September 26, 2015

The Modern Impact of Tell Mozan: Problems Presented in Syria Today.

St. Anselm’s Abbey invited Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati to give the 42nd Annual Thomas Verner Moore Lecture at The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. The Buccellatis are both UCLA professors emeriti of history and art, and long-time archeologists of the Inner and Outer Fertile Crescent (from the Caucasus to northern Syria). They spoke in turn on the significance of their findings, especially at Tell Mozan/Urkesh, in helping us understand the beginnings of the founding of the earliest civilizations in that area.

Sadly for them and other archeologists the war and political turmoil in Syria are preventing further excavations and the efforts at preservation of ancient sites. They hope that the iconoclastic practices of the Islamic State, or ISIS, will not reach these fourth millennium sites and obliterate all that has been discovered and remains to be uncovered in them. They have written many books and interpretative essays on their discoveries and have given lectures and workshops around the world. Their presentations were well received and generated questions from the audience both in the lecture hall and during the reception that followed.