The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, is a Festschrift celebrating the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Oscar Muscarella is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a formidable scholar who has excavated at sites in Turkey, Iran, and the United States. He has published eight books and nearly 200 articles, excavation reports, and reviews on topics ranging from the arts of antiquity and the importance of connoisseurship, to the difficulties of dating and the problems of forgeries, the looting of ancient sites, and the antiquities trade. The forty-seven contributors are experts in the areas of Muscarellaâs interests and are major scholars in their fields. This volume constitutes an unusual, important, and timely addition to the archaeological and art historical literature.
Elizabeth Simpson, PHD (1985), is Professor of Ancient Art and Archaeology at the Bard Graduate Center, New York, NY. She is Director of the Gordion Furniture Project and Consulting Scholar in the Mediterranean Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, PA.
PrefaceOscar White MuscarellaIntroduction âElizabeth Simpson
Part 1: âThere is Nothing like First-hand Evidenceâ
1 Oscar White Muscarella and Sherlock Holmes âLaurie Adams
Part 2: Arts and Archaeology: Anatolia
2 The King Has Assâs Ears! The Myth of Midasâs Ears âSusanne Berndt 3 The Project to Reconstruct the Early Bronze Age Hattıan Royal Tombs of Alaca Höyük âAykut ÃınaroÄlu 4 The Lydian Hoard and Its Progeny: Repatriation and the Statute of Limitations âLawrence M. Kaye 5 Labors Lost and Found in Tumulus mm at Gordion âRichard F. Liebhart 6 A Pithos Burial at Sardis âDavid Gordon Mitten 7 Attitudes toward the Past in Roman Phrygia: Survivals and Revivals âLynn E. Roller 8 The City Mound at Gordion: The Discovery, Study, and Conservation of the Wooden Fragments from Megaron 3 âKrysia Spirydowicz 9 Monumental Entrances, Sculpture, and Idols at Kerkenes: Aspects of Phrygian Cult East of the Kizilirmak âGeoffrey Summers and Françoise Summers 10 Of Fibulae, Of Course! âMaya Vassileva
Part 3: Arts and Archaeology: Urartu
11 Artifacts Belonging to Queen Qaquli and Mr. Tigursagga from an Elaborately Decorated Quarter of the Ayanis Fortress âAltan ÃilingiroÄlu 12 A Fragment of a Ramâs Head Rhyton Found at Qalatgah, Iran âStephan Kroll 13 Toul-E Gilan and the Urartian Empire âD.T. Potts 14 Some Considerations on Urartian Burial Rites âVeli Sevin 15 Architectural and Other Observations Related to Erebuni in the Late Seventh/Early Sixth Centuries b.c. âDavid Stronach
Part 4: Arts and Archaeology: The Near East
16 Neo-Assyrian Views of Foreign Cities: A Brief Survey âPauline Albenda 17 The Role of the Petra Great Temple in the Context of Nabataean Archaeology âMartha Sharp Joukowsky 18 Fibulae in Neo-Assyrian Burials âFriedhelm Pedde 19 Fibulae, Chronology, and Related Considerations: Marlik Reloaded âChristian Konrad Piller 20 A Middle Bronze Stele from Hama and Old Syrian Cylinder Seals âBarbara A. Porter 21 A Unique Human Head-Cup from the Environs of Tel Qashish in the Jezreel Valley, Israel âIrit Ziffer, Edwin C.M. van den Brink, Orit Segal and Uzi Ad
Part 5: Arts and Archaeology: The Mediterranean World
22 Back to the Future: Memory, Nostalgia, and Identity in the 12th Century b.c.e. on Paros âRobert B. Koehl 23 Liturgy âGünter Kopcke 24 What Did the Fisherman Catch? âMark J. Rose 25 The Weight of Good Measure: A Reassessment of the Balance Weights from the Late Bronze Age Shipwreck at Uluburun âRachael Dealy Salisbury
Part 6: ArtsâCraftâMaterialsâTechniques
26 Kyme: An Ancient Center of Jewelry Production in Asia Minor âÃzgen Acar 27 Voicing the Past: The Implications of Craft-referential Pottery in Ancient Greece âEinav Zamir Dembin 28 The Neoclassical Klismos Chair: Early Sources and Avenues of Diffusion âAna Gutierrez-Folch 29 The Furniture of the Ramesside Pharaohs âGeoffrey Killen 30 Excavated Roman Jewelry: The Case of the Gold Body Chains âMeredith Nelson 31 Ivory Identification âAnibal Rodriguez 32 Luxury Arts of the Ancient Near East âElizabeth Simpson
Part 7: Issues and Methods
33 The Literature of Loot: Notes on The Lie Became Great and Its Heirs âRoger Atwood 34 Oscar the Oracle: On the Publication of Unprovenienced Objects âLarissa Bonfante 35 The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre: Afterthoughts and Aftermaths âNeil Brodie 36 Illicit Traffic of Pre-Columbian Antiquities âClemency Chase Coggins 37 The History and Continuing Impact of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (nagpra) âEmily Field 38 Connoisseurship Conundrums and a Visit to Hans Hofmannâs Studio âCarroll Janis 39 Blue from Babylon: Notes from the Curatorial Trenches âMargaret Cool Root and Helen Dixon 40 âOutingâ the Old Teaching Collections âKaren D. Vitelli 41 Figure and Ground: Reading Ancient Near Eastern Sources âEva von Dassow
Part 8: âLeave No Stone Unturnedâ
42 âElementaryâ âJeanette GreenfieldMaster BibliographyIndex of TermsAuthorsâ Biographies
For students, scholars, and those interested in the art and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean, Egypt, and the Near East, the protection of cultural property, museums, and current arts-related issues.