Wednesday, February 10, 2016
12:20 PM - 2:00 PM (ET)
Heritage Room, Maxwell Library
Event Type
Lecture
Contact
Michael Zimmerman
Department
Anthropology
Link
https://ems.bridgew.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?EventDetailId=17223
Over the last decade and a half, the news has been saturated
with images of terrorism and violence. Recently, over the last few years, most
of these images have had their origins in the terror group referred to as ISIS,
or ISIL (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). But what has also shocked people
about ISIL, for almost the entirety of their existence, is their looting and
willful destruction of the cultural heritage of Syria and Iraq. The world has
also been inundated with images of the looting of archaeological sites being
performed by ISIL and its affiliates, as well as other state and non-state
actors involved in the Syrian Civil War. What is not receiving nearly as much
sustained attention in the news media is the role that the looting of
antiquities from sites under their control plays in the funding of these
groups’ activities, particularly ISIL. This paper will address the current
state of cultural heritage in the Middle East, what archaeologists are doing to
protect the Middle East’s cultural heritage, how archaeologists are re-thinking
cultural heritage protection in the wake of this crisis, and what we as
individuals can do to raise public awareness of the looting and destruction of
cultural heritage, and the role it plays in funding acts of terrorism.