Archaeologists From Austria

"Porada, born in Vienna, fled Europe in 1938, after . One of the few things she brought with her to New York was the plate copy of her dissertation, complete with her drawings of seal impressions from European collections, which she presented to , ’s first director. In ancient , s — often carved with exquisitely detailed scenes — were used to roll the owner’s unique stamp onto a document produced by scribes, attesting to its authenticity."

", the capital of the dynasty since founded it, remains to be discovered."

"In the introductory essay, illustrated almost entirely with cylinders from the , Porada demonstrates how evidence derived from excavations post-dating the publication of her definitive catalogue of these seals (Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals, 1948) can refine our understaning of the , , and styles of ancient Near Eastern s generally and of the Morgan seals specifically. The text is studied with insights and lavishly annotated with references to works both recently published and forthcoming."

"As a rule s were perforated lengthwise, so that a wire or piece of string could be passed through the hole and then fastened to the necklace or wristband on which the seal was usually worn. Fairly often the seal-stones were set between caps of gold, silver, or copper."

"The downfall of the was brought about by the , a barbarous people who swept down from the northeastern mountains and subjugated the country in the twenty-second century As a result of the invasion, suffered a general disintegration. There were, however, a few centers of culture in which the standards set by the ns continued in force. One of these centers was . Here, under the later part of the Guti domination, reigned a priest-prince named whose statues show a technically proficient adherence to Akkad tradition."

"Major sculptures which first attracted the attention of the world's art lovers to the ancient Near East derive from the time of of , known to have been an elder contemporary of ..."

"Manfred Bietack also reminded us, ‘It is a great illusion to believe that sciences are more reliable, at least just now, in obtaining absolute dates especially when the data available is so limited…even more by the subjective selection process of the author’s…Radiocarbon years do not correspond to calendar years due to unsteady cosmic radiation and uneven absorption of carbon 14,’ which is ‘explored by calibration…by taking a series of well dated trees…subjecting to measurements…[which] involves a lot of interpretation’ and ‘which can also vary between different laboratory conditions…fragments of wood are likely to be old and re-used when deposited…contamination and pre-treatment in laboratories can be looked on as yet another complication which has not been sufficiently resolved.’"

"Manfred Bietak pointed out other dangers in dendrochronological dating. It is ‘methodologically wrong to compare different varieties of wood originating from different regions…The ecosystem could be…different. Also different kinds of trees react to climate in different ways. The juniper is from central Anatolia…Far away from one housing cedar…likely to be from a region near the seashore…[thus] we are forced to use the artefacts from the ship as a way of dating.’"