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Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
Enhancing ‘representational equity’ on Wikipedia
Enhancing ‘representational equity’ on Wikipedia
As part of the inaugural Wiki Education Humanities & Social Justice Advisory Committee, Heather J. Sharkey, a professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, will continue working to improve Wikipedia content on historically underrepresented topics.
Uniting passions for architecture, preservation, and the Near East
Uniting passions for architecture, preservation, and the Near East
Marc Marín Webb, who studied architecture in Berlin and Barcelona, is studying the impact of genocide on the built heritage of the Yezidi community in Iraq.
Marking a monumental death
Marking a monumental death
In honor of the first anniversary of the killing of Mahsa (Jîna) Amini in Iran and the subsequent outpouring of protest, Penn will host a two-day conference on violence against women.
Supporting less commonly taught languages
Supporting less commonly taught languages
Recently elected president of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Turkish Language Program coordinator Feride Hatiboglu discusses the value of learning languages beyond Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
Who, What, Why: Zaid Tabaza on veganism in the Middle East
Who, What, Why: Zaid Tabaza on veganism in the Middle East
By tracing the evolution of this practice, Tabaza learned that in Jordan and Lebanon, the historical appeal of plant-based diets derived from their curative potential and wide availability.
‘The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom’
‘The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom’
This timely volume of essays edited by professors Heather J. Sharkey and Jeffrey Green explores theoretical, historical, and legal perspectives on religious freedom, while examining its meaning as an experience, value, and right.
Finding community in the Jewish High Holy Days
Finding community in the Jewish High Holy Days
Three cultural and academic leaders at Penn consider how a return to experiencing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in person offered physical and spiritual healing.
The story the bowls tell
The story the bowls tell
In an ambitious new project, historian Simcha Gross and Harvard’s Rivka Elitzur-Leiman are studying hundreds of ancient incantation bowls housed at the Penn Museum. They hope to better understand the objects and eventually, build a database of all these bowls worldwide.
The ‘music’ of one poet’s words, translated
The ‘music’ of one poet’s words, translated
With help from her daughter, scholar Huda Fakhreddine published an English version of 30 poems for children written by her father in Arabic, paying tribute to their endearing and enduring subject matter and to the musicality and richness of their sound.
From the archives, a class on different communities of Jews in China
From the archives, a class on different communities of Jews in China
Kathryn Hellerstein created an opportunity for her first-year seminar students to study archival material from a collection donated to the Penn Libraries by her mentor, Israeli scholar Irene Eber.
In the News
Artnet News
Do these ancient seals unlock clues to the origins of writing?
Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum helped contribute to a study arguing that ancient Sumerian seals used to brand products shaped the formation of cuneiform, humanity’s earliest known example of writing.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Why were young women poisoned in Iran?
In an Op-Ed, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet of the School of Arts & Sciences says that recent attacks on Iranian women at schools represent a targeted campaign to enforce a new mode of gender segregation and political deprivation.
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Associated Press
Ancient restaurant highlights Iraq’s archaeology renaissance
An international archaeological mission led by a Penn team has uncovered the remnants of what is believed to be a 5,000-year-old restaurant or tavern in the ancient city of Lagash in southern Iraq.
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Esquire
Raise a toast in honor of the world’s oldest known beerhall!
A team of researchers from Penn and the University of Pisa, led by Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Penn Museum, have excavated a site in Iraq that could contain the oldest tavern ever discovered.
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The Washington Post
World’s oldest bar? Archaeologists find a nearly 5,000-year-old tavern
A team of researchers from Penn and the University of Pisa, led by Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Penn Museum, have excavated a site in Iraq that could contain the oldest tavern ever discovered.
FULL STORY →
Artnet News
Archaeologists digging in Iraq have located the remains of a 5,000-year-old tavern—as well as a ‘beer recipe’
Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Penn Museum and colleagues have uncovered the remains of a public eating space dated to 2700 B.C.E. in Lagash, an ancient city site in southern Iraq.
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