Catching Up

Apologies for the light posting the last couple of weeks. I've returned from the US and the AALS hiring conference. It seemed to go well, and I was pleased with the response I got from the handful of interviews I had. I am cautiously optimistic about my chances of further interest from the schools I spoke with, but I'm also glad to be back here so I can concentrate on finishing up my thesis.

Enough about me, there was a lot of exciting news while I was away, including:

• This Morning's news that a private investigator has been charged in the theft and recovery of da Vinci's Madonna of the Yarnwinder. That brings the total to five now.
• Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency reports on last Thursday's auction of the Achaeminid limestone relief from the city of Persepolis, in present-day Iran. It's a slanted view of the dispute, which ignores Iran's difficult legal footing. But the unpleasant outcome is the acquisition by an anonymous buyer for $1.2 million USD.
  
• Three paintings worth an estimated $100,000 were stolen from a San Antonio gallery on Sunday.
  
• Germany has finally returned 100 objects to Greece, many of which date back 8,000 years. The objects were stolen in 1985, and recovered in a raid last year. They were seemingly forgotten until a German court ruled in August that they should be returned.
• A number of news outlets have coverage of the antiquities playing cards now issued to US soldiers in the middle east, urging them to take care of the archaeological heritage there.
  
• And most importantly, Princeton has reached a repatriation agreement with Italy. The deal is similar to those reached with the Getty, the Met, and the MFA Boston.