LaVerne,
California
The
Lost Sons of Afghanistan - the ousted souls of war who kept a dream
alive fromfar corners, are uncovering their paperwork, packing
their bags, and heading home to do for their country or their cause
what they have been working for over twenty three years - to save,
restore and return Afghanistan's plundered antiquities back to the
country.
What
was not blown to bits from twenty years of war, exists in the dark
cellars and long hallways of other countries' private mansions and
museums. The museum of Kabul is now a cracked skull in a dusty desert
- all its years of knowledge perhaps lost forever, no redemption.
In
order to delve into the deeply secretive world of the underground Afghan
antiquities trade, Notes from the Road has concocted a fictional art buyer.
Isabella De Lasantos - curator of a private museum in Manila - feisty,
with an unlimited budget, and a cunning for dealmaking. De la Santos existed
for months only in the imaginations of illicit trade dealers.
It's
a brisk fall morning in the Inland Empire - that vast tract of everything
east of Los Angeles. A big day for unassuming University of LaVerne. Jonathan
Reed, lead archaeologist at the Palestine site of Sepphoris is speaking
at the LaVerne's Auditorium. He has just co-authored a work on the relevance
of archaeology to a people. Excavating Jesus, focusing on biblical archaeology,
seeks to redefine the historical figures of the bible in a scientific
manner.
Sepphoris,
a long abandoned Jewish settlement on the Sea of Galilee, is important
to archaeology - and all that it represents; religion, culture, history
and future - because it is a representation of a Roman-ruled town from
the time of Jesus.
Dr.
Reed understands the impact of old rocks on a modern society. I catch
up with him after his speech, and ask if it is conceivable for a country
whose most urgent needs are food and aid to already begin discussing the
rebuilding of a museum.
