About Antiquities

"This is an extraordinary, multidisciplinary, boundary-crossing book in every way. I know of no other work that successfully combines the interests of archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, historians of architecture, and literary scholars-to say nothing of the author's innovative, comparative bridging of American museum studies and the history of Islamic art. This work is a tour de force." -- Susan Slyomovics, UCLA, editor of The Anthropology of the Middle East and North Africa: Into the New Millennium and The Living Medina in the Maghrib: The Walled Arab City in Literature, Architecture, and History "This book will appeal not only to specialists on Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East but also to scholars and general readers interested in the history of antiquities, museums, heritage, imperialism, nationalism, and globalism. No existing work offers serious competition in its scope and approach." -- Donald Malcolm Reid, Georgia State University and University of Washington, author of Contesting Antiquity in Egypt: Archaeologies, Museums, and the Struggle for Identities from World War I to Nasser and Whose Pharaohs? Museums, Archaeology, and Egyptian National Identity from

Masterfully examining the competing claims and aspirations of museums, government officials, archaeologists, and excavation laborers, this book sheds new light on the role of archaeology in empire-building around the turn of the twentieth century.

Antiquities have been pawns in empire-building and global rivalries; power struggles; assertions of national and cultural identities; and cross-cultural exchanges, cooperation, abuses, and misunderstandings—all with the underlying element of financial gain. Indeed, “who owns antiquity?” is a contentious question in many of today’s international conflicts.

About Antiquities offers an interdisciplinary study of the relationship between archaeology and empire-building around the turn of the twentieth century. Starting at Istanbul and focusing on antiquities from the Ottoman territories, Zeynep Çelik examines the popular discourse surrounding claims to the past in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York. She compares and contrasts the experiences of two museums—Istanbul’s Imperial Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art—that aspired to emulate European collections and gain the prestige and power of owning the material fragments of ancient history. Going beyond institutions, Çelik also unravels the complicated interactions among individuals—Westerners, Ottoman decision makers and officials, and local laborers—and their competing stakes in antiquities from such legendary sites as Ephesus, Pergamon, and Babylon.

Recovering perspectives that have been lost in histories of archaeology, particularly those of the excavation laborers whose voices have never been heard, About Antiquities provides important historical context for current controversies surrounding nation-building and the ownership of the past.