arqueologia

Finkelstein continua a deixar muita gente desgostosa, quando algumas de suas “eternas” certezas são abaladas.

Um bom artigo sobre o roubo de antiguidades no Iraque.

Lost: The Looting of Iraq’s Antiquities.

Para se perceber a gravidade da situação, um trecho do artigo:

The only real comparison is to the surface of the moon. Craters as deep as 16 feet cover multi-acre sites that are remnants of what is widely considered the cradle of civilization. The craggy, arid earth, all but barren of vegetation, lies in mounds alongside the deep pits where thousands of Iraqi antiquities—cuneiform tablets, ancient scrolls and kings commemorated in stone that might give clues to how civilization began—have been ripped from their resting places and sold to nefarious (or unsuspecting) dealers and collectors. Some sites have been so ravaged that the top 10 feet of earth and all of the irreplaceable artifacts buried there for centuries are gone. Amid the catastrophe of the war in Iraq—the violence, bloodshed and loss of human life—is the loss of the world’s cultural heritage in the form of hoards of antiquities. It is an ongoing, silent tragedy for which there seems to be no viable solution. Sources say this is not the work of renegades with shovels. It is planned and executed by organized bands—200 to 300 per site—with heavy machinery at many of the 12,000 sites. And the payout is big. The average Iraqi makes the equivalent of $1,000 per year, yet a cache of looted antiquities can sell for $20,000. And looters can sell two or three such caches every week.

Publicado pela American Association of Museums em o número de Janeiro/Fevereiro de 2007 de Museum News. Artigo de Susan Breitkopf.

Quem, em 2 de novembro de 2006, leu o meu post The Bible Unearthed de Finkelstein e Silberman vira filme, agora pode apreciar uma resenha do documentário em DVD feita por Jim West, começando, hoje, com The Bible Unearthed: The DVD- A 4 Part Review– Part 1 [Obs.: blog apagado – 22.03.2008].

Também hoje, passando pela editora francesa Bayard, encontrei a indicação de que outro livro de Finkelstein/Silberman, aquele sobre Davi e Salomão, foi traduzido no ano passado para o francês. Veja:

FINKELSTEIN, I. & SILBERMAN, N. A. Les rois sacrés de la Bible: a la recherche de David et Salomon. Traduction: Patrice Ghirardi. Paris: Bayard, 2006, 336 p. ISBN – 2227472243

Diz a apresentação:

…L’archéologie biblique est devenue un champ de mines en passe de faire exploser toutes nos représentations traditionnelles, et notre lecture de la Bible. Le grand archéologue Israël Finkelstein avait tenu, dans La Bible dévoilée, à décrypter pour nous les découvertes les plus récentes qui bouleversaient notre connaissance des origines de la Bible. Avec Les rois sacrés de la Bible, il s’attaque à présent à la légende royale et messianique de David et Salomon qui s’est répandue dans l’ensemble du monde occidental. La Bible célèbre David et son fils Salomon sous les traits de valeureux guerriers et conquérants, d’amants légendaires, de poètes visionnaires, de bâtisseurs pionniers et de modèles de gouvernance et d’autorité politique… Mais les dernières découvertes archéologiques ébranlent notre représentation traditionnelle. Nous avons la preuve, à présent, que leur histoire relève davantage du mythe et de la légende. Selon Finkelstein et Silberman, le David de l’histoire, au Xe siècle avant notre ère, n’était que le chef de bande d’une petite localité appelée Jérusalem. Ce n’est qu’à partir de la fin du VIIIe siècle que leur légende prit de l’ampleur. On apprend que Goliath pourrait avoir été un mercenaire grec, que Salomon n’a probablement pas construit le célèbre Temple de Jérusalem… La légende de ces rois mythiques naît dans un monde tiraillé entre les nationalismes conflictuels et un empire mondialisé en pleine effervescence. David et Salomon deviendront alors des messies, des symboles d’espoir non seulement pour le judaïsme mais également pour le christianisme et toute l’histoire religieuse et politique de l’Occident. Voici un livre qui fera date, lucide et documenté, écrit par deux sommités de l’histoire et de l’archéologie bibliques.

Veja quais são as Top 10 Discoveries of 2006, na opinião da revista Archaeology, do Archaeological Institute of America.

A mais importante descoberta é egípcia, a décima é brasileira. Do mundo bíblico, nenhuma.

Quem quiser ver o Cilindro de Ciro, clique aqui.

Uma tradução, em inglês, pode ser lida aqui.

Na página do Museu Britânico há algumas traduções. A de Irving Finkel é a seguinte:

[When …] … [… wor]ld quarters […] … a low person was put in charge of his country, but he set [a (…) counter]feit over them. He ma[de] a counterfeit of Esagil [and …] … for Ur and the rest of the cult-cities. Rites inappropriate to them, [impure] fo[od- offerings …] disrespectful […] were daily gabbled, and, intolerably, he brought the daily offerings to a halt; he inter[fered with the rites and] instituted […] within the sanctuaries. In his mind, reverential fear of Marduk, king of the gods, came to an end. He did yet more evil to his city every day; … his [people…], he brought ruin on them all by a yoke without relief. Enlil-of-the-gods became extremely angry at their complaints, and […] their territory. The gods who lived within them left their shrines, angry that he had made them enter into Babylon (Shuanna). Ex[alted Marduk, Enlil-of-the-Go]ds, relented. He changed his mind about all the settlements whose sanctuaries were in ruins and the population of the land of Sumer and Akkad who had become like corpses, and took pity on them. He inspected and checked all the countries, seeking for the upright king of his choice. He took under his hand Cyrus, king of the city of Anshan, and called him by his name, proclaiming him aloud for the kingship over all of everything. He made the land of the Qutu and all the Medean troops prostrate themselves at his feet, while he looked out in justice and righteousness for the black-headed people whom he had put under his care. Marduk, the great lord, who nurtures his people, saw with pleasure his fine deeds and true heart and ordered that he should go to Babylon He had him take the road to Tintir, and, like a friend and companion, he walked at his side. His vast troops whose number, like the water in a river, could not be counted, marched fully-armed at his side. He had him enter without fighting or battle right into Shuanna; he saved his city Babylon from hardship. He handed over to him Nabonidus, the king who did not fear him. All the people of Tintir, of all Sumer and Akkad, nobles and governors, bowed down before him and kissed his feet, rejoicing over his kingship and their faces shone. The lord through whose trust all were rescued from death and who saved them all from distress and hardship, they blessed him sweetly and praised his name.

I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king,, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, ki[ng of the ci]ty of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of Anshan, the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel and Nabu love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern themselves.

When I went as harbinger of peace i[nt]o Babylon I founded my sovereign residence within the palace amid celebration and rejoicing. Marduk, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought him out in awe. My vast troops marched peaceably in Babylon, and the whole of [Sumer] and Akkad had nothing to fear. I sought the welfare of the city of Babylon and all its sanctuaries. As for the population of Babylon […, w]ho as if without div[ine intention] had endured a yoke not decreed for them, I soothed their weariness, I freed them from their bonds(?). Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced at [my good] deeds, and he pronounced a sweet blessing over me, Cyrus, the king who fears him, and over Cambyses, the son [my] issue, [and over] my all my troops, that we might proceed further at his exalted command. All kings who sit on thrones, from every quarter, from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, those who inhabit [remote distric]ts (and) the kings of the land of Amurru who live in tents, all of them, brought their weighty tribute into Shuanna, and kissed my feet. From [Shuanna] I sent back to their places to the city of Ashur and Susa, Akkad, the land of Eshnunna, the city of Zamban, the city of Meturnu, Der, as far as the border of the land of Qutu – the sanctuaries across the river Tigris – whose shrines had earlier become dilapidated, the gods who lived therein, and made permanent sanctuaries for them. I collected together all of their people and returned them to their settlements, and the gods of the land of Sumer and Akkad which Nabonidus – to the fury of the lord of the gods – had brought into Shuanna, at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy. May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Marduk and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds, and say to Marduk, my lord, this: “Cyrus, the king who fears you, and Cambyses his son, may their … […] […….].” The population of Babylon call blessings on my kingship, and I have enabled all the lands to live in peace. Every day I copiously supplied [… ge]ese, two ducks and ten pigeons more than the geese, ducks and pigeons […]. I sought out to strengthen the guard on the wall Imgur-Enlil, the great wall of Babylon, and […] the quay of baked brick on the bank of the moat which an earlier king had bu[ilt but not com]pleted, [I …] its work. [… which did not surround the city] outside, which no earlier king had built, his troops, the levee from his land, in/to Shuanna. […] with bitumen and baked brick I built anew, and completed its work. […] great [doors of cedarwood] with copper cladding. I installed all their doors, threshold slabs and door fittings with copper parts. […] I saw within it an inscription of Ashurbanipal, a king who preceded me, […] … […] … [… for] ever.

Cerca de 300 objetos de diferentes períodos da história persa poderão ser expostos no Brasil proximamente. É o que diz a notícia da CHN – Cultural Heritage News Agency, da qual transcrevo o começo:

Brazil Stands Up Next to Host Exhibition of Persian Relics
The exhibition of “Iran, a Symbol of Paradise” which is currently on display in Mexico City is more likely to head for Brazil after it comes to an end in Mexico.

Brazil and Colombia are the two candidates in Latin America that requested to host of the exhibition of “Iran, a Symbol of Paradise” which is currently being held in Mexico City. However, based on initial agreements it seems that Brazil will precede Colombia in hosting of this exhibition. In an interview with CHN, Mohammad Reza Kargar, director of Iran’s National Museum, who has just returned from Mexico where he had been invited to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition of “Iran, a Symbol of Paradise”, announced Brazil as the next country which is more likely to host the Persian exhibition and said: “This exhibition is the second prominent appearance of Iran in cultural programs of Central American countries (cont.)

Notícia publicada por Chuck Jones na lista IraqCrisis anuncia parada, por tempo indeterminado, do blog de Francis Deblauwe Iraq War & Archaeology (A Guerra do Iraque e a Arqueologia). Entretanto, tanto o blog, quanto o antigo site continuam online. Veja:

Having launched it just two months ago, Francis Deblauwe has announced that his Iraq War & Archaeology Blog is going on indefinite hiatus. Both the blog and the older site remain online and are and extraordinary and invaluable record of the destruction of Iraq (Chuck Jones).

Notícia presente também no blog.

Leia o post de Dorothy King Iraq Archaeology Appeal [Obs.: post desaparecido], em seu blog Dorothy King’s PhDiva.

Confira também Arqueologia em zonas de conflito: conferência no Instituto de Arqueologia do University College London.

O conhecido livro The Bible Unearthed de Israel Finkelstein e Neil Asher Silberman, traduzido no Brasil (equivocadamente, em minha opinião!) com o título A Bíblia não tinha razão, virou um documentário. É um filme em quatro partes, de 52 minutos cada uma, escrito por Isy Moregenztern e Thierry Ragobert, dirigido por Thierry Ragobert e distribuído por First Run/Icarus Films, de New York, USA a partir de setembro de 2006. Os temas dos 4 episódios são os seguintes: 1. Os patriarcas; 2. O êxodo; 3. Os reis; 4. O livro.

O filme documenta escavações arqueológicas no Egito, Jordânia e Israel. Arquivos de escavações arqueológicas, mapas, ilustrações bíblicas e computação gráfica foram utilizados, mostrando a arquitetura antiga, tabuinhas cuneiformes e outros artefatos raros.

Além de Finkelstein e Silberman, colaboram neste documentário outros especialistas, gente conhecida na área, de quem sempre falo em minhas aulas de História de Israel, Introdução à Bíblia, Pentateuco e Literatura Deuteronomista (veja as fotos!), como Amnon Ben-Tor, Jacques Briend, Ayelet Gilboa, Amihai Mazar, Donald B. Redford, Ronny Reich, Thomas Römer, John Van Seters, William M. Schniedewind e David Ussishkin.

The Bible Unearthed: The Making of a Religion
Directed by Thierry Ragobert
Written by Isy Moregenztern and Thierry Ragobert
Based on the Bestseller The Bible Unearthed by Israël Finkelstein and Neil Silberman

Obs.: lançado no Brasil – leia mais aqui.

Conheça o site Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS).

Este site é um espaço para o intercâmbio de informações sobre arte, arqueologia, cultura e civilização dos povos iranianos. Artigos sobre o antigo Irã, notícias diárias sobre descobertas arqueológicas, entre outras coisas, são recursos que podem ser encontrados na página. Um museu virtual traz interessantes fotos do mundo iraniano antigo, como a inscrição de Behistun de Dario I.

The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS) act as a forum for the exchange of information about the art, archaeology, culture and civilization of Iranian peoples.