Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Persepolis at University of Chicago Humanities Day 2009

University of Chicago Humanities Day 2009
JOIN US SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, for a day-long feast of world-class scholarship and artistic performance as we celebrate the 31st annual Humanities Day at the University of Chicago.
SESSION III 3:30pm-4:30pm includes

NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES & CIVILIZATIONS / ORIENTAL INSTITUTE
Matthew Stolper
Recording Persian Antiquities in Crisis: The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
Since 1936, scholars at the Oriental Institute have been studying tens of thousands of tablets excavated at Persepolis, the complex of palaces that Kings Darius and Xerxes built in the heartland of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Their results have transformed modern understanding of the languages, art, society, and institutions of the Persian Empire. But, since 2004, they have been working under a cloud of litigation that threatens the future of these tablets. This presentation discusses what the Persepolis Fortification Archive is, why it is important, and how the PFA Project is using digital tools and methods to record and publish it.