Fragments and Falsehoods: The Papyrus Trade with Roberta Mazza

05/06/25 • 42 min

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Forged provenance, forensic investigations, and placing ancient papyri in dish soap! In this episode, scholar Dr. Roberta Mazza shares tales from the black market papyrus trade, taking us from Egypt to Oxford to Waco, Texas. Listen in as we learn how wealthy collectors have influenced the antiquities trade and forced us to rethink our approach to ancient texts and their contexts. And yes, we do talk about THAT Sappho fragment!

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Trafficking through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul

For the first episode of our season on cultural heritage and legacies of colonialism, we look at the role of messaging apps and social media in the black market antiquities trade. Katie Paul joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss the 'digital underworld' that supports looting and trafficking and her work with ATHAR (Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research). Listen in as Katie tells us how digital networking has transformed the way cultural properties move around the world.

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Communities on Display: Re-centering Egyptian Voices with Heba Abd el-Gawad

What happens when Egyptomania overshadows contemporary Egyptian people? This week Heba Abd el-Gawad joins Chelsea and Melissa to discuss the relationship between modern Egyptian communities and Egyptian antiquities in museums around the world. Listen in as we learn about the work of the Egypt's Dispersed Heritage: Views from Egypt project, how Egyptian voices are being amplified in conversations about decolonizing museums, and the ongoing challenges of that work.