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This book is to educate the people about the places of the treasures (antiquities) of Mesopotamia in World Museums
This beautiful and visually immersive book charts the fascinating story of the institution of the Museum, from its origins to the present. Visited by millions around the world every year, museums are one of mankind’s most essential creations. They tell stories, shape cultural identities and hold valuable insight about the past and about the future. This captivating works charts a path from the very first collection through to the latest developments in cultural curation, interweaving Using examples of the greatest cultural institutions to shape the narrative, historian and academic Owen Hopkins draws on his deep knowledge of the field to outline the history of the museum movement. Tracking the evolution from princely collections in Europe and the Enlightenment’s classically inspired temples of curiosities, via the public museums of the late nineteenth century, on to today’s global era oficonic buildings designed by the world’s leading architects, this book is a vital work for anyone seeking to understand the development of the museum into what it is today. Over the course of five chapters filled with stunning imagery that highlights the beauty of these venerated buildings, the origins of key institutions are revealed, including: Louvre Metropolitan Museum of Art British Museum Tate Modern The Hermitage Guggenheim Smithsonian Institute Acropolis Museum Also outlined are the motivations of the architects, curators and patrons who have shaped how we experience the modern museum, a cast that includes names such as King George II, Napoleon, Henry Clay Frick, Peggy Guggenheim, Andrew Carnegie, Alfred Barr, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Frank Gehry, Richard Rogers, Nicholas Serota and Zaha Hadid. By examining how these venues became intrinsic to our shared cultural experience, analysing the changing roles they play in society and questioning what the future holds in a digital age, this book is for anyone who has stood in awe at the spectacle of a museum.
The world watched in shock as news was broadcast showing the break-in and the looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad in April of 2003. Priceless antiquities, spanning ten thousand years of human history, were destroyd or stolen. Reconstruction of one of the world's largest and most important museums of the history of ancient Mesopotamia.
An all-access pass to America's first (and favorite) reality television program -- boasting over ten million viewers each week -- Antiques Roadshow! If you're a fan of PBS's top-rated Antiques Roadshow, you've probably wondered -- what would it take to get your family treasure on the program? What happens to the antiques after the show airs? Are the appraisers ever wrong? And will Antiques Roadshow come to my hometown? In this four-color, fully illustrated guide to America's favorite treasure-hunting program, Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes reveals inside information about the participants, the appraisers, the fans, and the antiques that make up the show, direct from the woman who makes it all happen -- executive producer Marsha Bemko. Learn what it really takes to put on a Roadshow event (and why certain cities are more likely to get a visit from the show than others), who gets chosen to be on air (and what items producers are really looking for), what it takes to be an appraiser (and how even the experts make mistakes) ... and what happens when things go terribly wrong (such as the occasional antique that turns out to have been stolen!). In addition, learn which books, websites, and resources your favorite appraisers recommend, and get updates on some of the most popular and notorious items ever featured on the show. From priceless tips to the juicy family secrets hidden in dusty heirlooms, Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes is both an invaluable resource and a fascinating slice of Americana.
On April 10, 2003, as the world watched a statue of Saddam Hussein come crashing down in the heart of Baghdad, a mob of looters attacked the Iraq National Museum. Despite the presence of an American tank unit, the pillaging went unchecked, and more than 15,000 artifacts—some of the oldest evidence of human culture—disappeared into the shadowy worldwide market in illicit antiquities. In the five years since that day, the losses have only mounted, with gangs digging up roughly half a million artifacts that had previously been unexcavated; the loss to our shared human heritage is incalculable. With The Rape of Mesopotamia, Lawrence Rothfield answers the complicated question of how this wholesale thievery was allowed to occur. Drawing on extensive interviews with soldiers, bureaucrats, war planners, archaeologists, and collectors, Rothfield reconstructs the planning failures—originating at the highest levels of the U.S. government—that led to the invading forces’ utter indifference to the protection of Iraq’s cultural heritage from looters. Widespread incompetence and miscommunication on the part of the Pentagon, unchecked by the disappointingly weak advocacy efforts of worldwide preservation advocates, enabled a tragedy that continues even today, despite widespread public outrage. Bringing his story up to the present, Rothfield argues forcefully that the international community has yet to learn the lessons of Iraq—and that what happened there is liable to be repeated in future conflicts. A powerful, infuriating chronicle of the disastrous conjunction of military adventure and cultural destruction, The Rape of Mesopotamia is essential reading for all concerned with the future of our past.
The US administration's pursuit in Afghanistan of the terrorists responsible for the September 11th attacks was supported by an international coalition and backed by the legal authority of the UN Security Council Resolutions.
For over a hundred years, the New York Times has purported to present straight news and hard facts. But, as Bob Kohn shows with absolute clarity, the founders' original vision has been hijacked, and today, instead of straight news, readers are given mere editorial under the pretense of objective journalism. Kohn shows point by point the methods by which the Times' mission has been subverted by the present management-routinely slanting the presentation of the facts in leads, headlines, and placement; utilizing polls, labels, and loaded language to convey particular views, not genuine news; and staffing the newsroom with hacks who manipulate information to further a leftist agenda. Kohn shows how such fraudulence directly corrupts hundreds of news agencies across the world; and by revealing all their methods of manipulation, he teaches readers how to decipher the slants in even the subtlest of cases, providing an entertaining and enlightening lesson in fraud-busting.
From the president of the National Jewelry Institute comes the largest collection of the oldest jeweled objects ever assembled. With sparkling photography and history throughout, the book will be supported by a major exhibit of the collection. These gorgeous artifacts—the oldest jeweled armor, weapons, jewelry, household objects, and more, with informative captions and stunning photography on every page—originated in Mesopotamia, Persia, Levant, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world, from 4000 B.C.E. through 700 C.E. Artifacts appearing in the book are being lent to the exhibit by almost every major permanent collection of ancient objects in the world: jeweled treasures from the Louvre, the Berlin Museum, the Islamic collection at the Metropolitan, the Princeton Museum, and the Israeli Museum are shown together for the first time. Also included are interviews with major scholars and curators from around the world, speaking on ancient civilizations and the remaining artifacts that reveal their truly stunning cultures.
The book combines the account of a journey that at times was difficult and tortuous but overall fantastical and life changing experience. The team made the approximately 20,000 kilometres return journey from India through the port of Kuwait, the vast Arabian Desert, then into Eastern Europe, through the soaring majestic Alps and into Central Europe by road, on motorbikes, in a 100 days, on a shoestring budget of $5 a day per person. The book is written in a conversational style which makes it readable for a wide audience. It reads like fiction, but it is a factual representation of events that the team experienced. The book has few unique features. Each chapter begins with a parable from a Gospel. These stories generate subtle answers to life's questions; build faith and generate purpose in life. Through these parables, the author shares some significant life lessons like humility, love, conflict management, etc., and successfully connects them with the theme. Each chapter has relevant leadership traits that such challenges and experiences in life bring forth in us. To conclude, for every single individual who dreams to travel but does not dare-here is the book that offers encouragement and empowers readers to embrace their passion and follow their dreams.
