VERONA, NEW YORK—According to a Rome Sentinel report, bone fragments held in the archives at Colgate University’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology will be handed over to the Oneida Indian Nation. The ten fragments, identified during a recent inventory, are thought to be the remains of at least six different people. The bones were unearthed in the twentieth century by members of the New York State Archaeological Association at various sites in the ancestral Oneida homelands, and were acquired by the museum between 1959 and 2000. “We are grateful for the return of these remains, and truly appreciate Colgate University for coming forward with this discovery so that our ancestors may receive a proper re-internment at our burial grounds,” said Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative. The Longyear Museum repatriated additional items to the Oneida Nation in 1995 and 2003. To read about Native American sites on an island in the Hudson River, go to ” Off the Grid: Rogers Island, New York .”
https://www.archaeology.org/news/8872-200722-oneida-remains-repatriated

Study Finds: Ancient Greek Temples Had The First Disabled Access Ramps

Ancient Greeks had the first disabled access to buildings around 2,400 years ago, according to a new study.

Archaeologists say 11 small stone ramps at a healing sanctuary originally built in the 6th century BC helped the mobility-impaired.

Several Ancient Greek temples and other buildings, some older than the 4th century BC, were likely also built with disabled access in mind.

Many Ancient Greek temples had ramps, although these have often been ignored by archaeologists, who assumed them to be sacrificial altars for animals.

But they sometimes served as disabled access – especially at healing sanctuaries, where the disabled visitors prayed and presented carvings to the gods with the hope of recovery.

The US study presents the earliest know evidence of ancient societies adapting architecture to meet the needs of disabled people.

‘Archaeologists have long known about ramps on ancient Greek temples, but have routinely ignored them in their discussions of Greek architecture,’ said Dr Debby Sneed from California State University in Long Beach, US.

‘The likeliest reason why ancient Greek architects constructed ramps was to make sites accessible to mobility impaired visitors.

‘Even without a framework of civil rights as we understand them today, the builders of these sites made architectural choices that enabled individuals with impaired mobility to access these spaces.’

Dr Sneed, sole author of the study, formed her conclusions when re-evaluating the geographical distribution of ramps in ancient Greece, which are common but have been neglected in prior research.

Ramps are often missing in plans in scholarly articles and student text books, despite being common at healing sanctuaries where large numbers of visitors came in search of help from the healing god Asclepius.

The clearest case of a sanctuary adapted for disabled access is the Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus, an ancient city in the modern-day region of Peloponnese.

The Sanctuary of Asclepius, which was initially built in the 6th century BC, was a vast site containing temples and hospital buildings devoted to its healing gods and became on of the most important healing sanctuaries in Ancient Greece.

Renovations starting in 370 BC expanded the site but also focused on increasing disabled access – 11 stone ramps installed on nine structures during the renovations.

Meanwhile, at the smaller sanctuary of Asclepius in Corinth, also in modern-day Peloponnese, great care was given to the access ramps, which feature ‘fine masonry’.

A large number of carved dedications to the god represent legs and feet, suggesting people requested healing in this part of the body.

‘This is now the earliest evidence we have to show that ancient societies were not only capable of giving active and conscious attention to the needs to their disabled community members but that they sometimes chose to expend considerable resources and labour in order to make certain spaces more inclusive of a wide range of body types,’ said Dr Sneed.

Sources indicate disabilities were common in Ancient Greece and tests detail a range of conditions that restricted mobility.

Historical documents report examples of this, including the Athenian statesman Miltiades (554-489 BC), who is credited with winning the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

He suffered a leg injury and had to be carried on a litter – a vehicle carried by porters – for the rest of his life.

The majority of adults in ancient Greece, comprising citizens, slaves, and foreigners, men and women, likely either experienced disability themselves, or encountered it through a member of their household or community.

Archaeological evidence taken from grave sites also suggests disability was common in Ancient Greece.

As much as 60 per cent of individuals excavated from a Classical-period cemetery at the site of Amphipolis, an ancient city in Northern Greece, had osteoarthritis.

This familiarity with disability is also reflected in Greek mythology – Hephaestus, one of 12 Olympian gods and the patron god of craftsmen, had a mobility impairment.

Some ramps in Ancient Greece are thought to have simple and practical functions, such as helping deliver supplies by cart, but they’re more common at healing sanctuaries, where many major and minor buildings had ramp access.

This is evidence that they were not simply built for carts but helped the mobility-impaired.

‘More than 2,000 years ago, ancient Greeks spent time and money building ramps to aid individuals who could not easily ascend or descend stairs, and all without targeted legislation requiring them to do so,’ said Dr Sneed.

‘It is hoped that this research may stimulate further investigations into accessibility at other sites in the Classical world and beyond.’

The study has been published in Antiquity.

Katja Sporn, head of the German Archaeological Institute’s Athens department, expressed doubt about the theory, however.

She told Science that ramps are found predominantly in the Peloponnese, which is the heartland of Ancient Greece, which could make them a regional and brief architectural trend that had more than one purpose.

‘It helps everyone, also disabled people, walk into temples better, but that you would only do it for disabled people I don’t find convincing,’ she said.

https://english.alsiasi.com/index.php/2020/07/22/study-finds-ancient-greek-temples-had-the-first-disabled-access-ramps/

By Toufic Baaklini
From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern Turkey,
systematically killed more than 2 million Christians — 1.5 million Armenians and half a
million Syriacs, Assyro-Chaldeans, Greeks and Maronites. During that period, half the
populations of Tur Abdin and Mount Lebanon, among the Middle East’s final Christian
strongholds, were slaughtered or died of famine.
To this day, the Turkish government denies this genocide. Now, what remains of the
country’s Christian heritage is under attack from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The
latest assault: The Islamist strongman wants to convert the Hagia Sophia, his nation’s
most recognizable landmark, from a museum to a mosque. The move would all but
complete the erasure of Turkey’s Christian heritage that began with a genocide a century ago.
Consecrated as a Byzantine cathedral in the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia (“Holy
Wisdom”) was once Christianity’s largest cathedral and the historic seat of the Orthodox
patriarch of Constantinople, as Istanbul was known for much of the last two millennia.
Eastern Christians for centuries viewed the cathedral as an unparalleled pilgrimage
destination. Its relics included supposed pieces of the original Cross of Jesus Christ, as
well as the lance that pierced the Nazarene’s side. Pilgrims sought healing from these and other items. You might say the Hagia Sophia was the Saint Peter’s Basilica of Eastern Christianity.
In 1453, following the defeat of historic Byzantium, the Ottomans converted the
cathedral into a mosque as a symbol of their dominion over Turkey’s indigenous
Christians. In the process, they desecrated and plastered over the early Christian icons,
mosaics and frescos — though some pieces remain.
In 1934, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the secularist founder of modern Turkey, converted the
Hagia Sophia from a mosque into a museum, as “a monument for all civilization.” This
allowed people of all faiths to marvel at the Christian icons and the sheer beauty of the
site without a religious litmus test to enter.
Erdogan, however, is unapologetically nostalgic for the days of the Ottoman Empire. His
plan to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque is of a piece with his Islamist vision for
the country, a vision that sits uncomfortably with the Hagia Sophia, a gigantic monument to what used to be called Christendom — right at the heart of Turkey’s most important city.
“He mustn’t be allowed to go forward.” Clear statements from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback supporting the preservation of the Hagia Sophia as a museum are encouraging. But they lack the weight of the Oval Office. Now is the time for President Trump to recognize Turkey’s barbarous recent history — and to compel Erdogan to respect the heritage of his country’s indigenous Christian population.
Trump has made religious pluralism a centerpiece of his foreign policy . The seriousness of that commitment stands or falls in Turkey, a country that has become increasingly hostile to religious liberty. It’s why Trump should press Turkey to honor the status quo of the Hagia Sophia. This would follow his successful application of pressure on Ankara to secure the release of American pastor Andrew Brunson, a former prisoner of conscience in Turkey.
Last fall, Congress made history with bipartisan recognition of the Armenian Christian
Genocide. Ankara wasn’t pleased, but Team Trump must follow suit: Recognizing the
Armenian Christian Genocide would be another major religious-liberty victory for this
president — not to mention the right thing to do.
Beyond these historic and cultural issues, the United States should more broadly reassess its relationship with Turkey — a move that is long overdue.
The world’s most notorious genocide denier, Erdogan, is also infamous for imprisoning
journalists and public intellectuals. Turkey’s egregious human-rights violations also
include the ethno-sectarian expulsion of Syriacs in northern Syria and the destruction of
more than 500 Greek Orthodox churches in Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.
At one point, Turkey was a reliable, pro-Western ally. But that is no longer the case, and
the American people are always better off when foreign policy deals with reality as it is,
rather than as we would wish it to be.
Persuading Turkey to maintain the Hagia Sophia’s status quo would be a monumental
step in the right direction — and cement the president’s legacy as a stalwart advocate of religious pluralism in the Middle East.

https://nypost.com/2020/07/07/turkish-islamist-tyrants-obscene-bid-to-turn-hagia-sophia-
into-mosque/

Turkey’s high administrative court threw its weight behind a petition brought by a religious group and annulled the 1934 Cabinet decision that turned the site into a museum. Within hours, Erdogan signed a decree handing over Hagia Sophia to Turkey’s Religious Affairs Presidency.
A woman wrapped in a Turkish national flag gestures outside the Hagia Sophia on July 10, 2020 in Istanbul as people gather to celebrate after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum.
Erdogan has demanded that the hugely symbolic world heritage site should be turned back into a mosque despite widespread international criticism, including from the United States and Orthodox Christian leaders. The move could also deepen tensions with neighboring Greece.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, a Greek Cypriot, posted on his official Twitter account that Cyprus “strongly condemns Turkey’s actions on Hagia Sophia in its effort to distract domestic opinion and calls on Turkey to respect its international obligations.”

It is with great sadness that we learned today of the passing of Dr. Hormoz Hekmat, one of the most prominent experts of contemporary Iranian culture and an advisor and supporter of the Pasargad Heritage Foundation.
Dr. Hekmat was a member of the board of trustees of the Iran Studies Foundation and a supporter and advisor to the Pasargad Heritage Foundation and the World Cultural Heritage Voices (WCHV).
He was a prolific writer, a philanthropist, and a lover of Iran. Dr. Hekmat worked tirelessly for preservation of Iranian history and culture.
Friends and members of the Pasargad Heritage Foundation express their sincere
condolences to Dr. Hekmat’s family, friends and loved ones.
He will forever be in our hearts and memories, and we will always celebrate his life.
World Cultural Heritage Voices
July 2, 2020
http://worldculturalheritagevoices.org/

According art net news an attempt to restore a copy of baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables has turned its beatific Virgin Mary into a misshapen lump with red lips.
Immediately drawing comparisons to the viral “ Beast Jesus ” restoration fail of 2012 , this latest attempt by an amateur restorer is prompting experts in Spain to call for more stringent regulations.
The anonymous owner of the marred Murillo work paid €1,200 ($1,350) for it to
be cleaned by a furniture restorer, Europa Press reported , and was outraged
when not one, but two attempts resulted in a complete disfiguration.
María Borja, a vice president of the Valencia chapter of the Professional
Association of Conservative Restorers of Spain, told the outlet that while a
handful of these incidents come to wide attention because of social media, “there
are a multitude of situations where the works are intervened by people without
training… possibly causing irreversible change.”
Although the organization’s fundamental objectives include language that
advocates for the preservation of cultural heritage, such as paintings, there is no
specification for a professional conservation restorer to be commissioned.
Speaking to the Guardian , former association president Fernando Carrera, who
is a professor in conservation and restoration, said “I don’t think this guy—or
these people—should be referred to as restorers… they’re bodgers who botch
things up. They destroy things.”
“Can you imagine just anyone being allowed to operate on other people? Or
someone being allowed to sell medicine without a pharmacist’s license?” Carrera
added, noting that while he understands restorers are not as critical to society as
doctors, “we need to focus society’s attention on this… this is our history.”
Other failed conservation attempts in recent history include the refurbishment of
a 500-year-old statue of St. George at the Church of San Miguel de Estella in
Navarre, Spain, which resulted in a Disneyfied makeover; the statue of Santa
Barbara at Brazil’s Santa Cruz da Barra Chapel; and the 15th-century statue of
Virgin Mary that was “restored” by a local woman in Asturias, Spain.

According prevention the crater-made Lonar Lake located in west-central India has bewildered residents and researchers after the water miraculously changed colors from its typical green to pink. The change in hue started in early
June before finalizing to a reddish pink in just a matter of days.
NASA Earth Observatory captured images of the nearly 50,000-year-old lake on May 25 and then again on June 10 of this year, displaying a before-and-after of the color modification. Scientists aren’t completely sure why the crater lake in the state of Maharashtra suddenly turned pink, but they have a few theories.
There have been such instances in other parts of the world,” Sanjay Rathod,
Maharashtra’s State Forest Minister told The Hindu . “In a lake in Iran, the water
turns reddish due to increase in salinity. We are still studying the phenomenon,
but it is certain that no artificial occurrence resulted in the change in color.”
While these theories have not been confirmed—at least not yet, anyway—the
Maharashtra Forest Department has sent water samples to two labs in Nagpur
and Pune, and are waiting for the results.