Month: July 2014
Moving to China
Sorry everyone! I’m in the process of moving to China at the end of this month, so everything is REALLY hectic. This unfortunately translates into the fact that posts for the next few weeks may be slightly more erratic than normal. I promise that I will smooth it all out as soon as possible!
The Islamic State and the Cultural Destruction of Iraq
The Islamic State and the Cultural Destruction of Iraq
by Hadani Ditmars via “Middle East Eye“
Iraq’s monuments have borne witness to and shared the hardships of the country’s long-suffering people
The latest in the surrealist horror show that the nightly news on Iraq has become offers a rich narrative – at least for a writer working on a political travelogue of ancient sites. Once again, the Mongol hordes are at the gates.
After destroying statues of a poet and a musician in Mosul, Islamic State (IS) now threatens to destroy the 2nd-century BC city of Hatra, and UNESCO has sounded the alarm about one of their world heritage sites at risk.
The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, said earlier this week, “I call on all actors to refrain from any form of destruction of cultural heritage, including religious sites. Their intentional destruction are war crimes and a blow against the Iraqi people’s identity and history.”
In one of many ironies, this well preserved example of a Parthian city that has survived centuries of imperial intrigue and invasions may fall victim to a group of angry- yet well organized and funded- young men, drunk on brutality, wired on ideology run amok, galvanized by decades of war and injustice
Hatra has more recently served as a film set for the 1973 production of the Exorcist, in which a priest discovers a talisman belonging to an ancient demon and brings it back to the US, where it possesses a young American girl.
While it’s not difficult to ascertain that the disastrous invasion of 2003 has unleashed more than it’s fair share of vindictive spirits of which IS is only one- Iraq’s ancient sites- as its people- have been long-suffering.
Iraq’s monuments bear witness to and share in the hardships of her people. After years of war and occupation, historic sites have been badly damaged and neglected. While the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan was universally condemned, outrage about the destruction of Iraqi and indeed world heritage (not to mention the fate of Iraq’s people) has been somewhat restrained.
As Muwafaq al Taei – who was an architect under Saddam but an unrepentant communist who was simultaneously lionized and spied upon by the ancien regime and then almost killed by US troops after the invasion – (and my erstwhile travel companion on my journey to Iraq’s ancient sites) always says, ‘you have to understand the past to make sense of the present.’
I was inspired to write my next book Ancient Heart when Muafaq took me on a tour of sacred sites in Baghdad, in the midst of sectarian war zones, garbage dumps and displaced people’s camps. It reminded me of the last scene in Planet of the Apes, when Charlton Heston sees the Statue of Liberty half-submerged on the beach.
As I write this I am looking at a map of ancient sites in Iraq. Most maps of Iraq in the popular imagination are divided into three neat sectarian sections, or filled with bullet point punctuations on the evening news.
I am convinced of the power of this map. If applied correctly, it may just transform people’s consciousness. I want people to see Iraq for what it is- whether American generals or IS commanders – to recognize the depth and soul of the land they invaded, not just as another terrorized place to be abandoned but as part of our world heritage.
My map shows Ur, the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham and the home of the Sumerian ziggurat. Saddam stationed a military base nearby, as did the invading Americans who added a strategically placed Burger King. It was once a temple to the moon god Nanna, and many moons later, its adjoining town of Nasiriyah site of the Shiah uprising, encouraged by George Bush Senior and then brutally repressed by the regime, while the US stood by.
Egypt Ups Efforts to Protect Cultural Heritage
Egypt Ups Efforts to Protect Cultural Heritage
by Elisabeth Lehmann via “DW”
Protecting valuable antiquities is a serious task in Egypt, where grave robbery has increased dramatically since 2011. German researchers accused of the crime are currently standing trial in Cairo.
“Look at the cracks – the pyramids are really in danger,” says Osama Karar, as he points to the screen of his laptop, and flicks through countless photos showing damage to the Great Pyramid of Giza. Karar and his colleagues have founded an organization called The People’s Front in Defence of Relics.
He turns from his laptop, and looks outside at the huge pyramid stretching out before him. “These stones can’t speak, so we try and give them a voice,” he says.
Indeed, the stones of the Great Pyramid would have a lot to tell. For example, that in April 2013, a German research team led by the Chemnitz-based experimental archaeologist Dominique Görlitz entered a small room under the tip of the pyramid – the King’s Chamber belonging to Pharaoh Khufu.
The team took samples from the murals and cartouche, and brought them back to Germany for laboratory analysis. And all this without the proper permit. They were granted a partial permit, as Ali Ahmad Ali from the Ministry of State for Antiquities in Cairo stressed, but “the permit does not cover a visit to the upper chamber. And the permit says: only visit, do not take any parts.”
On Saturday (7.06.2014), the trial of the research team – made up of three Germans and their six Egyptian assistants – got underway in Cairo. They are accused of vandalism offenses in the Great Pyramid of Giza, and at worst, could face between three and five years in prison.
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“Upright Pianos”
Having played the piano for the past 20 years, I still have my old original upright Whitney piano. However, given that I’m moving abroad, I am heartbroken by the news that I now have to sell it. That piano lasted me through the banging “Freres Jacques” song of a five year old, the angsty operatic period of a teenager, and the Broadway musical era of my twenties. Built from sturdy wood, it has lasted through three moves and decades of love and crooning. It’s just killing me to have to let it go.
In the course of research the estimated value of my treasure, I ran across this fascinating article discussing the history and development of the 20th century piano. It includes all sorts of pictures and informative details, a great read if you are into music. Based on the photos, I was able to estimate that my Whitney is from circa early 1920s. It looks exactly like the photo! I didn’t realize that I got one of the last styles to have the really high backs. I don’t like the waist-high piano’s nearly as well. Of course, to be honest, I’ve yet to meet a piano that sounded as beautiful as my own ~ even the expensive grand pianos. Sadness, I’ll miss you baby!
If you’re interested, here is a brief portion of the article:
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Identify Instrument
via “Antique Piano Shop“
UPRIGHT PIANOS
Upright Piano, Circa 1870
Upright Piano, Circa 1880
Upright Piano, Circa 1890
Upright Piano, Circa 1900
Upright Piano, Circa 1910
Arts & Crafts Upright, Circa 1912
Upright Piano, Circa 1920
Upright Piano, Circa 1930
Spinet Piano, Circa 1940
The upright piano didn’t become popular in American culture until the last quarter of the 19th century. Prior to that time, the square grand piano was the preferred choice that dominated the American piano market. Most of our vintage ephemera collection doesn’t show upright pianos until the 1870s, although upright pianos were built on a limited scale all through the early and middle 19th century. It is exceedingly rare that we see an upright piano dating prior to 1870 come through our restoration shop, indicating that the extant models of mid-19th century upright pianos are very scarce today.
As the 20th century approached, makers began shifting their production from the square grand piano to the upright piano, as the public’s tastes were beginning to change and homes were becoming smaller and less suited for large square grand pianos. In the 1880s and 1890s, upright piano production increased substantially and by the last decade of the 19th century, the square grand piano that had dominated the market for the past century had all but vanished. Since this was the height of the Victorian era, manufacturers were building their upright pianos with exotic woods and lavish carvings, often producing incredibly ornate and lavish models to suit the décor of the era. The last decade of the 19th century saw some of the finest craftsmanship and quality ever to be put into piano manufacturing.
After the turn-of-the-century, tastes began to change and piano design began to become a bit more streamlined. The ostentatious styles of the late 19th century gave way for more classic and simple design. The first decade of the 20th century saw a calmer, less radical movement in interior design than the previous decades, and this change was immediately seen in the evolving styles offer by the major piano manufacturers.
From about 1900-1916, the Arts & Crafts Movement was a major force in American design. Although the Arts & Crafts design was very popular during the early 20th century, piano makers were slow to adapt to the Mission/Arts & Crafts design. Furniture manufactures were quick to jump on the new trend of the Craftsman style, but piano makers were slow to recognize just how important the Arts & Crafts Movement really was. A handful of manufactures attempted to build pianos in the Craftsman/Mission style, but because the Movement was so short-lived, most of them didn’t see the significance of the Arts & Crafts Movement until it was too late; the Arts & Crafts Movement was over before 1920. Sadly, very few manufacturers ever offered Craftsman style pianos, and as a result, original specimens are exceedingly rare today.
The 1920s era was considered the “Golden Age” of piano building. By this time makers had streamlined operations and the piano had evolved into a perfect machine. The upright piano had evolved into a very simple basic design, becoming more utilitarian in appearance than ever before. With the exception of period furniture styles like Louis XV and French Provincial, most upright pianos were without ornamentation or frills. Instead, plain square pillars and streamlined moldings resulted in a very “modern” looking upright piano which was considered “uncluttered” and “beautifully simplistic.” These simple-looking upright pianos were generally of excellent quality.
The Cultured Muse 