Perceptions of the Past in the Turkish Republic: Classical and Byzantine Periods

Redford, Scott and Nina Ergin (editors). Perceptions of the Past in the Turkish Republic: Classical and Byzantine Periods. Leuven: Peeters, 2010. First edition. Quarto (12″ x 8-1/2″). vi, (4), 236, (2)pp. Red cloth lettered in gilt. Illustrated with numerous photos, facsimiles and architectural drawings. An ex-library copy but with minimal rubber stamps on title page & at bottom of text block, otherwise fine.

The land of Turkey has not only yielded archaeological finds essential to the formation of the field of archaeology; these finds also played a crucial role in the making of a national narrative in the transition from the late Ottoman Empire to the present-day Republic. The outcome of a symposium organized by the Koç University’s Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations in Istanbul, the essays in this volume critically engage with the constitution of Classical and Byzantine archaeology in Turkey, addressing such issues as the historical context of the production of knowledge, the roles of individuals and institutions in shaping scholarship, and the current and future state of the field of Moab, and the volume as a whole offers an up-to-date picture of the state of archaeological research on ancient Moab. (Publisher)

Contents: Introduction / Scott Redford and Nina Ergin — The production of knowledge. Archaeology and the perception of Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras in early Republican Turkey / Murat Ergin — Constructing the past in Ankara : from Augustus to Atatürk / Suna Güven — Individuals. From the lofty halls of academia to the dusty hills of Anatolia : Howard Crosby Butler and the first Sardis Expedition through peace and war, 1909-1926 / Fikret K. Yegül — Guillaume de Jerphanion (1877-1948) as Jesuit and scholar in Turkey / Vincenzo Ruggieri — Louis Robert (1904-1985) : a historian-epigrapher discovering Anatolia / Pierre Chuvin — The archaeology of the Turkish Republic and the school of Ekrem Akurgal / A. Coşkun Özgünel — Arif Müfid Mansel : a pioneer of Turkish archaeology / Haluk Abbasoğlu — Institutions. The museum in Bergama as an example of Turkish politics of culture and of German-Turkish collaboration / Wolfgang Radt — The Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople (1894-1914) : from its establishment until today / Konstantinos Papoulidis — The state of the field. The future of classical archaeology in Turkey / Kutalmiş Görkay — Byzantine art history in modern Turkey / Engin Akrürek — Afterword : Heritage, nationalism and archaeology in the Republic of Turkey / David Shankland. (OCLC)

Supplement 31 of the Peeters series, “Ancient Near Eastern Studies.” near fine. Hardcover. (53045) $95