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64-589: The Warka Vase or Uruk vase is a slim carved alabaster vessel found in the temple complex of the Sumerian goddess Inanna in the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk , located in the modern Al Muthanna Governorate , in southern Iraq . Like the Uruk Trough and the Narmer Palette from Egypt , it is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture, dated to c. 3200–3000 BC. Simple relief sculpture

128-543: A correspondent for The Times newspaper, As they struggled to lift a large object wrapped in a blanket out of the boot, the American guards on the gate raised their weapons. For a moment, a priceless 5,000-year-old vase thought to have been lost in looting after the fall of Baghdad seemed about to meet its end. But one of the men peeled back the blanket to reveal carved alabaster pieces that were clearly something extraordinary. Three feet high and weighing 600 lb intact, this

192-476: A delicate green variety at La Pedrara , in the district of Tecali , near Puebla . Onyx-marble occurs also in the district of Tehuacán and at several localities in the US including California , Arizona , Utah , Colorado and Virginia . Gypsum alabaster is softer than calcite alabaster. It was used primarily in medieval Europe, and is also used in modern times. "Mosul marble" is a kind of gypsum alabaster found in

256-622: A dozen scholars in the world. Stein described the tablets as providing "the first chance to hear the Persians speaking of their own empire". Charles Jones, Research Associate and Librarian at the Oriental Institute and tablet expert, compared them to "credit card receipts". Most current knowledge about the ancient Persian empire comes from the accounts of others, most famously the Greek storyteller Herodotus . Stein added: "It's valuable because it's

320-407: A group of tablets, thousands of them from the same archive. It's like the same filing cabinet. They're very, very valuable scientifically." The Oriental Institute had been returning them to Iran in small batches. Since the 1930s, the institute had returned several hundred tablets and fragments to Iran and were preparing another shipment when the legal action began. An appeals court later overturned

384-738: A portion of nature, and, according to anthropologist Susan Pollock, shows that social and natural hierarchies were most likely akin to each other in ancient Mesopotamia . The vase was discovered as a collection of fragments by German Assyriologists in their sixth excavation season at Uruk in 1933/1934. The find was recorded as find number W14873 in the expedition's field book under an entry dated 2 January 1934, which read "Großes Gefäß aus Alabaster, ca. 96 cm hoch mit Flachrelief" ("large container of alabaster, circa 96 cm high with flat-reliefs"). The vase, which showed signs of being repaired in antiquity, stood 3 feet 1 ⁄ 4  inch (0.921 m) tall. Other sources cite it as having been

448-533: A slightly taller 106 cm, with an upper diameter of 36 cm. It is named after the modern village of Warka – known as Uruk to the ancient Sumerians . A plaster cast was made of the original and this reproduction stood for many decades in room 5 of the Near-Eastern Museum in Berlin (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Germany. The vase has three registers – or tiers – of carving. The bottom register depicts

512-403: A smooth, polished surface is washed with dishwashing liquid , it will become rough, dull and whiter, losing most of its translucency and lustre. The finer kinds of alabaster are employed largely as an ornamental stone , especially for ecclesiastical decoration and for the rails of staircases and halls. Alabaster is mined and then sold in blocks to alabaster workshops. There they are cut to

576-574: A vase of alabaster. The name may be derived further from ancient Egyptian a-labaste , which refers to vessels of the Egyptian goddess Bast . She was represented as a lioness and frequently depicted as such in figures placed atop these alabaster vessels. Ancient Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy wrote that the stone used for ointment jars called alabastra came from a region of Egypt known as Alabastron or Alabastrites. The purest alabaster

640-537: Is a center of active research on the ancient Near East. The building's upper floors contain a library, classrooms and faculty offices, and its gift shop, the Suq, also sells textbooks for the university's classes on Near Eastern studies. In addition to carrying out many digs in the Fertile Crescent , institute scholars have made contributions to the understanding of the origins of human civilization. The term "Fertile Crescent"

704-497: Is a porous stone and can be "dyed" into any colour or shade, a technique used for centuries. For this the stone needs to be fully immersed in various pigmentary solutions and heated to a specific temperature. The technique can be used to disguise alabaster. In this way a very misleading imitation of coral that is called "alabaster coral" is produced. Typically only one type is sculpted in any particular cultural environment, but sometimes both have been worked to make similar pieces in

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768-465: Is a snow-white material of fine uniform grain, but it often is associated with an oxide of iron , which produces brown clouding and veining in the stone. The coarser varieties of gypsum alabaster are converted by calcination into plaster of Paris , and are sometimes known as "plaster stone". The softness of alabaster enables it to be carved readily into elaborate forms, but its solubility in water renders it unsuitable for outdoor work. If alabaster with

832-568: Is also found, in smaller quantity, at Watchet in Somerset , near Penarth in Glamorganshire , and elsewhere. In Cumbria it occurs largely in the New Red rocks, but at a lower geological horizon. The alabaster of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire is found in thick nodular beds or "floors" in spheroidal masses known as "balls" or "bowls" and in smaller lenticular masses termed "cakes". At Chellaston, where

896-423: Is also known from much earlier periods, from the site of Göbekli Tepe , dating to circa 9000 BC. The bottom register displays naturalistic components of life, including water and plants, such as date palm, barley, and wheat. On the upper portion of the lowest register, alternating rams and ewes march in a single file. The middle register conveys naked men carrying baskets of foodstuffs symbolizing offerings. Lastly,

960-455: Is calcite in the wider Middle East , including Egypt and Mesopotamia , while it is gypsum in medieval Europe . Modern alabaster is most likely calcite but may be either. Both are easy to work and slightly soluble in water. They have been used for making a variety of indoor artwork and carving, as they will not survive long outdoors. The two types are readily distinguished by their different hardness: gypsum alabaster ( Mohs hardness 1.5 to 2)

1024-534: Is derived: onyx-marble or alabaster-onyx, or sometimes simply (and wrongly) as onyx . Egyptian alabaster has been worked extensively near Suez and Assiut . This stone variety is the "alabaster" of the ancient Egyptians and Bible and is often termed Oriental alabaster , since the early examples came from the Far East . The Greek name alabastrites is said to be derived from the town of Alabastron in Egypt , where

1088-525: Is home to a natural gypsum cave in which much of the gypsum is in the form of alabaster. There are several types of alabaster found at the site, including pink, white, and the rare black alabaster. Chronological list of examples: Oriental Institute, Chicago The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures , West Asia & North Africa ( ISAC ; formerly the Oriental Institute ), established in 1919,

1152-532: Is on display in Sir John Soane's Museum , London ; it is carved in a single block of translucent calcite alabaster from Alabastron. Algerian onyx-marble has been quarried largely in the province of Oran . Calcite alabaster was quarried in ancient Israel in the cave known as the Twins Cave near Beit Shemesh . Herod used this alabaster for baths in his palaces. In Mexico , there are famous deposits of

1216-506: Is sent to Florence for figure-sculpture, while the common kinds are carved locally, into vases, lights, and various ornamental objects. These items are objects of extensive trade, especially in Florence, Pisa , and Livorno . In the 3rd century BC the Etruscans used the alabaster of Tuscany from the area of modern-day Volterra to produce funeral urns , possibly taught by Greek artists. During

1280-526: Is so soft that a fingernail scratches it, while calcite (Mohs hardness 3) cannot be scratched in this way but yields to a knife. Moreover, calcite alabaster, being a carbonate, effervesces when treated with hydrochloric acid , while gypsum alabaster remains almost unaffected. The English word "alabaster" was borrowed from Old French alabastre , in turn derived from Latin alabaster , and that from Greek ἀλάβαστρος ( alábastros ) or ἀλάβαστος ( alábastos ). The Greek words denoted

1344-851: Is the University of Chicago 's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern studies and archaeology museum . It was founded for the university by Egyptology and ancient history professor James Henry Breasted with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller Jr. It conducts research on ancient civilizations throughout the Near East, including at its facility, Chicago House, in Luxor, Egypt . The institute also publicly exhibits an extensive collection of artifacts related to ancient civilizations and archaeological discoveries at its on-campus building in Hyde Park, Chicago . According to anthropologist William Parkinson of

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1408-720: Is the Fuentes- Azaila area, in the Tertiary Ebro Basin. The other is the Calatayud -Teruel Basin, which divides the Iberian Range in two main sectors (NW and SE). The abundance of Aragonese alabaster was crucial for its use in architecture, sculpture and decoration. There is no record of use by pre-Roman cultures, so the first ones to use alabaster from Aragon may have been the Romans, who produced vessels from alabaster following

1472-571: The Aljafería Palace, together with other interesting elements like capitals, reliefs and inscriptions, were made using alabaster, but it was during the artistic and economic blossoming of the Renaissance that Aragonese alabaster reached its golden age. In the 16th century sculptors in Aragon chose alabaster for their best works. They were adept at exploiting its lighting qualities and generally speaking

1536-521: The British Museum , are some of the best known. Gypsum alabaster was widely used for small sculpture for indoor use in the ancient world, especially in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia . Fine detail could be obtained in a material with an attractive finish without iron or steel tools. Alabaster was used for vessels dedicated for use in the cult of the deity Bast in the culture of the ancient Egyptians, and thousands of gypsum alabaster artifacts dating to

1600-617: The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels , dedicated in 2002 by the Los Angeles, California, Archdiocese . The cathedral incorporates special cooling to prevent the panes from overheating and turning opaque. The ancients used the calcite type, while the modern Los Angeles cathedral employs gypsum alabaster. There are also multiple examples of alabaster windows in ordinary village churches and monasteries in northern Spain. Calcite alabaster, harder than

1664-568: The Ebro Valley in Aragon , Spain , which has the world's largest known exploitable deposits. According to a brochure published by the Aragon government, alabaster has elsewhere either been depleted, or its extraction is so difficult that it has almost been abandoned or is carried out at a very high cost. There are two separate sites in Aragon, both are located in Tertiary basins. The most important site

1728-649: The English Reformation the making of altarpiece sets was discontinued, but funerary monument work in reliefs and statues continued. In addition to the carvings still in Britain (particularly the Nottingham Castle Museum , British Museum , and Victoria and Albert Museum ), trade in mineral alabaster (other than the antiques trade) is ongoing as far afield as the Musée de Cluny , Spain, and Scandinavia. Alabaster

1792-502: The Field Museum , the ISAC's highly focused "near Eastern, or southwest Asian and Egyptian" collection is one of the finest in the world. In the early 20th century, James Henry Breasted built up the collection of the university's Haskell Oriental Museum, which he oversaw along with his field work, and teaching duties. He dreamed, however, of establishing a research institute, "a laboratory for

1856-548: The Middle Ages the craft of alabaster was almost completely forgotten. A revival started in the mid-16th century, and until the beginning of the 17th century alabaster work was strictly artistic and did not expand to form a large industry. In the 17th and 18th centuries production of artistic, high-quality Renaissance-style artifacts stopped altogether, replaced by less sophisticated, cheaper items better suited for large-scale production and commerce. The new industry prospered, but

1920-537: The National Museum of Iraq during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq . In April 2003, it was forcibly wrenched from the case where it was mounted, snapping at the base (the foot of the vase remaining attached to the base of the smashed display case. The vase was later returned during an amnesty to the Iraq Museum on 12 June 2003 by three unidentified men in their early twenties, driving a red Toyota vehicle. As reported by

1984-570: The Oriental Institute, Chicago , showed significant damage (as of the day of return, 12 June 2003) to the top and bottom of the vessel. The fully restored Warka Vase (museum number IM19606) is now on display in the Iraq Museum. Alabaster Chemically, gypsum is a hydrous sulfate of calcium , whereas calcite is a carbonate of calcium. As types of alabaster, gypsum and calcite have similar properties, such as light color, translucence, and soft stones that can be carved and sculpted ; thus

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2048-495: The 14th and 15th centuries the carving into small statues and sets of relief panels for altarpieces was a valuable local industry in Nottingham , as well as a major English export. These were usually painted, or partly painted. It was also used for the effigies, often life size, on tomb monuments , as the typical recumbent position suited the material's lack of strength, and it was cheaper and easier to work than good marble. After

2112-610: The Epigraphic Survey, which documents and researches the historical sites in Luxor. It also manages conservation at various sites. In 2006, the Oriental Institute was the center of a controversy when a U.S. federal court lawsuit sought to seize and auction a valuable collection of ancient Persian tablets held by the museum. The proceeds were to compensate the victims of a 1997 bombing in Ben Yehuda Street , Jerusalem, an attack which

2176-653: The Greek and Egyptian models. It seems that since the reconstruction of the Roman Wall in Zaragoza in the 3rd century AD with alabaster, the use of this material became common in building for centuries. Muslim Saraqusta (Zaragoza) was also called "Medina Albaida", the White City, due to the appearance of its alabaster walls and palaces, which stood out among gardens, groves and orchards by the Ebro and Huerva Rivers. The oldest remains in

2240-503: The Oriental Institute. Fundamental to the implementation of his plan was a research trip through the Middle East, which Breasted had optimistically suggested was ready to receive scholars again after the disturbances of the war. Breasted received a reply from Rockefeller pledging $ 50,000 over five years for the Oriental Institute. Rockefeller also assured University of Chicago president Harry Pratt Judson that he would pledge another $ 50,000 to

2304-404: The Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa, abbreviated as ISAC. The institute's new logo features a lotus flower , which is found in ancient Assyrian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian art, as well as being a decorative motif on the ISAC building. The ISAC Museum has artifacts from digs in Egypt , Israel , Syria , Turkey , Iraq , and Iran . Notable works in the collection include

2368-524: The United States claimed was funded by Iran. The ruling threatened sale of an invaluable collection of ancient clay tablets, held by the Oriental Institute since the 1930s, but owned by Iran. The Achaemenid (or Persepolis ) clay tablets were loaned for study to the University of Chicago in 1937. They were uncovered in Persepolis, Iran by American archaeologists from the university in 1933 and are legally

2432-496: The cause. The University of Chicago contributed additional support, and in May 1919 the Oriental Institute was founded. The institute is housed in an unusual Art-Deco / Gothic building at the corner of 58th Street and University Avenue, which was designed by the architectural firm Mayers Murray & Phillip . Construction was completed in 1930, and the building was dedicated in 1931. German American sculptor Ulric Ellerhusen designed

2496-466: The daily rations of barley given to workers in nearby regions of the empire. The tablets were sent to the capital to provide a record of what they were paying workers. Gil Stein , former director of the Oriental Institute, said that details largely concern food for people on diplomatic or military missions. Each tablet is about half the size of a deck of playing cards and has characters of a dialect of Elamite , an extinct language understood by perhaps

2560-795: The evolution of alabaster use after World War II are Volterran Umberto Borgna , the "first alabaster designer", and later on the architect and industrial designer Angelo Mangiarotti . Gypsum alabaster is a common mineral, which occurs in England in the Keuper marls of the Midlands , especially at Chellaston in Derbyshire , at Fauld in Staffordshire , and near Newark in Nottinghamshire . Deposits at all of these localities have been worked extensively. In

2624-408: The famous Megiddo Ivories ; various treasures from Persepolis , the old Persian capital; a collection of Luristan Bronzes ; a colossal 40-ton Lamassu from Khorsabad , the capital of Sargon II ; and a monumental statue of King Tutankhamun . The museum has free admission, although visitors are encouraged to donate. The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa

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2688-496: The finished art pieces retained their natural color. In modern Europe , the centre of the alabaster trade is Florence, Italy . Tuscan alabaster occurs in nodular masses embedded in limestone, interstratified with marls of Miocene and Pliocene age. The mineral is worked largely by means of underground galleries, in the district of Volterra . Several varieties are recognized—veined, spotted, clouded, agatiform, and others. The finest kind, obtained principally from Castellina ,

2752-560: The first volume published in 1956. Erica Reiner as editor-in-charge led the research teams for 44 years. She was succeeded by Martha T. Roth, dean of humanities at the university. Similar dictionaries are under way, including the Chicago Hittite Dictionary and the Chicago Demotic Dictionary . The Institute oversees the work of Chicago House in Luxor, Egypt . The Egyptian facility, established in 1924, performs

2816-450: The gypsum variety, was used in ancient Egypt and the wider Middle East (except Assyrian palace reliefs ), and also in modern times. It is found as either a stalagmitic deposit from the floor and walls of limestone caverns , or as a kind of travertine , similarly deposited in springs of calcareous water. Its deposition in successive layers gives rise to the banded appearance that the marble often shows on cross-section, from which its name

2880-406: The historical use and application of alabaster for the production of carved, decorative artefacts and objets d’art . Calcite alabaster also is known as: onyx-marble , Egyptian alabaster , and Oriental alabaster , which terms usually describe either a compact, banded travertine stone or a stalagmitic limestone colored with swirling bands of cream and brown. In general, ancient alabaster

2944-540: The institute. Its role is to investigate the Middle East through landscape archaeology and the analysis of spatial data , including images from many decades of Middle Eastern aerial photography, and survey maps, as well as, modern satellite imagery. In the 2010s, multiple organizations within the U.S. began reconsidering the use of the word " Oriental ," as some scholars felt the word was alienating and that it had changed in popular meaning. In March 2023, University of Chicago administrators announced they would be changing

3008-550: The late 4th millennium BC also have been found in Tell Brak (modern Nagar ), in Syria . In Mesopotamia, gypsum alabaster was the material of choice for figures of deities and devotees in temples, as in a figure believed to represent the deity Abu dating to the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, which is kept in New York. Much of the world's alabaster is extracted from the centre of

3072-456: The local alabaster is known as "Patrick", it has been worked into ornaments under the name of "Derbyshire spar"―a term more properly applied to fluorspar . Black alabaster is a rare anhydrite form of the gypsum-based mineral. The black form is found in only three veins in the world, one each in United States , Italy , and China . Alabaster Caverns State Park , near Freedom, Oklahoma ,

3136-465: The name of the Oriental Institute. Interim director Theo van den Hout said, "[The Oriental Institute] name has caused confusion, often contributing to the perception that our work is focused on East Asia , rather than West Asia and North Africa . Additionally, the word "oriental" has developed a pejorative connotation in modern English." In April 2023, the organization's name changed to the Institute for

3200-422: The needed size ("squaring"), and then are processed in different techniques: turned on a lathe for round shapes, carved into three-dimensional sculptures , chiselled to produce low relief figures or decoration; and then given an elaborate finish that reveals its transparency, colour, and texture. In order to diminish the translucency of the alabaster and to produce an opacity suggestive of true marble,

3264-584: The newly developed craft, artistic work became again possible, chiefly by Volterran sculptor Albino Funaioli . After a short slump, the industry was revived again by the sale of mass-produced mannerist Expressionist sculptures. It was further enhanced in the 1920s by a new branch that created ceiling and wall lamps in the Art Deco style, culminating in participation at the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in Paris . Important names in

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3328-475: The north of modern Iraq , which was used for the Assyrian palace reliefs of the 9th to 7th centuries BC; these are the largest type of alabaster sculptures to have been regularly made. The relief is very low and the carving detailed, but large rooms were lined with continuous compositions on slabs around 7 feet (2.1 m) high. The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal and military Lachish reliefs , both 7th century and in

3392-492: The procession ends at the temple area. Inanna , one of the chief goddesses of Mesopotamia and later known as Ishtar in the Akkadian pantheon , stands, signified by two bundles of reeds behind her. She is being offered a bowl of fruit and grain by a nude figure. The en of Uruk dressed in a ceremonial kilt and long belt faces her leading the procession. The Warka Vase was one of the thousands of artifacts which were looted from

3456-538: The property of the National Museum of Iran and Iran's Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts . The artifacts were loaned for study based on the understanding that they would be returned to Iran, which the OI had done in batches over the years. The tablets, from Persepolis , the capital of the Achaemenid Empire , date to about 500 BCE . The tablets give a view of daily life, itemizing such elements as

3520-495: The reduced need for skilled craftsmen left few of them still working. The 19th century brought a boom to the industry, largely due to the "traveling artisans" who offered their wares to the palaces of Europe, as well as to America and the East. In the 19th century new processing technology was also introduced, allowing for the production of custom-made, unique pieces, as well as the combination of alabaster with other materials. Apart from

3584-667: The same place and time. This was the case with small flasks of the alabastron type made in Cyprus from the Bronze Age into the Classical period. When cut into thin sheets, alabaster is translucent enough to be used for small windows. It was used for this purpose in Byzantine churches and later in medieval ones, especially in Italy . Large sheets of Aragonese gypsum alabaster are used extensively in

3648-422: The statues are immersed in a bath of water and heated gradually—nearly to the boiling point—an operation requiring great care, because if the temperature is not regulated carefully, the stone acquires a dead-white, chalky appearance. The effect of heating appears to be a partial dehydration of the gypsum. If properly treated, it very closely resembles true marble and is known as " marmo di Castellina ". Alabaster

3712-482: The stone was quarried. The locality may owe its name to the mineral; though the origin of the mineral name is obscure The "Oriental" alabaster was highly esteemed for making small perfume bottles or ointment vases called alabastra ; the vessel name has been suggested as a possible source of the mineral name. In Egypt, craftsmen used alabaster for canopic jars and various other sacred and sepulchral objects. The sarcophagus of Seti I , found in his tomb near Thebes ,

3776-417: The study of the rise and development of civilization," that would trace Western civilization to its roots in the ancient Middle East. As World War I came toward a close, Breasted sensed an opportunity to use his influence in the new political climate to create opportunities for access to archaeology sites and their study. He wrote to John D. Rockefeller Jr. , and proposed the foundation of what would become

3840-430: The top register depicts the goddess Inanna accepting a votive offer. Inanna stands at the front portion of the gate surrounded by her richly filled shrine and storehouse (identifiable by two reed door poles with dangling banners). This scene may illustrate a reproduction of the ritual marriage between the goddess and Dumuzi , her consort that ensures Uruk's continued vitality. The vase depicts an example of hierarchy being

3904-503: The tympanum, titled East Meets West . Figures from the East include a lion, Zoser , Hammurabi , Thutmose III , Ashurbanipal , Darius the Great and Chosroes ; the West is portrayed by a bison and Herodotus , Alexander the Great , Julius Caesar , a crusader , an excavator, and an archeologist. In the 1990s, Tony Wilkinson , founded the 'Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes' based at

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3968-481: The vegetation in the Tigris and Euphrates delta, such as the natural reeds and cultivated grain. Above this vegetation is a procession of animals, such as ram and sheep presented in a strict profile view. The procession continues in the second register with nude males carrying bowls and jars of sacrificial elements, such as fruit and grain. The top register is a full scene, rather than a continuous pattern. In this register,

4032-406: Was coined by J. H. Breasted, who popularized the connection of the rise of civilization in the Near East with the development of European culture. In 2011, among other projects institute scholars completed publication of the 21-volume Chicago Assyrian Dictionary , a basic cultural reference work. The effort was begun in 1921 by J. H. Breasted, and continued by Edward Chiera and Ignace Gelb , with

4096-459: Was the Sacred Vase of Warka, regarded by experts as one of the most precious of all the treasures taken during looting that shocked the world in the chaos following the fall of Baghdad. Broken in antiquity and stuck together, it was once again in pieces. Soon after the vase's return, broken into 14 pieces, it was announced that the vase would be restored. A pair of comparison photographs, released by

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