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3:00 pm - Daniel Potts talk on Ancient Iran with the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley

March 19, 2023 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Welcome, friends, neighbors, and patrons of the Desmond-Fish Public Library!

The Desmond-Fish Public Library and the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley, as co-sponsors, are pleased to invite you to a talk by Daniel T. Potts, one of the world’s leading experts on the archaeology and history of the ancient Near East.

The talk will be held on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 3 p.m. at the Desmond-Fish library, and is free and open to the public. Kindly register here as soon as possible, as seating is limited.

Daniel Potts is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and History at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.

A Harvard graduate (A.B. 1975, Ph.D. 1980), Professor Potts lives in Garrison with his wife, the noted sculptor and archaeological illustrator, Hildreth Potts (Harvard ABE 1977). Dan and Hildy have lived in Garrison since returning to America from Australia nine years ago.

Professor Potts will reflect upon his engagement with Iran archaeologically, historically, and personally since he first went on an excavation there, 50 years ago, as a Harvard undergraduate. A question and answer period will follow his slide presentation and commentary, and refreshments will be served.

Professor Potts has conducted many excavations in the Near East – and in May, he returns to a dig in Iraqi Kurdistan that he co-directs. He has written scholarly books about Iran, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and is one of three editors of the five-volume Oxford History of the Ancient Near East. For more information about his career, please see his NYU webpage here.

The land now known as Iran was home to some of the oldest civilizations in the world. These remarkable peoples – the Achaemenids (Persians), Seleucids, Parthians, and Sasanians – ruled vast areas prior to the Arab conquest of Iran in AD 651. And ancient Elam fascinates and perplexes historians to this day. Professor Potts will touch upon a few of these periods in Iranian history.

We’re delighted to jointly present this extraordinary event.

Anita Prentice, President, Board of Trustees, Desmond-Fish Public Library

Henrietta W. Lodge, President, Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley

Details

Date:
March 19, 2023
Time:
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Event Category: