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May 26, 2020, Filed Under: Archives Updates

PASP Semester in Reflection, Spring 2020

By Jared Petroll

Working with Dr. Palaima through my apprenticeship introduced me to parts of the research process that I had previously not been exposed to. Above all, I realized the collaborative nature of scholarship. In history, the genius of an academic discovery is often attributed to a single person, with the implication that they possessed a sort of superhuman intelligence that distinguished them from others. I now understand that this is far from the truth. Discovery is preceded by hours and hours of careful data collection, consultation, and collaboration with other experts in the field. Moreover, the great foundational scholars of a field are often in communication with each other rather than apart. This is important. It means that one does not have to publish transformative work to do good work and contribute to the knowledge base in any field.

Mycenaean Seals on Arachne

Some of my work entailed looking through Arachne, an online database of seals, seal impressions, and signet rings of the Aegean area in the second millennium BCE that Dr. Palaima introduced me to. Arachne is affiliated with the University of Cologne in Germany. I also used the Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel (CMS), which provides more specific descriptions of the seals. While translating German was difficult, I enjoyed it, realizing how much I was limiting myself by reading things exclusively in my native language. For someone who has never left the U.S., the activity broadened my perspective and reminded me of how the scholarship is a global phenomenon.

Navigating Arachne led me to a particular iconograph, the seated lady, and its presence across multiple art forms. Thought to be a goddess or female of distinguished status within the main cultures of the Aegean area roughly 1850-1000 BCE, the seated lady appears on mirrors, signet rings, wall paintings, and other mediums. Whether these individual images refer to the same person is an open question that still intrigues me now. The iconograph appears in images that possess other clues that refer to their religious significance. These include tripartite shrines, horns of consecration, and sacred birds. I became interested in how these symbols came together and interacted to convey a greater meaning to the viewer because it shows how imagery was used to convey ideas, much like today.

Archiving the Emmett L. Bennett Jr. Collection

One of my favorite experiences was working with PASP’s Emmett Bennett Collection. In order to understand the importance of archival research in scholarship, I was tasked with cataloging detail photos of Linear B signs from the Knossos Tablets. This process included:

  • Assigning each photo an individual catalog number
  • Entering the appropriate tablet IDs, photograph reel and shot numbers, and descriptive data into a spreadsheet
  • Properly handle and store them in mylar sheets and archival containers

With the PASP archivist, I also devised cataloging guidelines for this work to continue in the future. While approximately 200 photographs were archived so far, many more remain.

In this leg of my research, the role that archivists play in organizing, itemizing, and describing primary documents became apparent. Absolutely focused attention to detail was required. Taking notes as I progressed was essential. I also learned how archivists had to interpret as well as document the material they worked with in order to examine and explain its relevance to modern scholarship. While the work was meticulous, I became extremely interested in the photos. Since the images were from the mid 1950s the script was only recently deciphered when they were taken. I began to ponder why some signs were subject to more scrutiny than others, whether the images were used in later publications, and if there were any other items in the Bennett Materials that would provide answers to these questions.

 

Detail of Kn Xd 197 tablet taken by Bennett in 1954. One image of two hundred processed thus far. 

Bennett Correspondence Project

When UT shifted to remote learning in March in response to COVID-19, I began compiling a master list of PASP’s correspondence collections, starting with the Emmett Bennett Correspondence Collection. Bennett developed the system for organizing Linear B signs that is still used today, and it was essential for deciphering the script. His letters to Alice Kober, Michael Ventris, and John Chadwick, demonstrate what brilliant minds each were in their own right. Reading their interactions with each other, paired with examining the Bennett’s photos of the Knossos tablets, felt like witnessing the field of Linear B studies come into being firsthand. And again, themes of international collaboration and mutual respect among scholars were stressed.

All in all, the apprenticeship was an experience that helped me grow intellectually and personally, and I am thankful for the opportunities and insights it provided. I got to see the small village of people it took to research a single topic: archivists, professors, graduate students, and specialists across the world interacting with each other to produce something beneficial to society. I am excited about where my interests in the Aegean Bronze Age might lead next, and for who I will get to work with along the way.

Updated on May 26, 2020 by Garrett R. Bruner. garrettbruner@utexas.edu
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PASP Visit Reports

  • Visit Report by Catherine Pratt, Autumn 2022
  • Tom Palaima in Copenhagen, September 2022
  • Visit Report by Susan Lupack
  • Visit Report by Helena Tomas
  • Report on Visit – Regina Dürig and Christian Müller
  • Report on Visit – Flavia Carraro
  • Manolis Stavrakakis and the Treasures of PASP
  • Report on Visit – Dimitri Nakassis
  • Report on Visit – Ruth Palmer
  • Report on Visit – Vassilis Petrakis
  • Report on Visit – Jerry Eisenberg
  • Report on Visit – Jörg Weilhartner
  • Report on Visit – Carlos Varias Garcia
  • Report on Visit – Alison Fell
  • Report on Visit – José Luis García Ramón
  • Report on the Activities at PASP – José Melena

PASP Archives Updates

  • Reminiscences on Mentors
  • Honoring Yves Duhoux: A Tribute
  • Personal and PASPian Perspectives on ‘Mysteries Revisited’ : Alice Kober, John Franklin Daniel, Michael Ventris and Emmett L. Bennett, Jr. as Founders of Scientific Research on Aegean and Cypriote Scripts
  • Linear B Down Under: An Exhibit on Decipherment at Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Bob Dylan and the Next Generations
  • Dylanology I, II, III
  • Brent Davis (University of Melbourne): Syllabotactic Analysis of Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic
  • MASt@CHS Spring Seminar, April 16, 2021: Summaries and Discussion
  • Winter 2021 MASt@CHS report with contributors Michele Mitrovich & Jared Petroll
  • Islands of the Blessed
  • All Bennett Correspondence Now Online – A Report
  • Journey to Alice – Exploring the blanks of Alice Kober’s life within creative writing
  • The MASt@CHS project
  • This is Retaliation, Not Justice: Speaking Out After 9-11-2001 by Tom Palaima
  • “Ciphers”, a new play by Bernadine Corrigan about Michael Ventris and Alice Kober, with introduction and suggested background readings by Tom Palaima and an excerpt chosen by the playwright
  • A Love Letter to Cyprus and Its Coffee by Cassie Donnelly
  • Commemorating John Chadwick’s 100th Birthday by Tom Palaima
  • PASP Semester in Reflection, Spring 2020
  • PASP Publications Page Update
  • Tom Palaima – Emmett Bennett Correspondence Online
  • Updates to PASP Publications Index
  • Stanley Lombardo visits PASP and University of Texas
  • Michele Mitrovich Awarded AHEPA Scholarship
  • On the Trail of Cypro-Minoan by Cassandra Donnelly
  • PASP featured in SAA Archival Outlook May/June 2019
  • Summer Travels Recap. 2019.
  • Clay Time: A Workshop in Late Bronze Age Scripts. By Cassandra Donnelly
  • Archivist: A Connective Branch in the PASP Ecosystem by Sarah Buchanan
  • A Semester in Review by Zoé Thomas
  • The Phaistos Disk: A New Way of Viewing the Language behind the Script
  • “Beauty in clay: Aesthetics and script in Mycenaean Greece” by Dimitri Nakassis
  • CREWS Fellowship Awarded to PASP Researcher and Classics PhD Candidate Cassandra Donnelly
  • William C. Brice – Scripta Minoa III Correspondence Now Online
  • Aegean Scholarship at UT accessible at Texas ScholarWorks by Kevin S. Lee
  • Paintings and Poetry in Linear B – The Nikos Samartzidis Collection
  • William C. Brice Collection material online
  • Visit Report by Regina Dürig and Christian Müller
  • “Dear Bennett, Dear Miss Kober” by Kevin Lee
  • Emmett L. Bennett – Correspondence Online

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  • Reminiscences on Mentors
  • Honoring Yves Duhoux: A Tribute
  • Personal and PASPian Perspectives on ‘Mysteries Revisited’ : Alice Kober, John Franklin Daniel, Michael Ventris and Emmett L. Bennett, Jr. as Founders of Scientific Research on Aegean and Cypriote Scripts
  • Linear B Down Under: An Exhibit on Decipherment at Macquarie University, Sydney
  • Bob Dylan and the Next Generations
  • Dylanology I, II, III
  • Brent Davis (University of Melbourne): Syllabotactic Analysis of Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic
  • MASt@CHS Spring Seminar, April 16, 2021: Summaries and Discussion
  • Winter 2021 MASt@CHS report with contributors Michele Mitrovich & Jared Petroll
  • Islands of the Blessed
  • All Bennett Correspondence Now Online – A Report
  • Journey to Alice – Exploring the blanks of Alice Kober’s life within creative writing
  • The MASt@CHS project
  • This is Retaliation, Not Justice: Speaking Out After 9-11-2001 by Tom Palaima
  • “Ciphers”, a new play by Bernadine Corrigan about Michael Ventris and Alice Kober, with introduction and suggested background readings by Tom Palaima and an excerpt chosen by the playwright
  • A Love Letter to Cyprus and Its Coffee by Cassie Donnelly
  • Commemorating John Chadwick’s 100th Birthday by Tom Palaima
  • PASP Semester in Reflection, Spring 2020
  • PASP Publications Page Update
  • Tom Palaima – Emmett Bennett Correspondence Online
  • Updates to PASP Publications Index
  • Stanley Lombardo visits PASP and University of Texas
  • Michele Mitrovich Awarded AHEPA Scholarship
  • On the Trail of Cypro-Minoan by Cassandra Donnelly
  • PASP featured in SAA Archival Outlook May/June 2019
  • Summer Travels Recap. 2019.
  • Clay Time: A Workshop in Late Bronze Age Scripts. By Cassandra Donnelly
  • Archivist: A Connective Branch in the PASP Ecosystem by Sarah Buchanan
  • A Semester in Review by Zoé Thomas
  • The Phaistos Disk: A New Way of Viewing the Language behind the Script
  • “Beauty in clay: Aesthetics and script in Mycenaean Greece” by Dimitri Nakassis
  • CREWS Fellowship Awarded to PASP Researcher and Classics PhD Candidate Cassandra Donnelly
  • William C. Brice – Scripta Minoa III Correspondence Now Online
  • Aegean Scholarship at UT accessible at Texas ScholarWorks by Kevin S. Lee
  • Paintings and Poetry in Linear B – The Nikos Samartzidis Collection
  • William C. Brice Collection material online
  • Visit Report by Regina Dürig and Christian Müller
  • “Dear Bennett, Dear Miss Kober” by Kevin Lee
  • Emmett L. Bennett – Correspondence Online