Empires and Antiquities: Appropriating the Past

This project contributes to the re-conceptualization of the recent controversies over the possession of antiquities by situating the issue in a historic context and by reading it from different political and cultural positions. It examines the cultural aspects of empire-building at the time, which capitalized on the prestige of ancient history and the power attributed to possessing its material fragments, and argues that the origins of the present-day debate go back to the scramble for antiquities in the nineteenth century. Placing Istanbul, its new museum, and the tightened government control over the work of archaeologists in the Ottoman Empire at the center, the comparative study engages in analysis of claims to the past in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York.