Longtime Curator “Travels” DMA’s Silk Road

Interview of Dr. Anne Bromberg, curator of the Dallas Museum of Art by Ashley Bruckbauer

Following her new installation in the third-floor galleries of objects that reflect transport along Eurasia’s Silk Road, “seasoned” curator Dr. Anne Bromberg sat down with us to discuss her fascinating career. A lifelong Dallasite—except for her years at Harvard getting her B.A. in anthropology and M.A. and Ph.D. in classical art and archaeology—Dr. Bromberg has been on the staff of the Dallas Museum of Art for more than forty years, first as a lecturer and docent trainer beginning in 1962, then as head of the education department, and currently as The Cecil and Ida Green Curator of Ancient and Asian Art. What’s more, she has led an inspired life, traveling extensively to little-known locales, researching and experiencing the cultures within her discipline.

How would you describe your job at the DMA?

AB: Most curatorial jobs involve trying to acquire art for the museum, organizing exhibitions and/or working on exhibitions that come to us from elsewhere, publishing, lecturing, working with volunteers, [and] cultivating donors. In terms of legwork, it’s going around and seeing dealers and other collections, visiting other museums, going to conferences, and giving lectures outside the museum.

You are in charge of a very diverse area of the Museum’s collections. What is your particular area of expertise?

AB: Classical art, meaning the art of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and all Asian art, but I’m mainly working with South Asian art.

How did you become interested in Asian art?

AB: One of the really outstanding teachers I had taught evolution in her biology courses, including historical geology, and I was really fascinated with historical geology and that got me into reading about archaeology. And I thought, this is what I want to do. A good teacher makes a difference. I’ve actually been interested in Asia for a long, long time. When I was an undergraduate, I was reading books on Zen Buddhism and haiku, the Ramayana, and things like that. Books stimulate your passion to go see these things in reality.

What are some of your favorite places you’ve traveled to?

AB: I think both my husband, Alan, and I would say the single favorite place we’ve been is Isfahan in Persia. Italy, of all the European countries, is easily the most seductive, and everybody I know who has been to India is dying to get back. We’ve been there so many times, and you feel like you’ve just scratched the surface.”

What is your favorite object within the ancient and Asian collections at the DMA? Within another collection?

AB: The Shiva Nataraja, because that image is the single most important iconic image in Hinduism generally, and many Hindus would agree with that. It is exceptionally beautiful both aesthetically and because it represents the loving quality of the god Shiva. South Indian Hindu poems describe worship as falling in love with the god, and our Shiva Nataraja is the embodiment of that Chola period poetry.

Brancusi’s Beginning of the World. because of my background, I personally have a strong response to pure geometric forms and classical idealism, and I’m certainly not alone in believing that the ancient Greeks would appreciate that classical, pure, and geometric vision of the beginning of the world.

Do you personally collect art? What types of objects are you most drawn to?

AB: Primarily we’ve collected what I would call third-world contemporary art—things that at the time were being made wherever—New Guinea, India, South America, Mexico, etc.

Why do you think it is important for people to study non-Western art?

AB: If you study non-Western art, you’ll learn what human beings create and why. If you stick only to your own civilization, you are much less likely to think about why these things are being made . . . or about a much more serious question to me, why do we call it art?

Describe your current project, an installation of objects from the DMA’s collections focusing on the Silk Road.

AB: The Silk Road installation is something that has interested me for a long time. We do have a lot of artwork that really displays the meaning of the Silk Road, which tied Eurasia together for millennia. So I was delighted when I got a space where I could show the ties between the Mediterranean world and Asia.

The Silk Road is an ancient transcontinental network of trade routes that spread across Eurasia from the Mediterranean to China and Japan. The phenomenon of the Silk Road is constantly studied and has recently been featured in museum exhibitions around the world. The new installation, organized by Dr. Bromberg, addresses six themes related to the Silk Road, including the development of cities and trade, the importance of animals to early societies, and the spread of religions. The installation presents well-known DMA favorites, such as the Javanese Ganesha and the bust of a man from Palmyra, and new works from several local private collections. Opening this weekend, come see the new installation on Level 3 the next time you visit the DMA.

Ashley Bruckbauer is the McDermott Intern for Programs and Resources for Teachers at the Dallas Museum of Art and Madelyn Strubelt is the McDermott Curatorial Intern of Ancient and Asian Art at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Introducing Epic of the Persian Kings

To play video, click HERE

1000 years ago in Persia the world’s longest poem was written: the Shahnameh, or 'Book of Kings'. This epic inspired some of the most exquisite manuscript art ever produced - miniature masterpieces that are on show at the Fitzwilliam Museum in the exhibition Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh (11 September 2010 – 9 January 2011).

In this podcast, Charles Melville (Professor of Persian History at the University of Cambridge) explores why the Shahnameh is still so important, and why its fantastical stories have endured over a milennium.

China and Inner Asia (1,000-200 BC): Interactions that changed China

The Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in Oxford University’s School of Archaeology, has received its first major research award since its launch in October last year.
The project, led by Dame Jessica Rawson, Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford, will look at how the early Chinese societies made use of different foreign materials and technologies. Researchers will track how the Chinese, with their highly organised, relatively dense population, were able to react fast and on a large scale.
Bright red carnelian beads found in tombs of the early Chinese states (circa 850-650BC) are telling signs of major interactions between the Chinese elite of the day and the peoples further west in present-day Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Siberia. Nearest comparisons are fine beads found in Iraq and other areas of the Middle East in tombs of the third and second millennium BC.
Carnelian beads are not the only materials that the Chinese borrowed and then copied and developed in their own contexts. Faience beads, typical of Western Asia and not China, have been found in Chinese tombs alongside the carnelian and a new fashion for gold developed at the same time.
The project will focus on the continuous interactions between the highly populated Yellow River basin and the more marginal areas to the north and west of China. These sparsely inhabited areas were essential bridges between the early Chinese and the metal-rich Altai and Ural Mountains.
Extravagant use of bronze for casting food and wine vessels, the hundreds of chariots surviving in tombs and large scale iron foundries demonstrate the power of the Chinese to exploit innovation.
Professor Rawson said: ‘An understanding of these factors will enable a fuller appreciation of the ways in which China’s physical environment and geographical position have in the past affected and will continue today to affect, not only its technological, but also its social development.’
The research team, led by Professor Rawson, will follow the trail taken thousands of years ago to see how materials and technologies reached the Yellow River across the steppes and deserts of Eurasia.
The Oxford team, together with researchers from the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, will examine exciting recent finds housed in provincial museums and at archaeological sites in China, Iraq, Iran and Central Asia as well as in the British Museum, London, to establish what the Chinese have borrowed and how they refashioned what they had gained from their Asian and Middle Eastern neighbours.


The photo is from the Beijing World Art Museum as well as the following details:
Gold, agate, and carnelian
L. 50 cm; W. 1.5 cm
Ur (Iraq). VIII Expedition, 1929-30. PG 1846, Burial C
Early Dynastic III
31-17-67 (U. 15312)
This is a set of arbitrarily strung beads from a non-royal burial (PG 1846) in the Royal Cemetery. It consists of twenty-five beads, nine hollow gold balls, eleven long double conoid carnelian beads, four diamond shaped agate beads, and one date-shaped bead made of limestone.
These beads were found near a body in a wooden coffin, the least disturbed of three burials in the plundered PG 1846. Along with these beads, Burial C wore two plain gold fillets, a small gold lunate earring in one ear, and two silver bracelets. Based on the jewelry, as well as a copper axe and knife found in the coffin, Burial C was probably that of a male.
The long carnelian beads that dominate this reconstruction attest to the contacts that existed between southern Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, known as Meluhha in cuneiform records, during the 3rd millennium BCE. Recent studies of long carnelian beads from Ur indicate that some were produced in the Indus Valley and traded as finished products, while others were probably made in southern Mesopotamia by migrant Indus craftsmen. These “Meluhhans” produced carnelian beads using their own raw materials, distinctive hard stone drills and drilling techniques. The drilling process sometimes took several days for longer beads, and the skill involved in their production would likely have made these long carnelian beads valuable pieces of jewelry.
The large number of carnelian beads at Ur, including in the tomb of Puabi (PG 800), has led to suggestions that some of the Ur’s royalty might have been Indus princesses.
Author: Aubrey Baadsgaard

Bibliography
Kenoyer, J.M.
1997 “Trade and Technology of the Indus Valley: New Insights from Harappa, Pakistan.” World Archaeology 29, pp. 262-80.
1998 Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Karachi and Islamabad.
Parpola, S. A. Parpola, and R.H. Brunswig Jr.
1977 “The Meluhha Village: Evidence of Acculturation of Harappan Traders in Late Third Millennium Mesopotamia.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 20, pp. 129-65.
Woolley, C.L.
1934 The Royal Cemetery, Ur Excavations, vol. 2. London and Philadelphia.

Launch of Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture

20 october 2010

Oxford University is to launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural heritage of Asia.

On 21 October, the Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in the University’s School of Archaeology, will officially open to become the only Asia-specialist centre of archaeological research and teaching in Europe.

Although Asia has some of the world’s richest archaeological and artistic forms of heritage, surprisingly little is known or taught about this period in Britain.

Research and teaching will encompass all areas of Asia and cover the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) through to the historical period.

Asia celebrates a huge diversity of cultures but less research has been conducted into how the different cultures are related. The new Centre will look at how the cultural influences, both within the region and in the wider world beyond, might be connected. The research will not only draw on archaeology but also other disciplines, such as anthropology, art history, linguistics, molecular genetics, the earth sciences and geography.

As from October 2011 the Centre will offer a new Asia-specific Master’s degree stream and new courses in the Archaeology of Asia, Chinese Archaeology and in the Palaeolithic of Asia.

Centre Co-director Professor Chris Gosden said: ‘Asian archaeology and heritage studies are enormously important for understanding how the modern world was shaped, and there is a growing need for world-class expertise in this area. The Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture has been developed to support research and training in various areas of Asian archaeology and heritage studies, and to offer opportunities for scholarly discussion, networking and collaboration.’

One of the Centre’s main aims is to increase the School’s academic links with Asian institutions in order to support major research programmes and encourage further research collaborations and student exchanges.

The Centre will also seek to work with scholars specialising in this field at institutions elsewhere around the world. Researchers at the School of Archaeology already have field projects in China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

To mark the Centre’s launch on 21 October, Dame Jessica Rawson will give a public lecture entitled ‘From Steppe Road to Silk Road: Inner Asia’s Interaction with and impact on China, 2000 BC – AD 1000’. Professor Rawson, Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, is to be affiliated to the School of Archaeology and the Centre, increasing its capacity in Chinese art and archaeology. Professor Rawson’s research covers a wide range, and her current project focuses on the Zhou dynasty (1045-221 BC) and China’s early interaction with Inner Asia. She has served as Keeper of the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum and Warden of Merton College. Professor Rawson is a Fellow of the British Academy and was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to oriental studies in 2002.



The three Co-Directors of the Centre are Professor Chris Gosden, Professor Mark Pollard and Dr Michael Petraglia. Dr Michael Petraglia was recently appointed to the School of Archaeology, in part because of his active field projects in India. These include an international study of the impact of the colossal Toba volcanic eruption (in what is now Indonesia) 74,000 years ago. His most recent research findings of Stone Age tools suggest that humans migrated out of Africa 70,000 – 80,000 years ago, earlier than previously thought.

Also instrumental in the launch of the new Centre is Dr Nicole Boivin. Dr Boivin has conducted research in South Asia for 15 years and is the Director of the the SEALINKS Project, a new international project funded through a prestigious €1.2 million Starting Grant from the European Research Council. The Sealinks project is exploring the origins and development of early seafaring activity and long-distance trade in the Indian Ocean, including some of the earliest evidence for globalisation.

The new Centre has been supported by a gift from an anonymous donor to enable the creation of a new post of Assistant Director. The financial support will also pay for a research seminar series, conferences and workshops, and researcher and student exchanges.

New Virtual Afghan Culture Museum

This virtual museum will function as a kind of multimedia encyclopaedia of Afghan civilization.With two primary aims:
* To help Afghanistan reclaim its own history, and the dignity of its rich tapestry of civilizations. This will especially appeal to Afghan youth, offering keys to their identity, their pride of heritage, and their desire to rebuild their own future.
*To enable a much larger public to discover one of humanity's most ancient civilizations, and its contribution to human history. This will be the only major museum which has no specific physical location.
The educational aspect will also be emphasized, with commentaries available in four languages : English, French, Dari, and Pashto.
It is a museum which will always be open, and accessible from anywhere.

There will be 12 pavilions, each pavilion will have between 8 and 10 thematic galleries, each object will have 3 access levels : a short description, an encyclopedic one,and an academic one, the third one. Each object will be contextualized geographically, ethnographically, historically with a comparative with Europe and the Far East.
It will be in four languages, Afghan Persian, Pashto, which are the most spoken languages in Afghanistan and of course French and English.
The approach will be absolutly multi media, which means photos, videos, sounds, music, a.s.o., will be in the museum, interactive, user friendly, which what this technology offers : the possibility "to dig" into more complex content and for the persons who are not familiar with museum there will be guides, but not usual museum guides, art lovers, and of course a contemporary pavilion, to show the rebirth of the rich cultural life in Afghanistan, which is not designed yet.

Curious? Visit the site by clicking HERE

High tech regenerates antiques

To watch video, click HERE.

And here's a great example of some of that archeology know-how... As you know, most antiques go through big changes when they stay buried underground for hundreds or thousands of years. But thanks to some technological advancements, scientists are now able to restore their original shape and luster. Let's watch an ancient army come back to life.
The world famous terracotta warriors from the mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang used to be painted with colors all over. But only remnants of the painting remains when they were dug up. So they were "invited" into the labs, and it's there that experts finally make necessary repair to give back their "coats".
A full-size model of one of the caves in Dunhuang has been set up in the Capital Museum and become its biggest magnet for visitors.
Wu Jian, Archaeologist, said, "We have digitally scanned the original cave and made a map on the computer. Then we recreated the cave here in strict accordance to the map. Now Beijing residents don't have to travel far to see the Dunhuang fresco."
The exhibition also displays China's first cultural relics conservation mobile laboratory. It provides emergency treatment to the most fragile antiques, such as silk, as soon as they are excavated.

Source:CCTV.COM

Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World

Next spring, the British Museum will showcase treasures from Afghanistan’s National Museum in Kabul. Here, curator St John Simpson discusses the exhibition.

“Although the Afghanistan exhibition doesn’t open until March 2011, we recently had a briefing for members of the press, which gave us an opportunity to introduce the incredible objects that will eventually go on show.

In the exhibition title we describe Afghanistan as the crossroads of the ancient world and I think that the 200 objects spanning 3,000 years will show exactly why that’s an appropriate description.

Its geographical position – on the edge of central Asia with India and China beyond to the east and Iran, the Middle East and the numerous cultures of the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe to the west – means Afghanistan was criss-crossed by ancient trade routes.

In many ways then, as now, it was a hub and meeting place for diverse cultures and neighbours, both near and distant, over thousands of years.

In the modern world it’s all too easy to think of Afghanistan solely as a place of conflict – and indeed the objects that will feature in the exhibition tell that story as well – but taking the long view we can see in the rich materials and ornate craftsmanship of these objects a far broader story.

Afghanistan has always been part of a complex network of cultures that doesn’t really take account of contemporary political boundaries. Long-distance travel and globalisation may seem like relatively new inventions, but the ancient world was much more connected than many of us may think. I hope we can help bring this inter-connectedness out in the exhibition.

One of the pieces on loan from the National Museum in Kabul illustrates this point particularly well: a pendant from the Tillya Tepe hoard found in the north-west of the country.

It features inlays of gold and turquoise. Two dragon-like beasts in the design suggest to some the influence of Chinese art but to others represent the heavenly horses of the Ferghana valley of neighbouring Central Asia.

The pendant also includes lapis lazuli, a type of blue stone only found in Afghanistan but coveted in the wider world for thousands of years. It crops up in the jewellery of ancient Egypt, the art of the ancient near east and as far afield as the art of the Italian Renaissance.

The fact that we nearly lost many of these stunning objects and signposts to the past to the events of Afghanistan’s recent history underlines how precious they are as well as the fragility of cultural heritage.”

Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World is at the British Museum from 3 March to 3 July 2011.

Jami‘ al-Tawarikh written by Rashid al-Din in 1314–131 on tour in Amsterdam

Exhibition Passion for Perfection
Islamic art from the Khalili Collections
11 December 2010 to 17 April 2011
De Nieuwe Kerk, Dam Square, Amsterdam

Passion for Perfection presents a selection of some 500 masterpieces from Professor Nasser D. Khalili’s famous collection of Islamic art. From 11 December 2010 to 17 April 2011, richly illuminated Qur’ans and manuscripts, paintings, gold jewellery, carpets, textiles, ceramics, glassware, lacquerware, metalwork, and stone and wood carvings will be on display in De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam.

These works of art are of great historical significance and reflect the refinement and grandeur of Islamic art. This art is not exclusively religious in terms of content and function: many of the items are secular, intended for use in everyday life. Besides geometric motifs, arabesques and elegant scrolls, representations of human figures and animals also play a role. Because the artistic vocabulary of Islamic art is shaped to some extent by the spirit and doctrines of the Muslim faith, the art on display in the exhibition does not represent any single country or civilisation. Passion for Perfection illustrates the virtuoso expression of peoples who have been linked by Islam for over 1,400 years.


Passion for Perfection

Explore sacred sites, ancient wonders and religious places of the world at www.sacred-destinations.com

Nearly every culture in human history has sought to honor the divine, the mysterious, the supernatural, or the extraordinary in some way. Most often this happens at sacred sites - special places where the physical world seems to meet the spiritual world. These might be awe-inspiring natural places, sites connected to a god, a saint or a hero, places where miracles occurred, or special buildings consecrated for worship or ritual.

Sacred sites remain spiritually meaningful to millions today and the ancient practice of pilgrimage is as popular as ever. But you don't have to be a believer to recognize that holy places, religious architecture, and sacred art are some of the most beautiful and interesting sights you'll encounter in your travels.


Sacred Destinations is an ecumenical guide to more than 1,250 sacred sites, holy places, pilgrimage destinations, religious architecture and sacred art in over 60 countries around the world. In addition to richly illustrated articles, there are photo galleries containing over 24,000 high-quality images plus detailed maps and lots of practical travel information.

Click HERE to see an example (from the Mogao Caves)

SACRED-DESTINATIONS.COM

Discover Islamic Art at the Virtual Museum

At the invitation of the Museum With No Frontiers, 14 countries from around the Mediterranean and the European Union have agreed to collaborate on producing a virtual museum on the Internet that explores Islamic art and material culture in the Mediterranean region.
This collaboration brings together a representative selection of Islamic objects, monuments and historical sites from Portugal, Spain and Italy on the northern shores of the Mediterranean; Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt on the southern shores; and Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Turkey on the eastern coast.

Curious? Go straight to the Virtual Museum, you won't be disappointed!

Like the other great traditions of world art, Islamic art is both instantly recognisable and extremely diverse in its forms. Broadly defined, Islamic art is art produced under the aegis of Islamic culture. Some of its manifestations, such as mosques and illuminated Qur’ans, are specifically religious, but many other examples of ‘Islamic’ art, from 8th-century Syrian wall paintings to 18th-century Moroccan pottery, are secular and reflect the taste and lives of the people for whom they were made.

Following the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the lands of the southern and eastern Mediterranean rim, barriers to trade and to the exchange of ideas crumbled, and the ground was prepared for the development of new artistic styles. The building blocks and unifying elements of Islamic art – Arabic script, geometric designs and the type of decorative scroll called the arabesque – were incorporated in the ornament of architecture, the book arts and metalwork, ceramics and textiles. Throughout the history of Islamic art the central importance of the word, geometry and the natural world has not diminished.

Because of the vast landscape of the Islamic world, very few people can hope to experience all of the magnificent buildings and museums that exemplify or contain Islamic art. For this reason modern electronic media offer an exciting new opportunity for the inquisitive to explore Islamic art. Beyond simply presenting monuments and exemplary works of art, the Internet can make connections across continents and seas between the arts of different regions and periods of Islamic history.

At the invitation of the Museum With No Frontiers, 14 countries from around the Mediterranean and the European Union have agreed to collaborate on producing a virtual museum on the Internet that explores Islamic art and material culture in the Mediterranean region. This collaboration brings together a representative selection of Islamic objects, monuments and historical sites from Portugal, Spain and Italy on the northern shores of the Mediterranean; Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt on the southern shores; and Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Turkey on the eastern coast. Relevant Islamic collections from museums in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom complete the virtual museum’s collections. All these artefacts, monuments and sites cover the various Islamic dynasties and cultures of the Mediterranean region spanning some 1,280 years from 634 when the Muslim Arab armies first entered the Levant, to the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. Although the Islamic world and its artistic traditions stretch from Kashghar in China to Dakar in Senegal, this project is focusing on the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin to tell the story of Islamic art. Two practical factors determine this choice. The first is a financial one: that being the generosity of the European Union, which is funding this project through its Euromed Heritage programme. The second factor is historical: that being the position of the Mediterranean at the centre stage of Islamic history, and the interdependence of its shores economically and culturally throughout this history. The consortium’s objectives are to bring together these inter-related collections, monuments and sites, exploiting the wealth of scholarship within the participating institutions. The exploration of the history and art of Islam in the Mediterranean aims to create a more complete knowledge of the historical relationship between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and to make this information accessible to the general public in the countries represented in the consortium and beyond. The consortium’s aim is to promote deeper understanding between the peoples of Europe and their Muslim communities and the Islamic world on their doorsteps, and ultimately to celebrate the contribution of Islamic civilisation to world culture and art.

The Siberian Ice Maiden

First, if you haven't seen this Nova documentary on the Siberian Ice Maiden, do it now and view this documentary, it is a must for any anyone seriously interested in ancient civilizations, mummies and the empowerment of women.
It gives absolute credence to the existence of Amazons and warrior class women.

The discovery is from 1993.
Unfortunately there are no good images of the Ice Maiden, as her nearly perfection preservation and magnificent tattoos began to deteriorate as soon as she was discovered, and she is now pickled in Russia along with Stalin and Lenin.

The attached image is an artist interpretation by Jason Beam based on the descriptions from the Nova special.









Documentary "The Siberian Ice Maiden"

The Pazyryk burials are a number of Iron Age tombs found in the Pazyryk Valley of the Ukok plateau in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, south of the modern city of Novosibirsk, Russia. The tombs are of Scythian type, an ancient Indo-European people of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists that is known to have dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe throughout Classical Antiquity.



Although some scholars sought to connect the Pazyryk nomads with modern-day ethnic groups of the Altay, Rudenko summed up the cultural context: "All that is known to us at the present time about the culture of the population of the High Altay, who have left behind them the large cairns, permits us to refer them to the Scythian period, and the Pazyryk group in particular to the fifth century BCE. This is supported by radiocarbon dating." The most famous undisturbed Pazyryk burial so far recovered is the "Ice Maiden" found by archaeologist Natalia Polosmak in 1993, a rare example of a single woman given a full ceremonial wooden chamber-tomb in the 5th century BCE, accompanied by six horses.



She had been buried over 2,400 years ago in a casket fashioned from the hollowed-out trunk of a larch tree. On the outside of the casket were stylised images of deer and snow leopards carved in leather. Six horses wearing elaborate harnesses had been sacrificed and lay on the logs which formed the roof of the burial chamber. The maiden's well-preserved body, carefully embalmed with peat and bark, was arranged to lie on her side as if asleep. She was young; her hair was still blonde; she had been 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) tall, (see LINK).



Even the animal style tattoos were preserved on her pale skin: creatures with horns that develop into flowered forms. Her coffin was made large enough to accommodate the high felt headdress she was wearing, which had 15 gilded wooden birds sewn to it. On a gold buckle retrieved from another tomb, a similar woman's headdress intertwined with branches of the tree of life are depicted. Her blouse was originally thought to be made of wild "tussah" silk but closer examination of the fibers indicate the material is not Chinese but was a wild silk which came from somewhere else, perhaps India. She was clad in a long crimson woolen skirt and white felt stockings.



Near her coffin was a vessel made of yak horn, and dishes containing gifts of coriander seeds: all of which suggest that the Pazyryk trade routes stretched across vast areas of Iran. As recently as January 2007, tombs are still discovered at various locations, such as the timber tomb of a blond chieftain warrior that was unearthed in the permafrost of the Altai mountains region close to the Mongolian border (LINK) The body of the presumed Pazyryk chieftain is tattooed; his sable coat is well-preserved, as are some other objects, including what looks like scissors. A local archaeologist, Aleksei Tishkin, complained that the current population of the region strongly disapproves of archaeological digs, prompting the scientists to move their activities across the border to Mongolia.



For more information, go to the site of Sheridon Rayment.

The virtual collection of (Asean) masterpieces

More than 80 museums participate in this project by donating in principal 25 virtual artifacts each. When completed the virtual museum will have a collection of around 2.000 items.
Very useful is that this website provides a list with all the current events and exhibitions of the participating museums.

The Virtual Collection of Masterpieces is a project of ASEMUS - the Asia Europe Museum Network.
The project uses the Internet and masterpieces in the collections of contributing museums to promote mutual understanding and appreciation between the peoples of Asia and Europe.

More than eighty museums in ASEM countries have already contributed a selection of 25 masterpieces from their own collections. These finest examples of Asian and European creativity present compelling images and information and allow the telling of forceful stories. Stories that draw attention to the similarities and differences between civilizations. Stories that enhance mutual understanding of cultural differences and highlight similarities. Stories that stimulate dialogue between peoples and illuminate their histories.

The VCM will be advanced in phases. The first operational phase was the creation of this website and the expansion in ASEM countries. Subsequent phases and follow-up steps in its development such as extending the size of the collection or number of contributors and expanding the access to the collection will be defined and performed now that phase one is accomplished.

6 "new"books on Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

From the Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books !!

From January 2010 the news that 6 more books were added to this site to review, read and enjoy. The total number of books on this site is now 116 with a total of 30.091 pages.
The books that were added are:



Atlas der Alterthümer der Mongolei

Title Atlas der Alterthümer der Mongolei
Subtitle Arbeiten der Orchon-Expedition
Author Radloff
Description Radloff’s 1891 Orchon Expedition report. In addition to this book containing the published materials from the expedition, he also came out with a separate work, Die altturkischen Inschriften der Mongolei, on the discovery of the Orkhon script.

An abridged one-volume version of Radloff’s original four volume expedition report, it is both in German and Russian.
Year of Publication 1892
Location of Publication Russia / St. Peterburg
Volume Information 1 Volume
ISO639-1 GermanRussian
ISO639-3 deu/orv





•Aus Siberien : vol.1

Title Aus Siberien
Subtitle lose Blätter aus meinem Tagebuche
Author Radloff
Description Monograph made by Radloff based on one of his early expeditions to Siberia. From 1859-1870, Radloff traveled to Siberia, Altai, and Turkestan 10 times where he researched local languages, anthropology and archaeology. The results of his studies were published in this monograph, and Radloff went on to become a pioneer in the field of Central Asia and Turkic studies.

Includes a summary of the geography and other statistical data of western Persia; a summary of the Altai and Kyrgyz Steppe region; it also includes commentary about Western Siberia and the Dzungar people; as well as other Turkic people/Turkic nomads of Western Siberia.

About Shamanism and its religious practices, the volume also includes an account of Radloff’s expedition to ancient sites in Siberia, as well as to the Siberian border regions with China and western Mongolia. In addition, there is commentary about the Ili and Zarafashan river valleys
Year of Publication 1893
Location of Publication Germany / Leipzig
Volume Information 2 Volumes
ISO639-1 German
ISO639-3 deu





•Aus Siberien : vol.2

Title Aus Siberien
Subtitle lose Blätter aus meinem Tagebuche
Author Radloff
Description Monograph made by Radloff based on one of his early expeditions to Siberia. From 1859-1870, Radloff traveled to Siberia, Altai, and Turkestan 10 times where he researched local languages, anthropology and archaeology. The results of his studies were published in this monograph, and Radloff went on to become a pioneer in the field of Central Asia and Turkic studies.
Year of Publication 1893
Location of Publication Germany / Leipzig
Volume Information 2 Volumes
ISO639-1 German
ISO639-3 deu






•Iz Zaisana Cherez Khami v Tibet i na Verkhov'ya Zheltoi reki : vol.1

Title Iz Zaisana Cherez Khami v Tibet i na Verkhov'ya Zheltoi reki
Author N.M. Przhevalskii
Description Przhevalskii’s expedition report on his third expedition from 1879-80. The expedition started off from Zaysan in the eastern part of Kazakstan. From there, the team proceeded south from Dzungaria crossing the Tian Shan Mountains then on across the Barkol range to reach Hami. From there, the team crossed the Gobi desert to Suzhou in Gansu Province. The team then crossed the southern range of mountains to enter the Qaidam Basin where they investigated the source of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers. In addition to documenting information about the temple caves at Dunhuang, the team also discovered several unknown mountains in the Qaidam Basin area. This book is thought to express the very best of Przhevalskii’s travel writing in terms of both literary style and content.
Year of Publication 1883
Location of Publication Russia / St. Peterburg
Volume Information １ Volume
ISO639-1 Russian
ISO639-3 orv






•Across Asia : vol.1

Title Across Asia
Subtitle from West to East in 1906-1908
Author Mannerheim
Description Mannerheim’s expedition report on his solo journey (1906-1908) on behalf of the Russian army. Departing Saint Petersburg by train in 1906, he journeyed to Kashgar by way of Tashkent and Andizhan. From there, he continued on to explore Yarkand and Khotan. He also visited Urumqi and Turfan, before heading on to Hami, Barkul, Dunhuang, and then on to Suzhou in Gansu Province and Taiyuan/Wutai Mountain before arriving in Beijing in 1908. It was a solo journey covering some 14,000 kilometers. Acquiring 1200 relics, 2000 old manuscripts and other fragments, as well as taking 1370 photographs, his expedition was valued highly by scholars. His account was first published by the Finno-Ugrian Society in 1940, and this edition is a reprint of that manuscript. The book was published in two volumes, one on the account of his travels and the other on the artifacts he brought back. The Toyo Bunko archives only contain the first volume travel account.

Expedition report from Mannherheim’s 1906-1908 solo expedition; includes his expedition journal starting from July 6, 1906 to July 1908; with the route maps from Kashgar to Beijing and over 700 expedition site photographs.
Year of Publication 1969
Location of Publication Netherlands / Oosterhout
Volume Information １ Volume
ISO639-1 English
ISO639-3 eng







•Central Asia Atlas : vol.1

Title Central Asia Atlas
Subtitle Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China under the leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin : the Sino-Swedish Expedition
Author Sven Hedin
Description Hedin’s expedition report on his 1927-35 Sino-Swedish Expedition. His 47th expedition report, the Central Asian Atlas was compiled from the large quantity of astro-fix and radio-longitude data taken by the Sino-Swedish Expedition team. When work on the atlas compilation was started in 1938 it was planned to have the work published in Germany, but Germany’s defeat in WWII put the project on hold. In 1945, the Army Map Service in Washington DC took up the project. After amending various territory names, the atlas was published in 1950 as part of their AMS-1301 series. In 1966, the atlas was re-published as a Sino-Swedish Expedition publication. This latter publication had additional detailed data on local vegetation and bodies of water. Out of the countless maps created by Hedin, this particular atlas is the most well known and it, along with the maps created by Aurel Stein, remain essential reference material for those involved in Silk Road research.
Year of Publication 1966
Location of Publication Sweden / Stockholm
Volume Information 1 Volume
ISO639-1 English
ISO639-3 eng

Heritage Key Outranks British Museum on Alexa

In 2009 a brand new historical interactive website started, called: www.heritage-key.com
Have a look and have fun.
Beneath is an update from the founders of the site of their fast success!!

From rezzable.net
It’s a small milestone for our work on Heritage Key that the site now outranks the British Museum in Alexa rankings–both US and UK. We opened our site only in August 2009 and the British Museum has more than 5 million physical visits, sells tickets to events and is generally the greatest museum for ancient world history. Today our ranking is Alexa global ranking is 57,100 and BM is 57, 196 — we are also even better in the UK (3,995 vs 4,176) which is a surprise to us.


I don’t really know how solid the Alexa rankings are, but they are something relative. Looking at our Google stats and system info is obviously more detailed. We are also happy to see our Google page rank at 5 now. The BM is as you would expect, 7.

In fairness, I don’t think the BM is that bothered about their online presence. Their very interesting series with BBC is probably pulling a lot of traffic (although the flash bit isn’t crawlable) and there is even a nice questing game. We have perhaps a lot more interactive content with virtual Stonehenge, King Tut as well as quizzes on-site. We also did expect to pass the BM in rankings as we are more focused on SEO and create a lot of new content targeted toward online users — like new video such as the Boudicca episode for Ancient World in London which is getting a lot of views. The BM also isn’t allowing comments or any UGC.

Main take-aways for this milestone:

* Brands like Heritage Key that can span interests across many traditional things like museums, movies, television and events will out-rank individual sites. We see this also even in publishing with one of our favourite sites the Daily Beast. But you can’t just be an umbrella — you need the strong brand and original content (we have already posted more than 8,000 pieces of new content as well as have the amazing 3D virtual online experiences).

* Traditional Brands might not be that worried (the BM is posting more and more footfall each year), but they are missing out on monetizing the global online audience. Check the stats on where that market is heading here. The actual cost to participate in the online boom for trusted brands is not that high, but it will require attention and action.

* Community sites are the future of the web. Push publishing and searching catalogues are not compelling enough to get above the noise. There needs to be something interesting and relevant to define the soul of community. Check sites like Livestrong where they got it going on already.

Next steps — Louvre (41,109) and then the Met (21,213)!

Lost Kingdoms

One of the reasons that I write this blog and do all the postings is my fascination for history.
Just the thought that so many kingdoms and states have existed and have vanished with so many of whom we have seldom heard.
It than surprises me that while I have a better than average knowledge of old and disappeared kingdoms and states, my knowledge of those at present is not what it should be.
While playing the next game " WorldMap ", my average score of the first two tries was around 50 ( mainly because my poor knowledge of Africa).
I'am interested to hear about your first score !!!!