On October 27, 2016, Neil Silberman gave a lecture at the Parthenon entitled, “Rebooting Antiquity: How Holy Wars, Media Hype, and digital Technologies Are Changing the Face of 21st Century Archaeology.”
Silberman’s main focus was on the need to “reboot” archaeology.
In the past, distinct borders, national costume, and national cuisine were valued. As cultures have conquered or intermingled with one another, those defining characteristics have become blurred. People have lost the ability to see how interconnected past and present cultures are, and antiquities are no longer valued or protected. He gave the example that the Holy Wars have played a big part in the destruction of Middle Eastern antiquities. Though not always caused by war, this type of mindless destruction is happening all over the world. There has also been a mindset shift caused by movies like Indiana Jones, and we have been trained to see archaeology as a treasure hunt. These factors are precisely why Silberman claimed we needed to “reboot” antiquity. He claimed that rather than just finding artifacts to collect, we should be finding new meaning in things we have already found. Silberman said, “The important thing is not the object but rather the process of involving people in the past.”
As I sat in the Parthenon surrounded by beautiful replicas of ancient antiquity, this idea that all culture is interconnected became real to me. It is because of the fact that the culture of ancient Greece is directly intertwined with 21st century Nashville that we must be involved in reviving the past.