South Pennsylvania Society
Archaeological Institute of America

2008-2009 Lecture Schedule
These lectures are free and open to the public.
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AIA Norton Lecturer 2008/2009
Paul Zimansky, State University of
New York at Stony Brook
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
6:30 pm, Dickinson College, Denny 317
Ozymandias in Ararat: The Cities of Near East's Least Known Great Monarch

From approximately 675-650 B.C., the last great king of Urartu, Rusa II, erected fortresses and cities in eastern Anatolia, northwest Iran, and Armenia in a building program that ranks him as one of the most ambitious builders in the history of the ancient Near East. Newly excavated materials from Ayanis, near Lake Van, reveal something of the character of the cities that Rusa created. Conquered peoples were settled in housing created by architects of the state and furnished with centrally produced goods, transforming the character of the kingdom. The motives behind this activity are obscure, and the consequences may ultimately have been disastrous, since the citadels created by Rusa were all violently destroyed shortly after his death.
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Derek B. Counts, Dept of Art History,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
6:30 pm, Dickinson College, Denny 317
The Master of Animals in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean: Divine Symbols and Local Traditions

The island of Cyprus, situated at the crossroads of the ancient Mediterranean, possesses an incredibly diverse archaeological record. Contact with Greece, Anatolia, the Near East, and Egypt guaranteed a constant movement of art, ideas, and even people to and from the island. There is perhaps no better place to witness the impact of these exchanges than in the study of Cypriote religion, especially in the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods (ca. 750-50 B.C.). Through the close study of the finds from the sanctuary sites across the island, the mixing of local styles and tastes with foreign (e.g. Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian), artistic elements can be evaluated first-hand. By isolating this divine aspect and attempting to focus on the importance of local and internal Cypriote responses to it, a more lucid picture of the complexity of Cypriote culture, art, and religion begins to emerge.