Back to top: Beyond grammar
Introduction
Back to top: Beyond grammar
The courage of competence
What we propose, and what we aim to do cocnretely at the site of ancient Urkesh, is to define heritage in terms that are arguably rooted in the record. “Heritage” is not a vague term that implies a simple acknowledgment of a past more or less romanticized – or even not exploited for political reasons. It is rather based on objective data which only the archaeologist can safely bring to the fore.
There is at times, when talking about heritage, a tendency to allow sentiments to prevail over evidence. This requires, as an antidote, that we as archaeologists show the courage of our competence . It is by proposing an objectively restructured and reconfigured record that the ancient perception can properly resonate with us. The record becomes then a diapason that synchronizes our sensitivity with that of the ancients – the proper goal of hermeneutics.
semiotics
hermeneutics
objectivity
Back to top: Beyond grammar
Examples post-excavation
- The pride of the past. – The Letters from kids, Backdirt article
- Identification with the place – music; projecting feelings; TPR MHR, school, park, lectures in villages
Back to top: Beyond grammar
Examples
the sound of Hurrian
beyond grammar – and yet within grammar: e.g. dating; naming
iconography in glyptics, figurines
Back to top: Beyond grammar