Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter February 2018

FEBRUARY-2018 February Program February 21 - at 6:00 PM - Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236 The Holocaust in Gargzdai, Lithuania John Jaffer The Book of Esther: A Little Girl’s Journey to Freedom Dr. Bernice JonesDear Member:This month we welcome two Time Sifters members to discuss their scholarship on Lithuania during the firsthalf of the 20th century. Although both began researching family histories, their work encompasses historicaland archaeological research that sheds light on the wider history of those decades.February 14th is Valentine's Day. Show a little love to archaeological heritage by joining me at the TidallyUnited roundtable event. Being held 10:00 am till noon at the South Florida Museum, it is sponsored byFlorida Public Archaeology Network and New College Public Archaeology Lab. Time Sifters members areconsidered important local stakeholders in this discussion and have been personally invited to attend.Remember you can catch missed lectures on the Time Sifters website. Smitty's 2017 Archaeology Year inReview is up there now in case you missed it.If your membership renewal date is February 2018 or earlier, please renew now. Tired of keeping track ofyour membership? For $250, you can become a lifetime member and never have to renew again. You canrenew by credit card online at www.Timesifters.org or with cash or check at the February meeting.Thanks for being part of Time Sifters!Sherry Svekis, President [email protected] 21st, Selby Library: Jaffer's presentation will review whatThe Holocaust in Gargzdai, Lithuania - John Jaffer is known about tragic events inThe Book of Esther: A Little Girl’s Journey to FreedomDr. Bernice Jones Gargzdai, Lithuania during WWII. Two days after Germany invaded theAs a prelude to our main lecture, abject poverty in wartime Lithuania/ Soviet Union, the Germans executedDr. Jones will relate the story of Poland. The story is set against the 200 Jewish men in this border town.her grandmother Jenny. She survived background of WWI, the Russianoppression, persecution, and Revolution and civil war.

Notes from a Time SifterSilver Linings. By: Evelyn MangieArchaeologists know the importance of ASrracthaae(loalyoegrys Torfuosctcupation) - Canterbury JTahnedGi -reDarteMamossqtiumeeo.cfoDma)mascus (Attilaidentifying the strata (layers of Notes continued next page ...occupation) of any excavation.Together, the strata give the Time Sifters members are urged to attend this event.complete history of the site. Butas they dig through a site, thearchaeologists are careful to recordand photograph everything thatthey find because, even thoughthey are sometimes able topreserve some of the artifacts insitu, most of any layer must bedestroyed in order to uncover thelayer beneath it. When a level orlarge structure is very important,it is preserved in its entirety. Anexample is the Great Mosque ofDamascus which contains artifactsfrom the Hellenistic, Roman,Byzantine and Islamic culturesthat built it. It sits on layers ofoccupation that date back to thethird millennium BCE but thebuilding is so important thatexcavation nearby is very limitedand we will probably never knowwhat wonderful things lie beneaththis magnificent structure.The world is always shocked whenone of these iconic treasures isdestroyed, as has been done bythe recent activities of ISIS in theMiddle East. But there is a silverlining to one of those destroyedsites, the Mosque of the ProphetJonah in Mosul, northern Iraq.This mosque was originally builtover a Christian church in 640 CEby an Umayyad caliph and wasrefurbished by medieval Muslimsin 1170 CE. An important shrineto Jews, Christians and Muslims,it was visited over the centuriesby many worshippers who madepilgrimages to this traditionalburial site of biblical Jonah whowas swallowed by a big fish butwas delivered by God to become aprophet (Book of Jonah 1-4). InJune of 2017, ISIS captured thecity, set out explosives and turnedthe mosque into dusty rubble.In January of 2018, Mosul wasliberated by Syrian and Kurdishtroops, and antiquities expertswere invited in to see if anythingcould be saved. Although verysaddened by the amount of

Notes continued ...destruction in the city, the silver Revolvy (ETx.pMosiechdaTeul,nTnheelsSuunnd, e3r/8t/h1)e Mosque —lining was that the mud brick ruins of BMeofsoqrueeaonfdtAheftPerro—ph(ReteuJotnearsh/Ain. LMaoshsuklan)a seventh century BCE palace that (Wirtschafter and Nabeel, Religion Newswere under the shrine were now Service, 11/17exposed. These very ancient ruinswere built by Assyrian kings 2000years before the Jonah shrine, whenthe site was the ancient city of Ni-neveh, the largest city in the worldat that time. It was the capital of thegreat Assyrian Empire that ruled allof what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, andparts of Iran and Turkey, Statuefragments, stone reliefs, andcuneiform inscriptions are nowavailable for study.The director of Gilgamesh Centerfor Antiquities and HeritageProtection vows that the shrinewill be rebuilt but with an interde-nominational space that will in-clude a mosque and church whilepreserving the access for thearchaeological treasures beneath. \"Little Salt Spring\" Symposium http://www.as.miami.edu/anthropology/news--events/ancient-explorers/ World Heritage Site #541 Vilnius Historic Centre Political center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 13th to the end of the 18th century, Vilnius has had a profound influence on the cultural and architectural development of much of eastern Europe. Despite invasions and partial destruction, it has preserved an impressive complex of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and classical buildings as well as its medieval layout and natural setting.Officers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2018Sherry Svekis, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc.,Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, Vice Pres. Directors: Evelyn Mangie All rights reserved.Bernice Jones, Secretary Valerie Jackson Bell Sharon McConnell We send newsletters to peopleVolunteer Needed - Treasurer Robert Bopp Saretta Sparer who have attended or expressedKaren Jensen, Membership Glenn Cooper interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.

Membership Speakers & Events CalendarLifetime: $250 All to be held at 6:00 PMIndividual: $25 Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Family: $35Sustaining: $50 February 21Student: $10 The Holocaust in Gargzdai, Lithuania — John Jaffer The Book of Esther: A Little Girl’s Journey to Freedom—Pay online at: Dr. Bernice JonesWWW.TimeSifters.orgOr mail checks to: March 21Time Sifters, Inc. Monumental Mound Complexes of Northwest FloridaPO Box 5283 William M. Stanton, Archaeologist, Bureau of Natural andSarasota, FL. 34277 Cultural Resources, Florida Park Service April 18 2018 Cornelia Futor Memorial Student Paper Winners 1st and 2nd Place Student Paper Presenters Time Sifters Archaeology Society A Chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society http://timesifters.org/Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyP. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277