Sammendrag
The turn of this millennium has witnessed a wave of systematic destruction and organized looting of ancient buildings, monuments, archaeological sites and artefacts in the Middle East. War has been taking its toll. Towns and villages are turning into ruins; their inhabitants endure all kinds of hardship and losses. New ruins are being made out of existing ancient ruins that have been there for centuries. Among the most salient examples of recent demolitions are the archaeological sites, monuments and artefacts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Material fragments of bygone cultures are being even more fragmented than they were. Taking the ancient desert city of Hatra in north-west Iraq as my object of study, I discuss the politics and poetics of archaeological remains in borderlands. I make use of a combined archaeological and culture historical approach to explore the place of emotion in contemporary engagements with the past in areas that have recently been exposed to armed conflicts. I examine Hatra through the lenses of sensorial assemblages, and draw upon the notions of aura, presence and resonance to probe the affective power of ruins and archaeological fragments.
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