Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter May 2016

M A Y -2015 May Program May 18 - at 6:00 PM - Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236 Rivers of Freedom, Landscapes of Liberty: An Update on “Looking for Angola” and the Archaeology of Maroons in Florida Uzi Baram, Ph.D. Professor of Anthropology, Director of the New College Public Archaeology LabDear Member:We are lucky to have another great speaker for our final meeting of the year. Professor Uzi Baram returns togive us an update on the Looking for Angola project and current research on the maroon communities of freeblacks that fought to keep their freedom in Florida in the early 1800s. In addition to traditional archaeological research andexcavations, Professor Baram is spearheading a project to help people visualize the past by creating virtuallandscapes of what the maroon communities would have looked like. He is working with Ed Gonzalez-Tennant, who youmay remember was our October speaker.Two items of business:1. May will be our general meeting. The board slate is listed below. We have a great and talented bunch ofvolunteers and we will ask members to approve the slate at the start of the meeting.2. Remember, our membership rates are going to go up in September (for the first time in decades). Individual memberswill pay $25 and families $35. If you'd like to save $5 and renew before that date, please mail us a check, payby credit card on our website, or pay at the meeting.Thanks for being a Time Sifters member!Sherry Svekis, President [email protected] May 18 - Selby Library Mexico, an inspiring history of freedom and liberty is coming from excavations and renewed archival research.African Florida Archaeology is revealing the magnitude of This presentation offers an update on the Looking forSpanish La Florida as a haven from slavery. First at Fort Angola program and how the research has changed theMosé, and now along the rivers that empty into the Gulf of image of the people known as escaped slaves, Black Sem- inoles, and free blacks. Professor Uzi Baram will offer in- sights into the early 19th century military engagements known as the First Seminole War as well as everyday life on the southwest Florida landscape. New representations of the Florida maroons, based on archaeological research, will show the past in a new light.

Notes from a Time SifterPalmyra in Syria - its History and its FutureThe magnificent ruins at Palmyra in Syria were oriental studies at Oxford. These studies attractedseverely damaged by IS in October of 2015 as was students and travelers from England and beyond. Interestthe museum that housed precious artifacts. The in the site grew and in 1980 UNESCO designatedbeautiful 1800 year old “Arch of Triumph” was reduced torubble and the glorious Temple of Baalshamin isnow just a pile of stones. These beautiful buildingswere the remains of what was a very prosperoustrade center during the early part of the firstmillennium C.E. but the site has a history muchlonger than that.It was once just an oasis in the Syrian Desert 176miles north-east of Damascus but its water andvegetation drew the caravans that traveled betweeneast and west across the desert. It was called Tadmor(from Hebrew tamar “palm tree”) and is mentionedin the Hebrew Bible (II Chron.8:4, I Kings 9:18, andEzek. 47:19; 48:28) that claims King Solomon builtit. Tadmor is mentioned also in Assyrian literaryrecords as an important trade route between theEuphrates River and the Mediterranean Sea duringthe time of Hammurabi (ca. 1800 B.C.E.). The Romanscalled it Palmyra (city of palms) and Pliny the Elderdescribed it as “a noble city situated in a vast expanse ofsand and renowned for its rich soil and pleasantstreams” (Natural History 5.88.1). Palmyra’s prosperitygrew after Emperor Tiberius (14-37 C.E.) incorporated itinto the Roman province of Syria. Other Romanemperors sponsored the construction of templesand city streets. The Near Eastern influence is evident inthe traditional Greco-Roman architecture becauseof the multi-cultural community of the trade cen-ter. Inscriptions are in Latin, Greek and Aramaic. Thecity’s prosperity and importance really blossomedafter Trajan, in 106 C.E., re-routed the Silk Roadtaking its southern branch through Palmyra. In129 C.E. Hadrian gave Palmyra autonomy andalthough it was still a part of the Roman Empire,the city became the capital of a Palmyrene Empire thathad its own leaders.In 270 C.E. Palmyra’s queen, Zenobia, challengedRome’s authority until Roman Emperor Aurelianforced her to surrender, re-directed the Silk Road toby-pass the city destroying its economy, and orderedPalmyra to be razed to the ground except for thetemples (those remained until 2015).Palmyra was never rich again but the desert preserved thesplendid temples. In the 17th century, British merchantstraveled through and published reports anddrawings of the still magnificent remains.Their reports inspired the Royal Society to studythe history, architecture, and epigraphic remains ofPalmyra and eventually Palmyra became a part of

Palmyra, a world heritage site, and in 1999 it was Archaeology. They were able to apply digital technologyofficially protected by the National Antiquities law to photos of the “Arch of Triumph” and a scale222. But that was not able to keep IS from seizing the model has already been built in London’s Trafalgarsite in May of 2015. They began destruction in October Square.because they regarded the temples as pagan andsacrilegious. They sold some of the artifacts to secret Also, although too late to help rebuild Palmyra,collectors to support the IS campaign. They executed archaeologists have now developed an inexpensivethe 82-year old minister of antiquities and hung his 3-D camera that can record ancient sites in case ofmutilated body outside the ravaged museum more destruction. These cameras are being sent to thousands of sites in danger in the Middle East andIn March of 2016, the Syrian Army took the city elsewhere (Mairi Mackay, CNN, 8/31/150).back. The local Syrians vow to rebuild but it will be along process that must begin with the removal of For more information see Kristin Romey, Nationalexplosives hidden among the rubble. The World Heritage Geographic, 3/28/16); Mike Duncan, ReutersCommittee will meet in July to discuss emergency 5/25/15); Palmyra, UNESCO World Heritage Site;safeguarding measures (Bloomberg News, 4/28/16). A and Jeffrey Becker, Art of the Mediterranean, Khansearch has begun to recover artifacts that were sold. Academy.Other help came from the Institute of Digital The Slate of OfficersOfficers:Sherry Svekis, PresidentDarwin \"Smitty\" Smith, Vice Pres.Bernice Jones, SecretaryCaroline Reed, TreasurerKaren Jensen, MembershipDirectors:Valerie Jackson BellRobert BoppGlenn CooperEvelyn MangieSharon McConnellSaretta Sparer 68th Annual Florida Anthropological Society MeetingMay 19-22, 2016 - Jupiter, FloridaPalm Beach County Archaeological Society ishosting the meeting at the Wyndham GrandHarbourside on the scenic IntracoastalWaterway.

Speakers & Events Calendar All to be held at 6:00 PM Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Membership May 18Lifetime: $200 Individual: $25 RiversofFreedom,LandscapesofLiberty:An Updateon“LookingforFamily: $35 Sustaining: $55 Angola” and the Archaeology of Maroons in FloridaStudent: $15 Uzi Braram, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Director of the New College Public Archaeology LabPay online at: TimeSifters.org Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyMail checks to: Time Sifters, Inc., A Chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society PO Box 5283 Sarasota, FL. 34277 http://timesifters.org/Officers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2016Sherry Svekis, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc.,Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, Vice Pres. Directors: Sharon McConnell All rights reserved.Valerie Jackson Bell, Secretary Robert Bopp Saretta Sparer We send newsletters to peopleCaroline Reed, Treasurer Glenn Cooper Alfonz Lengyel, Director who have attended or expressedKaren Jensen, Membership Evelyn Mangie Emeritus interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyP. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277