The so-called “Islamic State” (also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) proclaimed itself a caliphate in June 2014. Like any new state whose continued existence may be in doubt, this group has advanced its ideology through varied relationships to tangible material heritage. This talk and panel discussion will contextualize the destruction of monuments and looting of sites and museums within regional histories of “calculated frightfulness” (as one historian characterized a strategy of the ancient Assyrian empire), iconoclasm, and other episodes of looting. It will also examine western responses to these actions, from government silence, to mobilization of archaeologists, and uneven media coverage.

This presentation is intended to provide an overview of the rapidly changing situation in Iraq and Syria and to provide a range of perspectives on it, both from panelists and from audience members.

Speaker: Geoff Emberling (Kelsey Museum/Near Eastern Studies)
Panelists: Gottfried Hagen (Near Eastern Studies); Piotr Michalowski (Near Eastern Studies); Carla Sinopoli (Museum Studies/Anthropology)