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 Muscarella’s interests and are major scholars in their fields. This volume constitutes an unusual, important, and timely addition to the archaeological and art historical literature.

The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, celebrates the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Forty-seven major scholars contribute to this unusual and important volume.

The period of Anatolian history between the death of the semi-legendary king Midas of Gordion ca. 700 BC and the advent of the Achaemenid Persian Empire ca. 550 BC is dominated by certain narratives: the rise of the Mermnad Lydian Kingdom, from Gyges to Croesus; the demise of the Urartian Kingdom and ‘Neo-Hittite’-type culture and polities; and the invasion of shadowy forces from the Steppe: Cimmerians, Scythians and Medes. The discoveries of Geoffrey and Francoise Summers’s project at the massive walled city on Kerkenes Da?? have changed the cultural history and texture of Anatolia during this time period, opening up insights into the spread of Phrygian culture and language and inviting further discussion of how the period is framed. This book honors their accomplishments by presenting papers addressing the dynamics and events of that period from various angles, and in various regions and places, as well as other interventions on Iron Age Anatolia, from dating of kings to rare and potentially influential medical techniques. The volume sheds light on and also advocates for further synthesis of the regional dynamics affecting the Mediterranean, Near East and Anatolia together, toward the production of revised, more nuanced narratives.

Covering the period from 2500 BCE to the Byzantine Era, this volume focuses on the social history of furniture found in houses, tombs and temples as narrated through the archaeological evidence. The earliest furniture can be seen as an attempt by humans to enhance their safety, comfort and social standing but it can also offer opportunities for understanding human behavior, values and thought: fine furniture was among the most valuable of possessions in the ancient world so it expressed power, wealth and status. It was appreciated as art, used in diplomacy (both as a gift and as tribute) and recorded as booty. At the same time, its practical and ceremonial uses yield important clues about the domestic environment and daily life in antiquity, as well as revealing aspects of sacred belief and funerary practices. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources, this volume presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the period on the themes of Design and Motifs; Makers, Making, and Materials; Types and Uses; The Domestic Setting; The Public Setting; Exhibition and Display; Furniture and Architecture; Visual Representations; and Verbal Representations.

Since the translation of the Septuagint in the 3rd century BCE, scholars have attempted to identify the stones that populate the biblical text. This study rejects the long-standing reliance on ancient translations for identifying biblical stones. Despite the evident contradictions and historical inconsistencies, scholars traditionally presumed these translations to be reliable. By departing from this approach, this volume presents a novel synthesis of comparative linguistics and archeogemological data. Through rigorous analysis of valid cognates, it establishes correlations between Hebrew stone names and their counterparts in ancient languages, corresponding to known mineral species. This methodological shift enables a more accurate identification of stones mentioned in biblical texts, thus recovering their true historical context. The research not only advances our understanding of biblical mineralogy but also provides a fresh perspective on the material culture of the Ancient Levant, offering valuable insights for scholars and laymen, linguists and archaeologists alike.

New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world’s greatest cultural institutions. Its holdings encompass a vast range—including paintings, sculptures, costumes, instruments, and arms and armor—and span millennia, from ancient Egypt and Greece to Islamic art to European Old Masters and modern artists. How did the Met amass this trove, and what do the experiences of the people who bought, restored, catalogued, visited, and watched over these works tell us about the museum? This book is a groundbreaking bottom-up history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exploring both its triumphs and its failings. Jonathan Conlin tells the stories of the people who have shaped the museum—from curators and artists to museumgoers and security guards—and the communities that have made it their own. Highlighting inequalities of wealth, race, and gender, he exposes the hidden costs of the museum’s reliance on “robber barons” and oligarchs, the exclusionary immigration policies that influenced the foundation of the American Wing, and the obstacles faced by women curators. Drawing on extensive interviews with past and current staff, Conlin brings the story up to the present, including the museum’s troubled 150th anniversary in 2020. As the Met faces continued controversy, this book offers a timely account of the people behind an iconic institution and a compelling case for the museum’s vision of shared human creativity.

Excavations on the Koukounaries Hill, Paros, Greece from 1976-1992 revealed a 12th century B.C.E. Mycenaean building, an Iron Age settlement, and an Archaic sanctuary. This volume presents the pottery from five areas inside the building, as well as the pottery from a limited reoccupation after the building's destruction and abandonment.