The New York Times has an interesting article about the mystery how the Aleppo Codex came to Israel and how it might have lost some 200 pages along the way. It does ask whether the Codex should belong to the Modern State of Israel or Aleppo's Jewish exiles. It does not suggest, however, like some in the archaeological blogosphere have, that the Codex still belongs in Syria, which conducted a thorough "ethnic cleansing" of its Jewish population well before the Assad regime began its recent bombardment of Aleppo itself. Interestingly, even some associated with the hard line archaeological advocacy group Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE) have begun to acknowledge that perhaps Jewish artifacts are not best off in the hands of governments that have persecuted Jews after all. Will others in the archaeological blogosphere follow?
Showing posts with label Torah Scrolls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torah Scrolls. Show all posts
Cultural Nationalism Now Bites American Archaeologists
A Kurdish source is reporting that the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has stopped dealing with US archaeological teams in response to the refusal of US authorities to return Iraqi Jewish artifacts to the country.
If so, this is a rebuff not only to American archaeologists who have tirelessly promoted the interests of the Iraqi archaeological establishment (both during and after the fall of Saddam's Baathist regime) but also to the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and its Cultural Heritage Center, which have lavished millions of dollars on the Iraqi archaeological establishment-- all at a time US cultural institutions are finding themselves in an extremely harsh financial climate.
In punishing American archaeologists for a dispute over the repatriation of cultural artifacts, the Iraqis are apparently taking a page from the Turkish Government which has also recently punished German archaeologists for the perceived transgressions of German state museums.
Here, the Iraqis are apparently specifically miffed at US reconsideration of a controversial State Department "commitment" to return cultural artifacts confiscated from Iraqi Jews who were forced from their homeland in a callous act of "ethnic cleansing". Given their own "unclean hands," it's hard to see any "moral rights" Iraq may have to such artifacts.
And in an ironic twist, American archaeologists apparently have now themselves become the "victims" of the very same virulent cultural nationalism they have themselves done so much to foster. Perhaps it's finally time for the Archaeological Institute of America to rethink its unqualified support for the broadest claims of any nation state where American archaeologists excavate.
And it's certainly time to cut any further funding of Iraqi archaeology or the repatriation of any "Iraqi looking" cultural goods based on the slimmest suspicion they may have left that country after an international embargo was placed on the import of any Iraqi products.
If so, this is a rebuff not only to American archaeologists who have tirelessly promoted the interests of the Iraqi archaeological establishment (both during and after the fall of Saddam's Baathist regime) but also to the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and its Cultural Heritage Center, which have lavished millions of dollars on the Iraqi archaeological establishment-- all at a time US cultural institutions are finding themselves in an extremely harsh financial climate.
In punishing American archaeologists for a dispute over the repatriation of cultural artifacts, the Iraqis are apparently taking a page from the Turkish Government which has also recently punished German archaeologists for the perceived transgressions of German state museums.
Here, the Iraqis are apparently specifically miffed at US reconsideration of a controversial State Department "commitment" to return cultural artifacts confiscated from Iraqi Jews who were forced from their homeland in a callous act of "ethnic cleansing". Given their own "unclean hands," it's hard to see any "moral rights" Iraq may have to such artifacts.
And in an ironic twist, American archaeologists apparently have now themselves become the "victims" of the very same virulent cultural nationalism they have themselves done so much to foster. Perhaps it's finally time for the Archaeological Institute of America to rethink its unqualified support for the broadest claims of any nation state where American archaeologists excavate.
And it's certainly time to cut any further funding of Iraqi archaeology or the repatriation of any "Iraqi looking" cultural goods based on the slimmest suspicion they may have left that country after an international embargo was placed on the import of any Iraqi products.
The Aleppo Codex
The archaeological blogosphere has been full of comments about the pros and cons of repatriating the Iraqi Jewish archive. Yet, there has been no discussion of the far more culturally significant Aleppo Codex that left another country hostile to Jewish culture years ago. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_Codex
The Codex left Syria well before academic archaeologists began to press for repatriation even where such returns raise serious questions about preservation of the objects in question.
The Codex is clearly better off in Israel than in Syria. The strong likelihood is that the Iraqi Jewish archive would be more likely to be preserved and studied as well if it remains outside of a hostile Iraq. Yet, our State Department as well as its supporters in the archaeological community apparently do not see it that way. They plan to accede to Iraqi demands for repatriation, although there are no guarantees the archive will be available for academic study or even preserved.
Will there also be calls for the return of the Aleppo Codex? Or, is the analysis different because it left Syria well before the 1970 UNESCO Convention was promulgated?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_Codex
The Codex left Syria well before academic archaeologists began to press for repatriation even where such returns raise serious questions about preservation of the objects in question.
The Codex is clearly better off in Israel than in Syria. The strong likelihood is that the Iraqi Jewish archive would be more likely to be preserved and studied as well if it remains outside of a hostile Iraq. Yet, our State Department as well as its supporters in the archaeological community apparently do not see it that way. They plan to accede to Iraqi demands for repatriation, although there are no guarantees the archive will be available for academic study or even preserved.
Will there also be calls for the return of the Aleppo Codex? Or, is the analysis different because it left Syria well before the 1970 UNESCO Convention was promulgated?
Labels:
Archaeologists,
Iraq,
Repatriation,
State Department,
Syria,
Torah Scrolls
More on the Jewish Archive
Dorothy King (PhDiva) has an interesting post about the continuing dispute over the return of a Jewish archive to Iraq. See
http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/iraqi-jewish-archive.html
Repatriationists within the State Department seem hell bent on returning the material to the Iraqis-- the only question is whether the State Department will spend the $3 million in US taxpayer dollars appropriated to restore it first.
Yet, repatriation can easily be viewed as morally repugnant; the Iraqi State only gained custody over the belongings of departing Jews after they were forced into exile. See
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2008/07/joffee-critiques-justifications-for.html
Under the circumstances, wouldn't it be better to turn over the material to the Jewish Iraqi community living abroad rather than to the Iraqi State that was responsible for persecuting Jews and eliminating Jewish culture in Iraq?
http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/07/iraqi-jewish-archive.html
Repatriationists within the State Department seem hell bent on returning the material to the Iraqis-- the only question is whether the State Department will spend the $3 million in US taxpayer dollars appropriated to restore it first.
Yet, repatriation can easily be viewed as morally repugnant; the Iraqi State only gained custody over the belongings of departing Jews after they were forced into exile. See
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2008/07/joffee-critiques-justifications-for.html
Under the circumstances, wouldn't it be better to turn over the material to the Jewish Iraqi community living abroad rather than to the Iraqi State that was responsible for persecuting Jews and eliminating Jewish culture in Iraq?
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