Sturt Manning, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Classical Archaeology in the classics department, writes in this CNN opinion piece that Hobby Lobby's decision to buy more than 5,000 artifacts from the ancient Near East in December 2010 is "tragic."
"These objects have been ripped out of archaeological sites with no documentation and now forever lack context and key associations -- the kind of valuable information possible only with careful scientific excavation by archaeologists," Manning writes. "This looting occurs because there is, sadly, a market for these objects -- even if this trade is illegal in many countries. We will now never know the full archaeological history of the 5,548 objects Hobby Lobby bought for $1.6 million."
Simon Wheeler, Cornell University
Cornell Provost Kavita Bala speaking with Kalaniyot Sabbatical Scholar Naomi Havron at the Kalaniyot reception Oct. 19. In the background, Kalaniyot Fellow Eden Eran Nagar speaks with Fellow Shachar Yerushalmi.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Seidenberger built Hopper from scratch so students can see the logic on which it is built and play a role in developing it and improving it over the course of his class.
