effectively. This is a complicated endeavor, but we are confident that the outcome will be a positive new first for ASOR. Please bear with us in the short term; we plan to write with more specifics by mid-July.
In the meantime, we have suspended registration for the Boston in-person meeting. We will be in touch with you by mid-July regarding the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting logistics and other key information, including how we will handle registration fees that have already been paid.
Questions? Please call or email us.
Sharon Herbert, President
Richard Coffman, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Andy Vaughn, Executive Director[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The Ad Hoc Committee on ASOR’s Name was appointed by outgoing President Susan Ackerman and incoming President Sharon Herbert at the beginning of January, 2020. Its members include Trustees Randy Helm (chair), Emily Bonney, Lisa Ackerman, and Eric Welch, and members Eric Cline, Emily Hammer, and Kiersten Neumann. The charge to the committee is included as Attachment 1.
Process
Shortly after its membership was confirmed, Chair Helm distributed to the committee study documents relevant to past discussions of ASOR’s name. A list of these documents is included as Attachment 2.
The Committee met four times by Zoom between January 21 and April 22, 2020. After reviewing the materials and discussing the issues, we agreed on a work plan that would (a) assess the possible impact of a name change on the ability to access ASOR publications in the future; and (b) develop a survey that would provide a sense of ASOR members’ views on this question. The subcommittee on publications quickly determined that any impact of a name change on access to publications would be negligible. The survey subcommittee developed an instrument for the committee’s review.
With the assistance of ASOR staff, the survey was made available online to all ASOR members from March 18 – March 28. We received a very healthy response rate of approximately 30 percent. Comparing the demographics of survey respondents to the actual demographics of ASOR’s membership, we noted an overrepresentation of members who have belonged to ASOR for ten or more years (42.6% of respondents v. 29.7% of members). While we agreed that this was worth noting, we also agreed that the robust response made the survey results a reliable guide to members’ views on the issue of the organization’s name.
Survey Respondents skew younger: 56.3% are younger than 55; 43.7% are older than 54. However, we don’t have age data for all ASOR members, so we don’t know if this is representative.
Areas of Consensus
70.3% agree or strongly agree that it is important that the society’s name reflects the geographical scope of ASOR’s work. Only 15% disagree or strongly disagree.
55.9% of respondents agree or strongly agree that it is important that the name reflects the chronological scope of ASOR’s work. Only 25.6% disagree or strongly disagree that this is important.
N.B. The current name does not communicate either the geographical or chronological scope of ASOR’s work.
Areas of Disagreement
Keep the name “American Schools of Oriental Research?
45.3% agree or strongly agree
40.9% disagree or strongly disagree
13.8% undecided
Eliminate the name, but keep the acronym ASOR?
Approximately half of respondents (50.1%) disagree or strongly disagree
A minority (32.2%) agree or strongly agree.
Undecided = 17.7% (somewhat more than are undecided about keeping the historical name).
Create a new name retrofitted to the ASOR acronym?
41.6% disagree or strongly disagree;
34.2% agree or strongly agree;
Observation: Enthusiasm for a retrofitted name is a popular option for members under 35 years old, but drops off sharply among respondents older than 35 and members for more than ten years.
Create an entirely new name that is descriptive in nature (e.g. “Society for Ancient Studies”)?
41.9% have a poor or very poor impression;
35.6% have a good or very good impression.
22.5% are neutral.
Observation: No age group had a majority approving this option; support dropped off sharply among members of more than 10 years
Create an entirely new name based on an ancient word or concept (e.g. “Amphora”)?
48% have a poor or very poor impression;
25.6% have a good or very good impression;
26.4% are neutral.
Observation: This would seem to be the least popular option. No age group had a majority approving this option; support dropped off sharply among members of more than 10 years.
Create a new name that is a new acronym (e.g. “Archaeological Research and Cultural Heritage Education” – ARCHE)?
42.2% have a poor or very poor impression;
33% have a good or very good impression;
24.8% are neutral.
Viable Options
The Committee discussed these results in some detail, noting that older respondents favor retaining the full name and younger respondents favor a change. We acknowledged that the younger respondents represent the future of the organization, while the older respondents represent a group with deep loyalty to and knowledge of the organization.
We also discussed the difficulties that the current name and acronym create for younger scholars in terms of the publication and service records in their tenure and promotion dossiers. Neither the full name nor the acronym explains the organization’s purpose or work. Dossier readers outside the field are unlikely to understand the organization’s relevance or importance.
While the option of a new descriptive name that yields an acronym failed to find majority support among any age group, almost half of the younger members liked it, with stronger disapproval showing up as the age of members increased. We considered the possibility that this option could address the consensus on geographical and chronological descriptors in the name, and make it easier to explain to dossier-readers, younger scholars, and others.
We also noted that keeping the acronym ASOR as the only name of the organization might, even with a descriptive tagline, result in increasing confusion about the name’s meaning and the organization’s purpose over the passage of time. Some committee members felt that this would result in another committee needing to consider the name issue a few years down the road.
ASOR Board Discussion
Committee Member Trustees Ackerman, Bonney, Helm, and Welch provided the ASOR Board with an interim report at its May 14th meeting. While no straw polls were requested or taken, Board members generally agreed that the most productive option would seem to be to come up with a new name that is descriptive of our work and creates an acronym (either a new one, or one that comes close to the present one).
Next Steps
The Committee agreed that this is a suitable moment to seek the membership’s reaction to the survey results and the proposed course of action. Our preliminary assessment of possible names/acronyms yielded the following top five choices:
Society for Archaeology, Philology, and History of the Middle East (SAPHME)
Association for Archaeological Research and Cultural Heritage Education (AARCHE)
Society for Ancient Near Eastern Research (SANER)
Association for Archaeology, Research, Cultural Heritage, and Education (AARCHE)
Society for Archaeology, Philology, and History of the Ancient Near East (SAPHANE)
Two options inspired enthusiastic responses but few votes and received honorable mention as “beautiful losers:”
International Society for Ancient Near Eastern Research (INSANER)
Society for Middle Eastern Research and Social History (SMERSH)
Your Ideas?
We now solicit feedback on the above listed possibilities, as well as new suggestions from all members for a name/acronym that describes our organization’s geographical, chronological, and methodological scope.
Because of the uncertainty of the format of the Fall meeting and the fullness of its schedule (if it happens), the Ad Hoc Committee agrees that this interim report – and our request for feedback – will eliminate the need for an open forum in November. Our hope is to process feedback and suggestions, and suggest naming options to the ASOR Board of Trustees in November.
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]Attachment 1: Charge to the Committee
We write, as the outgoing and incoming ASOR Presidents, to ask you to serve on an ad hoc committee charged with evaluating the name of our organization. ASOR Trustee Randy Helm has agreed to chair this committee and has agreed that he would very much like you to serve on this group. We hope you will accept. You are being invited because you have been active in ASOR and, we believe, because you have an open mind on this question. If you feel that you do not meet this last criterion, please let us know. We anticipate that there will be a wide diversity of strongly held opinions on this issue, and it will be important for the Committee to have credibility as a thoughtful and objective group who will be open to the ideas and arguments of others.
Background
ASOR members have been discussing the possibility of changing the organization’s name since at least 1982. Most recently, a workshop was offered at the 2018 ASOR Annual Meeting in Denver on “What’s in a Name? Re-assessing the Oriental in the American Schools of Oriental Research.” The workshop was very well attended, and the presentations and discussion were both thoughtful and provocative. As a result, the organizers created a summary of the workshop’s conversations and forwarded them to various governing bodies within ASOR, including the ASOR Board of Trustees. That summary was delivered in Fall 2019.
After considering this summary, the ASOR Board voted, at its November 2019 meeting, to continue the discussion by forming an ad hoc committee to study ASOR’s name.
Charge
The committee’s charge is to consider whether ASOR’s name is still appropriate for the organization and, if not, to recommend to the Board of Trustees a new name, or a modified name, or some selection of new or modified names that ASOR might adopt instead. Any decision to change or modify ASOR’s name would ultimately be made by the Board.
While this charge is succinctly stated, we do not mean to suggest it is easily undertaken. At a minimum, we envision that the committee will need (1) to review previous discussions about ASOR’s name; (2) review discussions other “O” organizations have had about their names and the decisions they have made, for example, the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London; (3) review the experiences of other learned societies that have changed their names or have decided not to, including these learned societies’ discussions regarding the names of their publications; and (4) actively solicit and carefully consider input from the ASOR membership about ASOR’s current name and any possible name change.
We anticipate that the committee’s work should take between twelve to fifteen months, depending on how the committee chooses to go about its work, and especially its work of collecting feedback from the ASOR membership. The committee should thus plan on submitting its final report to the ASOR Board, with recommendations, no later than the April 2021 Board meeting. We look forward to supporting the committee in every way that we can, and we have already provided Randy with multiple documents to help in the committee’s deliberations and its decision-making process.
We hope that you will be able to serve on the important committee. Many thanks for considering this invitation, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Susan Ackerman
ASOR President
Sharon Herbert
ASOR Vice President and President-Elect
Chair, Chairs Coordinating Council[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]Attachment 2: Study Documents reviewed by Committee Members
C&G Partners, Discovery Findings and Recommendations for ASOR Branding and Website Redesign, March 22, 2016
Orientalism Session – Raw Data 2018
Melissa Bailey Kutner, “Getting Oriented” 2018
Ian W. N. Jones, “’Isn’t that a Little Racist, Dr. Jones,’ or What I learned Trying tro Explain ASOR to High School Students” 2018
Danielle Steen Fatkin, “Orientalism in America: East Asia, West Asia, and the American Racial Imagination” 2018
Danielle Steen Fatkin, “Report to the CCC regarding the workshop ‘What’s in a Name? Re-assessing the Oriental in the American Schools of Oriental Research’ at the November 2018 Annual Meeting”
Michael M. Homan, “Why the Term ‘Oriental’ in ASOR is Neither Accurate Nor Appropriate.” 2018.
Pp. 3–21: “Der Beruf su-si-(ig) im 3. Jahrtausend,” by M. Such-Gutiérrez
The Sumerian professional designation su-si-(ig) has been usually translated as “animal handler” or “skinner” on the basis of texts from the Old Babylonian period. Written sources from the third millennium, however, indicate that these translations are not applicable in earlier times, since people so designated worked on the first steps of leather processing or with the preparation of the bare skins for tanning. Therefore, in such texts the translation Blößenvorbereiter, that is “preparer of cleaned animal skins” is a better fit. Moreover, third-millennium texts provide further information on the profession su-si-(ig), which was apparently practiced only by men who worked in the large temple and palace public institutions and in some cases could hold high social positions.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 23–33: “„Das Schilfrohr umherspringen lassen”: Bemerkungen zum Rohrflechten Babyloniens im dritten bzw. frühen zweiten Jahrtausend v. Chr.,” by Krisztián Simkó
In spite of extensive research conducted in the field, there are some areas of Babylonian reed industries that have eluded understanding since the first comprehensive overview was published on this topic in 1989. The aim of this communication is to provide some insights into one such area, the preparation of pliable reed strands. On the basis of partly overlooked philological evidence, it will be argued that phrases like gi gu4- ud, na4 ad-KID, and na4ša-ga-ra relate, one way or another, to this procedure.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 35–46: “Du nouveau chez les Šakkanakkus de Mari: nouvelles lectures des empreintes ME64, ME196, et ME14,” by L. Colonna d’Istria
Cylinder seal impressions rank highly among the epigraphic sources concerning the šakkanakkus (rulers) of Mari, especially those that reigned during the 20th and first part of 19th centuries BCE, that is the final phase of the šakkanakku period that preceded the reign of Yaḫdun-Lîm in Mari ca. 1820/1810 BC. New readings of the seal impressions ME64+ME196 and ME14 indicate that they all belong to the same cylinder seal belonging to a ruler named Tīnīn-Dagan, whose father was Iddin-Dagan. Both rulers were previously unknown.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 47-64: “The Royal Herdsmen of Ur: Compensation and Centralization in the Reign of Shulgi,” by Ryan Winters
Centralization functioned on multiple complementary levels during the Ur III period. On the one hand, the royal government controlled vast herds of livestock, which it distributed for tending to herdsmen located in various provinces throughout the entire empire. On the other, it exercised direct control over land located in these provinces, which it then used to compensate royal workers in charge of tending these animals. This article studies the evidence for the royal herdsmen, their organization and activities, and their compensation through royal grants of real estate.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 65-86: “The Discovery of the Location of Malgium (Tell Yassir),” by Ahmed Ali Jawad, Barhan Abd Al-Reza, Ali Jabarat Nasir, Ahmed Abbas As’id, and Rients de Boer
This article establishes that the ancient city of Malgium is located at modern Tell Yassir.The results of a survey of the site and its surroundings are given together with the publication of a number of new brick inscriptions belonging to early Old Babylonian kings of Malgium.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 87-99: “Perpendicular Lines and Diagonal Triples in Old Babylonian Surveying,” by Daniel F. Mansfield
The tablet Si. 427 demonstrates that diagonal triples, or Pythagorean triples as they are now known,were used by Old Babylonian surveyors to construct perpendicular field boundaries accurately. This is the only known application of diagonal triples from this time, and one of the most complete examples of applied geometry from the ancient world.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 101-116: “Three New Multiplication Tables From the Louvre: AO 8900, AO 8901, AND AO 8902,” by Carlos Gonçalves
AO 8900, AO 8901, and AO 8902 are three hitherto unpublished Old Babylonianmathematical cuneiform tablets containing multiplication tables. Their physical and textual characteristics suggest that they were produced in the same ancient context. What is remarkable about this small set of tablets is that, unlike most such tablets, two of them have colophons: in AO 8900 we find a month-and-day date, while in AO 8901 we find a damaged year name. These tablets are published here for the first time, together with a discussion of how the information about the year name in AO 8901 fits in what is known about the dating of Old Babylonian mathematics.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 117-128: “A Fragmentary Explanatory God List from Old Babylonian Nippur with a Thematic Connection to Lugale and An : Anum: A Glimpse into the Origins of Mesopotamian Hermeneutical Tradition,” by Jeremiah Peterson
This article provides an edition of the previously unpublished Old Babylonian tablet fragment that may be part of an explanatory god list. With all due caution, it is possible to suggest that it provides a rare example of a god list with extended commentary from the Old Babylonian period with each preserved entry seemingly eliciting an explanation. The format is unique in that it occurs as running text without columned entry or any other topical demarcation, arranged according to divine name and its respective explanation or equivalent. Likewise, although the fragmentary state of this piece rules out any definitive interpretation, it is possible that it may refer to certain lines in the Ninurta poem Lugale.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 129-142: “Sumerian Cultic Songs from Old Babylonian Nippur with a Connection to the Temple Hymns,” by Jeremiah Peterson
Several fragmentary Sumerian cultic songs from Old Babylonian Nippur, including one that seems to be for Ninurta (“Ninurta H”), contain enumerations of major cultic centers in southern Mesopotamia that are unmistakably reminiscent of the Sumerian Temple Hymns, as well as two hymns to King Shulgi. The following communication considers the potential parameters of intertexuality that may be involved with these texts. Such proximity to the corpus of cultic songs qualifies the Sitz im Leben of the Temple Hymns at Old Babylonian Nippur.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 143-155: “The Authorship of the Old Hittite Palace Chronicle (CTH 8): A Case for Anitta,” by Alwin Kloekhorst
It is generally thought that the Old Hittite Palace Chronicle was composed by Muršili I (reigned ca. 1620–1590 BCE) and that the anecdotes featuring in this composition thus took place during the reign of his predecessor Ḫattušili I (ca. 1650–1620 BCE). Recently, Forlanini proposed that the text’s author was not Muršili I but rather Ḫattušili I, who tells about the times of his predecessor Labarna I (ca. 1680(?)–1650 BCE). In the present article it will be argued that both views are difficult to maintain. Instead, six arguments will be presented that rather indicate that the Palace Chronicle may have been authored by Anitta, king of Nēša (reigned ca. 1740–1725 BCE), and that the composition recounts the reign of Anitta’s father Pitḫāna, with some anecdotes even dating back to the times before Pitḫāna’s conquest of the city of Nēša, i.e. before 1750 BCE.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 157-163: “The Personal Name in Ugaritic Script pǵm˹w˺ (RS 10.052 iv 1) = Luwian piḫamuwa,” by Dennis Pardee and Madadh Richey
The proposal is here offered to read the Ugaritic administrative text RS 10.052 iv 1 as containing the personal name pǵmw, the Ugaritic writing of the Luwian name Piḫamuwa.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 165–198: “Minor Archives from First-Millennium Bce Babylonia: The Archive of Iššar-Tarībi from Sippar,” by Reinhard Pirngruber
The present contribution provides full editions of all texts belonging to the archive of the Sipparean businessman Iššar-tarībi, who was active during the last years of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom and the early years of Achaemenid rule, as well as a brief discussion of its central features. It is part of a larger collaborative effort to make available the so-called “satellite archives” of the Ṣāḫiṭ-ginê A archive and related and unrelated smaller archives from Sippar. The results will be published in forthcoming volumes of this journal; archives in preparation include those of Adad-šamê, Mušēzib, Rēˀi-sisê, and Ša-nāšišu A (Y. Levavi), Balīhu, Aqūba, and Šamaš-iddin/Rēmūt (J. Hackl), as well as Šangû-Šamaš and Šangû-Ištar-Bābili (M. Gross). A companion volume containing copies of all tablets published in this series as well as a comprehensive prosopography is in preparation for the JCS Supplemental Series.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this issue. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the the entire issue, including book reviews, on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1567019974102{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Pp. 72-79: “Twenty-Five Years of Research at Çatalhöyük,” by Ian Hodder
Çatalhöyük is a 9,000 year-old tell site in central Turkey. First excavated by James Mellaart in the 1960s (e.g., 1967), a new project began in 1993 (Hodder 1996, 2000). At first the focus was on surface study and survey, and excavation began in 1995. Excavation ended in 2017 and there was a study season in Catania, Sicily, in 2018. This introduction summarizes the work over the last twenty-five years and describes some of the results outlined in the ensuing articles of this issue of NEA. An additional set of results will be published in the September 2020 issue.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1570041002103{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Magnetic-GPR-at-Catalhuyuk-NEA-83.2-TOC.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”500″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Pp. 80-87: “Integrating Magnetic and GPR Survey at Çatalhöyük,” by Kristian Strutt, Stefano Campana, Jessica Ogden, Gianluca Catanzariti, and Gianfranco Morelli
As part of the 2010 and 2012 field seasons at the site of Çatalhöyük, geophysical survey was conducted with the aim of mapping parts of the subsurface remains at the site. While extensive excavations have been conducted on the East Mound, a considerable part of the area of this mound is still largely unknown in terms of the presence of archaeological deposits and possible Neolithic structures.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1570041002103{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Catalhuyuk-Landscape-NEA-83.2-TOC.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”500″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Pp. 88-97: “Çatalhöyük and Its Landscapes,” by Gianna Ayala and John Wainwright
T he landscape surrounding the site of Çatalhöyük has been transformed by centuries of land use and agricultural improvements. The most recent transformations started in the early twentieth century aiming to improve agricultural productivity by carrying out extensive irrigation and land-reclamation programs (Roberts 1990). Irrigation water was brought via the Beyşehir-Sugla canal system which was completed around 1911 (Money 1919), bringing irrigation water from Lake Beyşehir to the south. Further regulation of water supplies in the 1950s and 1960s included the construction of the Apa Dam on the Çarşamba River (completed in 1962) and World Bank support for extending irrigation schemes. Unsurprisingly, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from Çatalhöyük suggests significantly different environments at the time of occupation from that of the modern landscape. Therefore, it is essential for archaeological interpretations to be underpinned by robust palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1570041002103{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Wetlands-at-Catalhuyuk-NEA-83.2-TOC.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”500″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]Pp. 98-109: “The Seasonality of Wetland and Riparian Taskscapes at Çatalhöyük,” by Jesse Wolfhagen, Rena Veropoulidou, Gianna Ayala, Dragana Filipović, Ceren Kabukcu, Carla Lancelotti, Marco Madella, Kamilla Pawłowska, Carlos G. Santiago-Marrero, and John Wainwright
Seasonal variation in the natural world of Neolithic Çatalhöyük shaped the organization of daily life and the social world of its residents. Seasonal cycles in climatic patterns, hydrology, growing seasons of wild and domestic plants, and seasonal behaviors of herded, hunted, and gathered animals would have affected the overall productivity of the landscape and consequently the rhythms of social life (e.g., Fairbain et al. 2005; Pels 2010). These created social conceptions of seasonal patterns and activities shaped the ways in which people interacted with their local environments and structured the timing and spatial requirements of everyday tasks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1570041002103{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/OPen-Spaces-at-Catalhuyuk-NEA-83.2-TOC.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”500″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Pp. 110-119: “Common Ground: Reevaluating Open Spaces at Çatalhöyük,” by Justine Issavi, Kamilla Pawłowska, Milena Vasić, and Rena Veropoulidou
Investigations of open spaces within the context of the Southwest Asian Neolithic are varied in approach and in how explicitly they center these spaces within the study. The term “open space,” for this article, refers to any space not covered by an architectural feature such as a roof or other permanent covering. Open spaces have variously been discussed as arenas of daily or utilitarian activities, shared property or communal space, places of ritual, public spaces, courtyards (yards), conduits for movement, or undifferentiated spaces.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1570041002103{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_image src=”http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Thermal-Alterations-to-Human-Remains-at-Catalhuyuk-NEA-83.2-TOC.jpg” image_width=”200″ image_height=”500″ crop=”false” hover=”false”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Pp. 120-128: “Thermal Alterations to Human Remains in Çatalhöyük,” by Cassie E. Skipper, Scott D. Haddow, and Marin A. Pilloud
The Neolithic East Mound at Çatalhöyük, dating to 7100–5950 cal BCE (Bayliss et al. 2015), in central Anatolia is well known as a large, early agricultural village. Like other Neolithic sites in this region, the site had distinct mortuary practices, which at Çatalhöyük are dominated by primary interments beneath house floors, accounting for 83 percent of stratified individuals recovered to date (Haddow et al. in press). While commingling of skeletal elements due to repeated use of house platforms as burial locations is common (Boz and Hager 2013; Haddow, Sadvari et al. 2016), there is also evidence of secondary burial practices including post-interment cranial retrieval and the occurrence of loose and partially articulated skeletal elements moved from a previous location (Haddow and Knüsel 2017). Such observations suggest the practice of delayed burial for certain individuals, a pattern that appears to increase in frequency over time (Haddow et al. in press).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
THE BULLETIN OF ASOR (BASOR) EDITORIAL TEAM ANNOUNCED
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]ASOR is pleased to announce the appointment of the new editors of The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR)—a team of four scholars from the United States and Europe. Susan Cohen of Montana State University and Regine Pruzsinszky of the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg will lead the team as co-editors. Working with them will be two associate editors: Jana Mynářová of the Charles University in Prague; and Marwan Kilani, currently a postdoc researcher associated with the Freie Universität in Berlin and the Swiss National Science Foundation. All four team members come to the position with extensive editorial experience and diverse academic backgrounds that reflect the diversity of ASOR’s membership and mandate. The editors were nominated by the BASOR Editorial Search Committee after an extensive public search process. The nomination was unanimously endorsed by ASOR’s Publications Committee, and the editors were unanimously approved by the ASOR Board of Trustees in May 2020.
The May 2020 issue of BASOR.
Susan Cohen is an archaeologist, focusing on rural-urban relations and interactions and chronological connections between Egypt and the southern Levant. Regine Pruzsinszky is an Assyriologist with a particular interest in Semitic and Hurrian onomastics, Mesopotamian chronology of the second millennium BCE, and the socio-cultural role of musicians in the Ancient Near East. Jana Mynářová is an Assyriologist and Egyptologist, focusing on political and cultural relations of Egypt and the Near East. Marwan Kilani is an Egyptologist and linguist working on cultural and linguistic interactions between Egypt and the Levant. He has a strong interest in methodological questions, and in digital humanities and computational methods applied to the study of the ancient world. BASOR editors are appointed for a three-year term, with the possibility of being re-appointed for a second term. Their initial term will run from 2021–2023.
The new editors will succeed the current co-editors, Eric Cline and Christopher Rollston, in January 2021. Those interested in publishing in BASOR should continue to submit manuscripts through the online submission system.[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
GCI-ASOR CONSERVATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY WORKSHOP AT THE 2019 ANNUAL MEETING
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), in collaboration with the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), organized a workshop on conservation and archaeology for selected directors of excavations and members of ASOR following its Annual Meeting in November 2019 in San Diego, CA.
Photograph by Juliette Raffaelli. Image copyright J. Paul Getty Trust.
The workshop grew out of the Archaeology and Conservation Education Roundtable organized by the GCI and hosted by the Getty Villa and the GCI in 2017, an initiative itself rooted in the Institute’s long-term work in archaeological conservation. During the roundtable, the invited faculty in archaeology and conservation, from universities where both fields are taught, identified the need for better knowledge of conservation by archaeologists and better knowledge of archaeology by conservators, to improve collaboration and best practices in fieldwork. One proposed action coming out of the roundtable was delivering workshops or “boot camps” on conservation for archaeologists, and on archaeology for conservators, in association with their respective professional meetings. This GCI-ASOR collaboration was the first of the proposed workshops to be conducted.
Photograph by Juliette Raffaelli. Image copyright J. Paul Getty Trust.
The one-day workshop was attended by twenty-four midcareer and senior excavation directors in the ASOR region and selected staff from the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan. It included an introduction to archaeological materials and their deterioration causes and mechanisms, followed by a discussion of ethics in archaeology and conservation. Subsequent presentations by conservators with extensive experience on archaeological excavations focused on the conservation process and the importance of pre-excavation planning. Case studies of best practices in collaborative fieldwork were presented, forming the basis for discussions on planning, budgeting, and funding. This last topic was of particular importance to some participants, who identified it as a primary obstacle to integrating conservation in their research and excavation plans. One potential follow-up of the workshop will be for the GCI to convene a meeting of archaeological organizations and principal funders of archaeological research to advocate for including funding for conservation and a conservator in their research grants.
ENDANGERED CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE MIDDLE EAST—THE JEWISH HERITAGE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]ADDENDUM 6/14/20: JCHI is pleased to report that the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH) has made significant progress on the restoration of the Shrine of the Prophet Nahum since the drafting of the initial report on the condition of Jewish built heritage in Iraq and Syria. In light of this work, the Shrine of the Prophet Nahum no longer requires the level of intervention called for in the report. For more on ARCH’s work and their current needs, go here[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]The Jewish Cultural Heritage Initiative (JCHI)—a joint project of the London-based Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)—has completed its initial assessment of present and past Jewish heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. Thanks to the generous sponsorship provided by the Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Family to the Foundation for Jewish Heritage, this work has identified the location and condition of 368 settlements and heritage sites from antiquity to the present day in this once vibrant center of Jewish life.
The geographic distribution of sites in the JCHI database at settlement level.
After 2,600 years of continuous Jewish settlement going back to the time of Babylon, the Jewish community in Iraq and Syria largely came to an abrupt end in the second half of the 20th century. Yet, a significant physical heritage remains. Working remotely and with in-country partners, JCHI gathered the history and significance of Jewish sites in both countries, assessed their condition, and made recommendations for priority emergency relief and preservation projects.
The research identified 27 sites that are still extant and in danger, being in poor or very bad condition. Of these, JCHI selected four significant sites as priority candidates for emergency relief because it was determined that urgent intervention could substantially improve their condition. Due to the infeasibility of carrying out stabilization projects during the ongoing Syrian Civil War, all four are in Iraq. These candidates are:
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the Meir Tweig Synagogue in Baghdad—the last surviving ‘functioning’ synagogue in Iraq;
the Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery in Baghdad – created during the early 20th century and the main location for Jewish burial in the city, with many local Jewish notables interred there;
the Sasson Synagogue in Mosul—the main synagogue in the city during the 20th century due to its central location in the Jewish Quarter, it represents the best-preserved Jewish heritage in Mosul;
the Shrine of the Prophet Nahum in al-Qosh—the Shrine dates back to at least the 12th century CE and was an important pilgrimage site for the Jewish community. It consists of a central synagogue with the Prophet’s tomb as well as a series of subsidiary buildings situated around a courtyard.
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Video still of the interior courtyard of the Sasson Synagogue in Mosul. (Source: France 24)
JCHI is currently exploring ways to help protect these sites, either through new initiatives or in collaboration with ongoing projects active at some of the sites. JCHI hopes to revisit candidates in Syria when conditions are more stable. The Foundation for Jewish Heritage and ASOR emphasize the importance of documenting and preserving the physical traces of Jewish heritage alongside that of the many other ethnic and religious groups that have lived side-by-side in the Middle East for millennia.
Michael Mail, Foundation Chief Executive stated, “at a time when there is so much attention on saving heritage in danger across the Middle East, this unique research has shone a light on a forgotten aspect – the remarkable ancient Jewish heritage of the region. The Jewish community made a profound contribution and we need to ensure its heritage, and this story, is not erased.”
Andrew Vaughn, Executive Director of ASOR remarked, “During a time when cultural heritage that reflects the ethnic and religious diversity of the Middle East is under attack, the documentation and preservation of Jewish sites as one strand in the region’s rich cultural tapestry has never been more important. These sites bear witness to a past of greater coexistence and cooperation, and calls from across the region for their preservation provide hope for the future.”
Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery in Baghdad.
Dame Helen Hyde, the Chair of the Foundation for Jewish Heritage commented, “We were delighted to partner with ASOR in undertaking this ground-breaking work, and are especially grateful to the Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan family for their support, which made all this possible.“
Sharon Herbert, ASOR’s President said, “Preservation of antiquities and exploration of the lessons we can glean from them today is at the heart of ASOR’s mission. We are honoured to partner with Foundation for Jewish Heritage in identifying these important monuments of Jewish achievement in the Middle East. We hope this is a first step in protecting them for posterity.”
JCHI is currently assessing ways to make its data on Jewish heritage sites in Iraq and Syria publicly accessible. It is hoped that the research will draw attention to this neglected dimension of Iraqi and Syrian heritage and ensure its protection. Intervention now will save these sites for the appreciation of future generations of Iraqis, Syrians, and international visitors, and preserve a profound legacy of millennia of Jewish life.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]For further information, please contact Michael Mail, the Chief Executive of the Foundation for Jewish Heritage, at michaelmail@foundationforjewishheritage.com; or Andrew Vaughn, ASOR Executive Director, at executive-director@asor.org.
The mission of the American Schools of Oriental Research is to promote research into, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world, and its website is http://www.asor.org/.
ASOR AFFIRMS ACLS’ STATEMENT ON FOSTERING EQUITY AND JUSTICE
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]The American Council of Learned Societies, an organization of which ASOR is member, issued a statement this past week on the role humanistic studies play in fostering equity and justice in society (ACLS Statement Link). ASOR applauds and supports the ACLS statement. As a collective of humanistic scholars and seekers of knowledge about societies in areas far removed from our own time and place, ASOR adheres to the fundamental humanitarian values of fostering equity and justice as it is eloquently formulated by the ACLS. Black lives matter everywhere and always. ASOR deplores racial injustice in all its forms and actively seeks to foster an atmosphere of inclusivity in all our endeavors both in the U.S. and abroad. To that end this past February as we were formulating the goals of our post 2020 strategic plan, we agreed to form an ad hoc committee on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. More news on this committee will follow on this page as we develop our program.[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684098866{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
I usually begin my annual fiscal year-end fundraising missive with a pithy observation about life in the world of ASOR. But not this year. There’s too much uncertainty and unrest.
So, I will gratefully report that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, ASOR has stayed on course and on mission. To our members and donors who have already made gifts this fiscal year, thank you. Your generosity has enabled us to continue to operate at a high level.
For example, we have continued to publish and distribute our journals without interruption. Their quality is at an all-time high—to the point that they are now receiving external rankings and impact factors, a new development in 2020.
We also have continued to preserve and protect cultural heritage as an ideal uniting peoples and promoting diversity—such as digitizing manuscripts of the trans-Saharan trade, assessing Jewish heritage in Iraq and Syria, and conducting cultural heritage education and stewardship programs in Libya.
But we have another financial gap to close. Early in the pandemic, we shifted our focus to you. We zigged when others zagged. We pledged to support our members by dramatically increasing online resources and providing membership scholarships to anyone financially impacted by the coronavirus. While we’ve lived up to our commitment in a big way, there is much work to be done. And we need your help to do it.
Any gift will be gratefully accepted and wonderfully acknowledged—$25, $50, $100, or even $1,000. In fact, the more individual donations we receive, regardless of the amount, the better positioned we will be to attract gifts from donors and foundations. So, please join me in standing in the gap for our members who need ASOR the most during the current prevailing madness.
Best regards,
Richard L. Coffman Chairman of the Board of Trustees
as “animal handler” or “skinner” on the basis of texts from the Old Babylonian period. Written sources from the third millennium, however, indicate that these translations are not applicable in earlier times, since people so designated worked on the first steps of leather processing or with the preparation of the bare skins for tanning. Therefore, in such texts the translation Blößenvorbereiter, that is “preparer of cleaned animal skins” is a better fit. Moreover, third-millennium texts provide further information on the profession su-si-(ig), which was apparently practiced only by men who worked in the large temple and palace public institutions and in some cases could hold high social positions.
epigraphic sources concerning the šakkanakkus (rulers) of Mari, especially those that reigned during the 20th and first part of 19th centuries BCE, that is the final phase of the šakkanakku period that preceded the reign of Yaḫdun-Lîm in Mari ca. 1820/1810 BC. New readings of the seal impressions ME64+ME196 and ME14 indicate that they all belong to the same cylinder seal belonging to a ruler named Tīnīn-Dagan, whose father was Iddin-Dagan. Both rulers were previously unknown.
The results of a survey of the site and its surroundings are given together with the publication of a number of new brick inscriptions belonging to early Old Babylonian kings of Malgium.
were used by Old Babylonian surveyors to construct perpendicular field boundaries accurately. This is the only known application of diagonal triples from this time, and one of the most complete examples of applied geometry from the ancient world.
mathematical cuneiform tablets containing multiplication tables. Their physical and textual characteristics suggest that they were produced in the same ancient context. What is remarkable about this small set of tablets is that, unlike most such tablets, two of them have colophons: in AO 8900 we find a month-and-day date, while in AO 8901 we find a damaged year name. These tablets are published here for the first time, together with a discussion of how the information about the year name in AO 8901 fits in what is known about the dating of Old Babylonian mathematics.
The proposal is here offered to read the Ugaritic administrative text RS 10.052 iv 1 as containing the personal name pǵmw, the Ugaritic writing of the Luwian name Piḫamuwa.
