By at least 1000 BCE the ancient Maya were building massive temple platforms in the midst of dispersed settlements, an approach to urbanism that persisted for almost two millennia. The low density of these settlements was uniquely suited to their rainforest environment, based on an “agro-urban” system in which foodstuffs and other important crops were produced within the heart of the city, right up to the edge of palaces and ceremonial plazas. Major questions remain about how this system came about and functioned through time. Dr. Simon Martin’s takes us on a tour of the jungle cities, exploring the origins, operation, and ultimate collapse of one of the world’s most sophisticated tropical civilizations.
Penn Museum
Dr. Simon Martin, Associate Curator, American Section, Penn Museum.
By at least 1000 BCE the ancient Maya were building massive temple platforms in the midst of dispersed settlements, an approach to urbanism that persisted for almost two millennia. The low density of these settlements was uniquely suited to their rainforest environment, based on an “agro-urban” system in which foodstuffs and other important crops were produced within the heart of the city, right up to the edge of palaces and ceremonial plazas. Major questions remain about how this system came about and functioned through time. Dr. Simon Martin’s takes us on a tour of the jungle cities, exploring the origins, operation, and ultimate collapse of one of the world’s most sophisticated tropical civilizations.
By at least 1000 BCE the ancient Maya were building massive temple platforms in the midst of dispersed settlements, an approach to urbanism that persisted for almost two millennia. The low density of these settlements was uniquely suited to their rainforest environment, based on an “agro-urban” system in which foodstuffs and other important crops were produced within the heart of the city, right up to the edge of palaces and ceremonial plazas. Major questions remain about how this system came about and functioned through time. Dr. Simon Martin’s takes us on a tour of the jungle cities, exploring the origins, operation, and ultimate collapse of one of the world’s most sophisticated tropical civilizations.
updated 6 years ago
By at least 1000 BCE the ancient Maya were building massive temple platforms in the midst of dispersed settlements, an approach to urbanism that persisted for almost two millennia. The low density of these settlements was uniquely suited to their rainforest environment, based on an “agro-urban” system in which foodstuffs and other important crops were produced within the heart of the city, right up to the edge of palaces and ceremonial plazas. Major questions remain about how this system came about and functioned through time. Dr. Simon Martin’s takes us on a tour of the jungle cities, exploring the origins, operation, and ultimate collapse of one of the world’s most sophisticated tropical civilizations.
The earliest cities in the world arose in a dynamic wetland environment at the intersection of the Tigris-Euphrates delta and the shore of the Persian Gulf during the 4th- and 3rd-millennia BCE. Recent work at the site of Lagash, led by the Penn Museum, in collaboration with the University of Pisa and Cambridge University, focuses on reconstructing the ancient environment of southern Iraq through remote sensing, geological coring, and excavation. This illustrated lecture will bring this formative chapter of human history to life through an overview of this work to date, including geological, ethnographic, and archaeological evidence.
Speakers: Holly Pittman, Bok Family Professor in the Humanities; Professor, History of Art; Director, Lagash Archaeological Project and Curator, Near East Section, Penn Museum and Reed C Goodman, Ph.D. Candidate in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World.
Speaker: Megan C. Kassabaum, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, UPenn
From 04/29/1989
Speaker: Simon Martin, Associate Curator and Keeper in the American Section, Penn Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor Anthropology, UPenn
Speaker: George Leader, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania; Consulting Scholar, Mutter Research Institute, College of Physicians of Philadelphia; Honorary Research Associate, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Speakers: C. Brian Rose, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, Curator-in-Charge, Mediterranean Section, University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; Immediate Past President, Archaeological Institute of America; Trustee, American Academy in Rome
Speakers: Justin McDaniel, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Professor of the Humanities, Religious Studies UPenn
Monica O. Montgomery believes museums must be in service to society! She is the newly minted Director of Community Engagement and Programs for Historic Germantown in Northwest Philadelphia, and previously served as Curator of Social Justice and Programming for the FUTURES exhibit celebrating the Smithsonian’s 175th Anniversary. She has curated exhibits with renowned organizations like the South African Embassy, Brooklyn Museum, Portland Art Museum, and the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center, and has worked as a consultant for museums and other institutions on DEI and community engagement. Additionally, Monica has taught graduate courses around museums, community engagement and social justice at American University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Pratt Institute and NYU. She holds a B.A. in Broadcast Communication from Temple University and an M.A. in Corporate Communication from LaSalle University.
About the Speaker
Jeremy McInerney, Ph.D., is Davidson Kennedy Professor of Classical Studies and Chair of the Graduate Group in Ancient History at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1992, he has taught both undergraduate and graduate level courses including Greek History, Demosthenes, the Greek World after Alexander, Religion and the Polis, Greek Epigraphy, Polybius, Greek Sanctuaries, and, most recently, the SNF Paideia designated course, Rhetoric and the Community.
About the Speaker
John Echohawk (Pawnee) is Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund. He was the first graduate of the University of New Mexico’s special program to train Indian lawyers, and was a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association while in law school. John has been with NARF since its inception in 1970, having served continuously as Executive Director since 1977. He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field. John serves on the Boards of the American Indian Resources Institute, the Association on American Indian Affairs, the Indigenous Language Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. B.A., University of New Mexico (1967); J.D., University of New Mexico (1970); Reginald Heber Smith Fellow (1970-72); Native American Rights Fund (August 1970 to present); admitted to practice law in Colorado.
About the Speaker
C. Brian Rose, Ph.D.,is James B. Pritchard Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology and Peter C. Ferry Curator-in-Charge of the Mediterranean Section. Since 1988 he has been Head of Post-Bronze Age excavations at Troy, and between 2004-2007 he directed a survey project in the Granicus River Valley that focused on recording and mapping the Graeco-Persian tombs that dominate the area. In 2013, he became director of the Gordion Excavations in central Turkey, and in 2015 was elected President of the American Research Institute in Turkey. His research has concentrated on the political and artistic relationship between Rome and the provinces (Dynastic Commemoration and Imperial Portraiture in the Julio-Claudian Period, Cambridge, 1997), and on the monuments of Troy during the Classical periods (The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy, Cambridge, 2014).
About the Speaker
Shailaja Paik, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati. Her research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of a number of fields: modern South Asia, Dalit studies, gender and women's studies, social and political movements, oral history, human rights, and humanitarianism. As a historian, she specializes in the social, intellectual, and cultural history of Modern India. Dr. Paik’s current research is funded by the American Council of Learned Societies Frederick Burkhardt Fellowship, StanfordHumanities Center, National Endowment for the Humanities: American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Long-term Fellowship, and a Taft Center Fellowship.
About the Speaker
David P. Silverman, Ph.D., is Eckley Brinton Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology and Curator of Penn Museum's Egyptian Section, and one of the leading authorities on the civilization of ancient Egypt. Dr. Silverman was the national curator, advisor, and academic content creator for the blockbuster exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. He was also responsible for the curatorial content in the original 1977 Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit and served as Curator in Chicago at the Field Museum. His extensive publications include numerous books and articles on Egyptian language, art, and religion, and he has directed several field expeditions at sites throughout Egypt.
About the Speaker
Obed Arango, Founder and Executive Director of the Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educación (CCATE), is a Mexican journalist, anthropologist, visual artist, filmmaker, and lecturer in the School of Social Policy & Practice at UPenn. Former faculty of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and professor at Montgomery County Community College, in 2006 he created the radio program, Villa Inmigrante, which was broadcast on Mexico’s Radio Universidad de Guadalajara. From 1994-2001, he conducted an ethnography of Mexico City’s Central Square, with a particular focus on the Zapatista movement. In 2015, Obed was the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Orlando Costas Service Award from Eastern University. He was also Education Champion of the Year at the 2016 Hispanic Choice Awards. His current research focuses on the Villa Inmigrante in Norristown, PA.
About the Speaker
Tukufu Zuberi is the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations and Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is dedicated to bringing a fresh view ofculture and society to the public through various platforms. Dr. Zuberi is the writer and producer for African Independence, an award-winning feature-length documentary film that highlights the birth, realization, and problems confronted by the movement to win independence in Africa. The story is told by channeling the voices of freedom fighters and leaders who achieved independence, liberty, and justice for African people. With this and other documentary film projects, Dr. Zuberi is dedicated to bringing a critical, creative vision not typically seen or heard to the big and small screen.
Stephen J. Tinney, Ph.D., is Clark Research Associate Professor of Assyriology, Deputy Director of the Penn Museum, Associate Curator of the Babylonian Section of the Penn Museum and director of the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project. He holds a B.A. in Assyriology from Cambridge University, England, and a Ph.D. in Assyriology from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His research interests include all aspects of Sumerian language, literature, and culture. Much of his current work is devoted to developing and publishing Sumerian texts and to analyzing and presenting the Sumerian language. This work is primarily focused on the creation of two major projects, the online Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (ePSD), a project he began work on when he joined Penn in 1991 as a postdoctoral research assistant and which he now directs, and the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative based at UCLA.
Penny Balkin Bach is the Executive Director & Chief Curator of the Association for Public Art (aPA, formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association). A curator, writer, and educator who provides artistic direction for the organization, she is well-known for her work with artists and for her innovative approaches to connecting public art with its audiences. She supports the creation of opportunities for new works by artists and creative professionals, promotes the interpretation of art in public spaces, and advocates for the responsible stewardship of public art.
David Brownlee, Ph.D., Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor Emeritus, Penn History of Art, is a historian of modern architecture whose interests embrace a wide range of subjects in Europe and America, from the late 18th century to the present. Dr. Brownlee has won numerous fellowships, and his work has earned three major publication prizes from the Society of Architectural Historians. He is also a recipient of Penn's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. His film Philadelphia: Our Nation's First World Heritage City, produced and directed by Sam Katz, was made in 2016 to explain Philadelphia's new designation, for which he had worked. And in 2019 he worked with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Institute of Architects to create a short film about the PSFS Building, winner of the "Fifty Year Timeless Award" from the AIA.
C. Brian Rose, Ph.D. (B.A. Haverford College; M. A., Ph.D. Columbia University), is James B. Pritchard Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology and Peter C. Ferry Curator-in-Charge of the Mediterranean Section. Since 1988 he has been Head of Post-Bronze Age excavations at Troy, and between 2004 and 2007 he directed a survey project in the Granicus River Valley that focused on recording and mapping the Graeco-Persian tombs that dominate the area. In 2013 he became director of the Gordion Excavations in central Turkey. His research has concentrated on the political and artistic relationship between Rome and the provinces (Dynastic Commemoration and Imperial Portraiture in the Julio-Claudian Period, Cambridge, 1997), and on the monuments of Troy during the Classical periods (The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy, Cambridge, 2014).
Mark Lycett, Ph.D., is an historical anthropologist and the Director of Penn’s South Asia Center. Previously he taught at the University of Chicago, where he was Director of the Program on the Global Environment, Academic Director of Chicago's South Asian Abroad Program, and Director of the Center for International Studies. He has extensive research experience in western North America and South Asia, including the Vijayanagara Metropolitan Survey (1988–1997) and, more recently, work on landscape ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and the social lives of forests and forest products in peninsular India.
Joseph McGill, Jr., is a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC, and the founder and director of The Slave Dwelling Project. Previously, as a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Mr. McGill worked to revitalize the Sweet Auburn commercial district in Atlanta, GA, and to develop a management plan for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. He is a former executive director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, IA, and a former director of history and culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, SC. He has also served as a National Park Service park ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston.
Holly Pittman, Ph.D., Curator in the Near East Section and Bok Family Professor in the Humanities, Penn History of Art, has excavated in Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. She has had primary publication responsibilities of the art, especially the glyptic art, from the sites of Malyan in the Fars province of Iran, Uruk-period Tell Brak, and Uruk-period Hacienbi Tepe. She co-curated the Museum’s Middle East Galleries as well as the traveling exhibition of the Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. Her current research interests revolve around the excavations of the sites of Konar Sandal South and North in the region of Jiroft, in south-central Iran. Dr. Pittman has participated in two seasons of excavation of these two mounds and the exploration and survey of the region.
Caroline Randall Williams is a catalyst. She makes change possible by bringing art and joy into the room in such a way that the grit of real challenge and limits may become eclipsed by analysis, innovation, and skill. She is an award-winning poet, young adult novelist, and cookbook author as well as an activist, public intellectual, performance artist, and scholar.
Kevin Cahail, Ph.D., is the Collections Manager of the Egyptian Section. He received his B.A. in Classics and Classical Archaeology in 2003 from San Francisco State University, and his Ph.D. in Egyptology in 2014 from Penn. He has been a part of the Penn Museum's South Abydos Project since 2008, and his dissertation was the result of three field seasons excavating tombs of royal and non-royal individuals. In addition to his current work on the Palace of Merenptah, his research interests also include funerary archaeology of the Middle and New Kingdoms.
Paul M. Farber, Ph.D., is Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Philadelphia-based Monument Lab. He also serves as Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at Penn’s Weitzman School of Design. Farber is the author of A Wall of Our Own: An American History of the Berlin Wall (University of North Carolina Press, 2020) and co-editor with Ken Lum of Monument Lab: Creative Speculations for Philadelphia (Temple University Press, 2020).
Simon Martin, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, Anthropology, Curator, American Section, Penn Museum
Cam Grey, Department of Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Peter Dodson, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy, Labs of Anatomy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and Professor of Paleontology, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Stephen J. Tinney, Deputy Director, Chief Curator, and Head of Collections and Research
Clark L. Erickson, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Curator, American Section, Penn Museum
Robert D. Hicks, Ph.D., Senior Consulting Scholar, Director, Mütter Museum/Historical Medical Library, William Maul Measey Chair for the History of Medicine of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
C. Brian Rose, Ph.D., Curator-in-Charge, Mediterranean Section, Penn Museum; Immediate Past President, Archaeological Institute of America; Trustee, American Academy in Rome
Tukufu Zuberi, Lead Curator, new Africa Galleries (opening Nov. 16, 2019) “Stuff” can be defined as a collection of belongings, ideas, expertise, and much more. As part of the “Great Stuff” lecture series, Dr. Tukufu Zuberi discusses the impact of the European colonial mentality in the collection of African art and crafts. His talk will challenge ideas about colonialism, explaining how social movements that transformed Africa’s relationship to the world were often overlooked.
Cities. Buildings. Graves. Pottery. Animal Bones. Pollen. DNA. Oxygen molecules. The stuff of archaeology is changing rapidly, as are the questions we can ask and answer. How do archaeologists reconstruct past civilizations and ways of life? What new information can we expect in the future? Join Dr. Lauren Ristvet for an exploration of the new frontiers of the stuff of archaeology.
Animal “stuff” in the Museum includes bones of animals dedicated as offerings, animal parts discarded as food, and animal parts made into ornaments and game pieces. Some of the oldest materials in the Museum are animal bones; hundreds of modern skeletons live in the CAAM labs at the Penn Museum. When archaeologists find bones, those bones can reveal the relationships that people have had with animals in ancient times. In this lecture, zooarchaeologist Katherine Moore will tell some of the most unexpected animal stories she has reconstructed while working on Penn Museum collections.
The Penn Museum has been collecting "Great Stuff" for 130 years, and, from the start it has created Great Architecture to showcase its rich collections and to reflect rapidly changing thinking about object display. The story begins in the 1890s, when the Museum turned to a talented team of Philadelphia's young "Queen Anne" superstars-- Wilson Eyre, Frank Miles Day, Walter Cope, and John Stewardson--to create a master plan and begin construction of a vast new building that could never be filled and was never finished.
Today’s episode is all about SHERDS! Resident Sherd Nerd, Dr. Megan Kassbaum, tells us what they are and why they matter, including some fun sherd facts you can use to impress your friends (or your professors!). Plus, you’ll learn a peculiar trick to tell the difference between sherds, rocks, and animal bones. Also - wine!
After this, you’ll never look at sherds in the same way.
In the Summer of 2018, the Lower Egyptian (Sphinx) Gallery was closed to the public. Why? What’s been happening with all the stuff in there since then? Head Conservator Lynn Grant will talk about the monumental – in every sense of the word – task of conserving the large architectural pieces for installation in the renewed Egyptian Galleries. See what’s been holding up the Sphinx for the last 92 years and learn how we’ll be dealing with the objects too large to leave the building.
All around the world, cultural heritage sites seem to be at great risk from conflict or other disasters. Due to recent cultural destruction in the Middle East and North Africa, there is perhaps more attention than ever before about the phenomenon of cultural loss. Recent examples are notorious. The Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001. The Al-Askari Shrine in 2006. The libraries of Timbuktu in 2012. The Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo in 2013. The ruins of Nimrud in 2014. The ancient city of Palmyra in 2015. But not all losses are conflict-related. Fire destroyed the acclaimed National Museum of Brazil in 2018. How do we protect stuff from hazards? What can be done to ensure that cultural heritage is protected for the future? The Penn Museum is at the forefront of safeguarding cultural heritage in these situations, and Dr. Daniels will discuss its role and preservation successes.
The Penn Museum stewards nearly one million artifacts from around the world—in other words, the Museum has great stuff, and a lot of it. Williams Director Julian Siggers will explore some of his favorite objects from the Museum’s galleries and storage.
In this video, we meet Hadi Al-Karfawi , Yaroub Al-Obaidi, and Moumena Saradar, the Penn Museum Global Guides. They lead tours of the Middle East Galleries to share historical information about the objects on display, in addition to personal stories that help connect to their countries of origin, Iraq and Syria. Visitors can transcend time and place through the authentic experiences shared on these tours. To schedule a tour with a Global Guide or follow a public Global Guide tour, view https://www.penn.museum/visit/tours/global-guides.
The Global Guides Tour Program was made possible by a generous grant from the Barra Foundation and in collaboration with HIAS Pennsylvania and the Nationality Services Center.
This short film includes interviews with panelists and audience members as well as discussion highlights from each of the Science and Race: History, Use, and Abuse classes.
Directed by: Dr. Arjun Shanker, Andrew Hudson, Melissa Skolnick, Ore Badaki.
Kicking off the series is the story of the Great Death Pit of Ur. Among the sites in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, The Great Death Pit has remained a mystery. Who did this large burial site belong too? New research from Richard Zettler, Ph.D. and Aubrey Baadsgaard, Ph.D. has provided some theories about who might have been buried there.
Members were invited to an exclusive, town-hall conversation with Dr. Julian Siggers, Williams Director, to explore the vision and plans of the Museum's Building Transformation project. Over the next several years, this effort will result in the renovation and reimagination of 75% of the Museum's galleries, plus the improvement of key visitor amenities, including accessibility, wayfinding, and temperature-control features.
Speakers: Julian Siggers, Ph.D. Williams Director and Stephen J. Tinney, Ph.D. Deputy Director and Chief Curator
Presentation: June 17, 2018
Panelists:
Ryan Lewis, Vice President of Marketing, Opera Philadelphia
Youngmoo Kim, Director, ExCITe Center; Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering at Drexel University Patricia Wilson Aden, President & CEO, African American Museum in Philadelphia
Robert Blackson, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, Temple Contemporary at Tyler School of Art, Temple University