MENCAWAR [Mediterranean Network for Cataloguing and Web
Fruition of Ancient Artworks and Inscriptions]: Cataloguing the
ancient South Arabia collection in the British Museum
Project leader: St John
Simpson
Department: Middle East
Project start: January
2007
End date: January 2009
External partners:
Professor A. Avanzini, University of Pisa,
Italy: www.unipi.it/
Dr H. Hayajneh, Yarmouk University, Jordan: http://portal.yu.edu.jo/
Dr Suzy Hakimian, University of St Joseph, Lebanon: http://www.usj.edu.lb/
Project funded by:
The European Union (EU)
Description:
This is a four-way international collaboration
between the British Museum and the University of Pisa (main
partner), Yarmouk University, Jordan and the University of St
Joseph, Lebanon, within a framework referred to as the
Mediterranean Network for Cataloguing and Web Fruition of Ancient
Artworks and Inscriptions [MENCAWAR]. The MENCAWAR network has the
following top-level aims and objectives:
- To disseminate information on ancient Near
Eastern artworks and inscriptions;
- To identify opportunities for further
collaboration between EU members and south basin Mediterranean
countries;
- To foster knowledge among researchers on
the digitisation of ancient artworks and inscriptions in the
Mediterranean region;
- To identify best practices and common
understanding on cataloguing and digitisation processes;
- To create a network with informatics tools
that can be used for cataloguing and extending its application to
inscriptions and other artefact categories beyond ancient South
Arabia;
- To facilitate the digital cataloguing of
artworks and inscriptions;
- To promote cultural heritage.
The specific aims of the partners are to integrate specific
collections into a new web-based corpus of inscriptions and
artworks, offer training on the use of this for the better
understanding of these research areas and collaborate through
regular workshops. As part of this project, the British Museum
therefore aims to fully catalogue and make available its Ancient
South Arabian collection. This is the largest and most important
collection of such antiquities outside Yemen and has been
highlighted through recent temporary and loan exhibitions on the
Queen of Sheba: Treasures from ancient
Yemen (BM 2002; Bowers Museum, 2004).
Objectives:
The specific objectives are:
- To prepare a full catalogue of
the Ancient South Arabia collections in the British Museum,
including new translations of the inscriptions;
- To publish this with full
transliterations and images on the Corpus of South Arabian
Inscriptions website held at Pisa (http://csai.humnet.unipi.it/)
and the BM website as part of Web Merlin
- To publish a printed version of
this handlist, including include relevant parts of the BM archive
dealing with the history of the collection
- To facilitate all of the above
and the collaboration with the MENCAWAR partners through workshops
and other events, including the annual Seminar for Arabian Studies
held at the British Museum in 2007 and 2008, and a final MENCAWAR
workshop to be held at the British Museum in November 2008.
More information:
Download the project brochure
(pdf 5Mb)
News:
The catalogue is now being edited for publication, but online
records are available: