Patty Gerstenblith Author

Benjamin R Foster (AB 1968, Princeton; MA 1973, MPhil, 1974, PhD 1975, Yale), Laffan Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and Curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection, was appointed to the Yale faculty in 1975. His research interests focus on two main areas: Mesopotamian, especially Akkadian, literature, and the social and economic history of Mesopotamia. In the area of Akkadian literature, he is the author of Before the Muses (1993, 1996, 2005), a two-volume anthology of annotated translations from Akkadian literature of all periods. An abridged, paperback version of this work appeared as From Distant Days (1995). He translated the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh for the Norton Critical Editions series, The Epic of Gilgamesh (2001), and is author of more than twenty articles on various aspects of Akkadian literature. In the area of history, especially social and economic history, he is the author of two books, Umma in the Sargonic Period (1982) and Administration and Use of Institutional Land in Sargonic Sumer (1982), as well as about forty articles, most of them dealing with the third millennium B.C.E. He is also active in the publication of primary source material, including one book, Sargonic Tablets from Telloh in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (1982), and about twenty articles of text publications. In addition, he is the author of four small monographs and translations, various brief philological notes, and about sixty book reviews. His current research includes a history of oriental scholarship in the United States, of which four preliminary studies have appeared in periodicals. His teaching experience includes all periods and text types of Sumerian and Akkadian and all periods of Mesopotamian history from the fourth millennium B C E to the Muslim conquest. Karen Polinger Foster (AB 1971, Mount Holyoke College; MA 1974, MPhil 1974, PhD 1976, Yale) specializes in the art and archaeology of the Bronze Age Aegean, with particular interests in interconnections with Egypt and the ancient Near East. She is the author of Aegean Faience of the Bronze Age (1979) and Minoan Ceramic Relief (1982). Her current major research project involves the final preparation of a book on the treatment of exotic flora and fauna in the art of the ancient Near East and Aegean, considered in the wider context of such material from classical to modern times. She is the author of over twenty articles on various aspects of Bronze Age art and iconography, including several studies of the wall painting programs from Thera. She has recently completed a trilogy of articles dealing with volcanic imagery in art and literature, beginning with the Thera eruption and concluding with the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii. In addition, she has written over thirty book reviews and participates regularly in scholarly conferences, symposia, and panel discussions, in the US and abroad. In 1999 she published The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer, the first Sumerian folktale to be retold for children. The book is illustrated with the author's own cut-paper mosaics, based on actual works of Sumerian art. She has co-edited, with Robert Laffineur of the University of Liege, METRON: Measuring the Aegean Bronze Age, the proceedings of the 9th International Aegean Conference, held at Yale University in April 2002 (published 2003). Her course offerings range from introductory surveys of the art of the ancient Near East and Aegean to seminars concentrating on specific issues and areas. In recent years, she has taught such undergraduate courses as The Art of Ancient Palaces, Buried Cities: Thera, Pompeii, and Herculaneum, and Ancient Painting and Mosaics. Her graduate courses have dealt with Bronze Age interconnections. Patty Gerstenblith is a Professor and Director of the Program in Art and Cultural Heritage Law at DePaul University College of Law. She received her PhD degree From Harvard University and J D Degree from Northwestern University School of Law. She is the President of the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation (current), co-chair for the International Cultural Property Committee, and is also a member of the American Bar Association (current) and of the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee, US Department of State (2000-2003). She is also Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Cultural Property (1995-2002).