In this week’s episode, Ashley shares news of the possible recovery of an ancient herb, long thought lost, called Silphion, which in its day was worth its weight in silver for culinary, medicinal, and abortifacient properties, and Tracey has a 3-for-1 special on art conservation news involving an organogel, a hydrogel and a scoundrel. Tracey’s Piece of Stuff is an aniconic/anthropomorphic goddess stele from the ancient caravan city of Petra, and why it is okay not to label her, and Ashley’s is a medal celebrating canine heroes who brought emergency human medicine hundreds of miles through the Alaskan ice and snow.
Tracey’s Stuff in the News
Tom Seymour, “British Museum Antiquities theft alleged by veteran curator Peter Higgs,” The Art Newspaper, 17 August, 2023 accessed on August 17, 2023 at https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/17/british-museum-antiquities-thief-identified-as-veteran-curator-peter-higgs
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, “Organic Solvents,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed Aug 17, 2023 at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/organsolv/default.html
Technical University of Munich, “Non-toxic, sustainable cleaning agent developed for paintings, “ Phys.org, accessed August 17, 2023 at https://phys.org/news/2023-08-non-toxic-sustainable-agent.html
American Chemical Society, “Rescuing Street Art from vandal’s graffiti,” Phys.org accessed August 17. 2023. https://phys.org/news/2021-04-street-art-vandals-graffiti.html
Giovanna Poggi et al, Nanostructured bio-based castor oil organogels for the cleaning of artworks, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.01.119
Ashley’s Stuff in the News:
Taras Grescoe, “This Miracle Plant Was Eaten into Extinction 2,000 Years Ago—Or Was It?” National Geographic, September 23, 2022, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/miracle-plant-eaten-extinction-2000-years-ago-silphion?loggedin=true&rnd=1692620826685.
“Rediscovering the Miracle Plant of Antiquity with Potential Medicinal Properties,” Greek City Times, August 16, 2023, https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/08/16/rediscovering-the-miracle-plant-of-antiquity-with-potential-medicinal-properties/.
Giovanni Prete, “Miracle Plant Used in Ancient Greece Rediscovered After 2,000 Years,” Greek Reporter, August 13, 2023, https://greekreporter.com/2023/08/13/plant-ancient-greece-rediscovered/.
Tracey’s Piece of Stuff
Peter Alpass, “The Basileion of Isis and the religious art of Nabatean Petra,” Syria, Archéologie, Art et Histoire 81 (2010); 93-113. https://doi.org/10.4000/syria.663
Benjamin Suchard, “An/iconic idol: Stela JP 13483,” Things That Talk, accessed on August 20, 2023 at https://thingsthattalk.net/en/zone/ancient-writing/t/ttt:TtxOsV/stories/an-iconic-idol
Lee Hae-rin, “Jordan’s ancient city of petra demonstrates ancient Nabataeans’ genius,” The Jordan Times, Mar 22, 2023 accessed August 20, 2023 at https://jordantimes.com/news/local/jordans-ancient-city-petra-demonstrates-ancient-nabataeans%E2%80%99-genius
John Ma, “A Journey through the melting pots of the Ancient Middle East,” Apollo: The International Art Magazine, June 10, 2019 accessed August 20, 2023 at https://www.apollo-magazine.com/a-journey-through-the-melting-pots-of-the-ancient-middle-east
Pauline Piraud-Fournet, John D. M. Green, Noreen Doyle, and Pearce Paul Creasman, “The Temple of the Winged Lions, Petra: Reassessing a Nabataean Ritual Complex,” Near Eastern Archaeology 84 (2021): 293-305.
“Nabataean Religion,” Wikipedia accessed August 20, 2023 at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean_religion
Robert Wenning, “Decoding Nabataean Betyles,” Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 29 March – 3 April 2004 1 (2008): 613-619.
Ashley’s Piece of Stuff:
“Medal,” Smithsonian Institute, accessed August 9, 2023, https://www.si.edu/object/medal:nmah_1445140.
“Diphtheria Treatments and Prevention,” Smithsonian Institute, accessed August 9, 2023, https://www.si.edu/spotlight/antibody-initiative/diphtheria.
Foss, Katherine A. Constructing the Outbreak: Epidemics in Media and Collective Memory. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020.
“Diphtheria Treatments and Prevention,” Smithsonian Institute, accessed August 11, 2023, https://www.si.edu/spotlight/antibody-initiative/diphtheria.
Justin Dennis, “Alaskan Sled Dog Balto — Now an Ohio Icon — Is Helping Scientists Better Understand Animal and Human DNA,” Fox 8 News, April 27, 2023, https://fox8.com/news/alaskan-sled-dog-balto-now-an-ohio-icon-is-helping-scientists-better-understand-animal-and-human-dna/.
“New Research Uses One of the World’s Most Famous Dogs:
Museum Icon Balto Contributes to science,” Cleveland Museum of Natural History, April 27, 2023, https://www.cmnh.org/balto-contributes-to-zoonomia-project.
Vignieri, Sacha. “Zoonomia.” Science 380, no. 6643 (2023): 356-7.
Amber Lee Cole, “Cleveland Museum of Natural History Celebrates Balto’s 100th Birthday,” March 2, 2019, https://www.cleveland19.com/2019/03/02/cleveland-museum-natural-history-celebrates-baltos-th-birthday/.
Case Western Reserve University, “Balto,” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, accessed August 11, 2023, https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/balto.
“Nome,” Encyclopedia Britannica, July 28, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Nome-Alaska.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Diphtheria,” September 9, 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/diphtheria/index.html#:~:text=Diphtheria%20is%20a%20serious%20infection,and%20adults%20to%20prevent%20diphtheria.
Picture Credit: Tracey-Anne Cooper. Music Credit: Ashley Bozian