OXFORD, Miss. – From the sensational Indiana Jones feature films to the animated adventures of Dora the Explorer, archaeology often gets fictionalized and oversimplified for the masses. So when 30 Oxford Middle School students saw real-life artifacts at the University of Mississippi Museum and heard the stories behind them, they were somewhat awestruck.
“I’ve seen these paintings in our textbooks for the past two years,” said Anna Laurenzo, a 14-year-old in Anne Steel’s Latin class at OMS. “Seeing them up close in person is amazing!”
Laurenzo and her classmates visited the museum this week in observance of National Archaeology Day, as promoted by the Archaeological Institute of America. UM’s Department of Classics hosted the day’s events, which included a tour, scavenger hunt at the David M. Robinson collection, Classics Jeopardy and some brief presentations by UM classics students who have recently studied abroad or excavated.
“Dr. James Hardin, chair of the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Culture at Mississippi State University, gave a lecture at Bryant Hall,” said Aileen Ajootian, UM chair and professor of classics. “His lecture, entitled ‘The Monarchy of David and Solomon and New Excavations in Southern Israel,’ revealed the breadth of archaeological investigation in the Mediterranean world.”
Click the thumbnail to enlarge
Steel said she appreciated the classics department’s faculty and students for their interests and time with her students.
“It’s an unparalleled experience, especially because most communities don’t have an exhibit of ancient antiquities,” Steel said. “This means a great deal to my Latin students. It shows them they’ve joined a class of world scholars. Perhaps some of them will even be inspired to enter the field of classics.
“Dr. Ajootian has been a champion of our program, which is the only middle school one in a public school in the entire state of Mississippi.”
During a scavenger hunt at the museum, the students had to find and record information about various pieces of Greek sculpture and paintings. They expressed their own enjoyment of the activities.
“I’ve been to the museum before, but I have not seen the new items on display today,” said Aidan Addington. “It’s pretty fascinating stuff.”
Faridah Salau, 13, was surprised to discover that the ancient Greeks had contact with the Amazons, a legendary community of female warriors.
“I thought it was strange to hear that the people of Greece interacted with people of northern Africa,” Salau said. “My dad’s a historian who always encourages me to embrace the past.”
Andrew Brown and Chris Zhao, both 13, were intrigued by the depiction of horses found on one of the many vases showcased in the collection.
“I like how it gives a different view of the horses than what I’ve usually seen in paintings,” Brown said.
“Yeah, that’s cool,” Zhao said.
A nonprofit organization, the AIA was founded in 1879 and is North America’s oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Working through local societies, its goal is the preservation of the world’s archaeological resources and cultural heritage for the benefit of people in the present and in the future. The AIA has nearly 250,000 members.
For more information on the Archaeological Institute of America, visit http://www.archaeological.org or e-mail them at educationassistant@aia.bu.edu/ For more information about UM’s Department of Classics, go to http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/classics/ or call 662-915-1152.
