Abstract
Operatives of the Islamic State reportedly destroyed six Palmyrene funerary busts and statue fragments in Manbij, Syria, on July 2, 2015. This article considers the ethical implications of publishing photographs of antiquities that have been destroyed, arguing that in such dramatic cases as destruction, it is justified to publish readings. Photographs of these antiquities are then analyzed, their physical and iconographic characteristics described, and readings for three of the inscriptions suggested. Finally, the loss of data caused by the items' destruction is measured against the loss of data occasioned by looting.
hat tip: comment by Paul Michael Kurtz
The comment was sent to a thread on this thought-provoking comment:
Michael Press @MichaelDPress 17 g.
Amazing that this is the full provenance statement for a Palmyrene funerary relief in a reputable academic journal in 2014 -- around the height of the Syrian Civil War.
Michael Press adds: "To be fair, that's not quite it: in the footnote, the author thanks the gallery for permission to publish and for providing photos". Cui bono?
With regard to the Manbij-smashing, it's discussed here (Thursday, 2 July 2015
Confusion over new photos of ISIL Destroying Palmyra statues), and if you read it, there's some details there. Here I stuck my neck out and said I thought that one of them was possibly/probably a fake, so if somebody has a way to legally share Professor Hutton's paper with me, I'd be glad to learn from it what he says. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment