Early in the morning of Sunday March 18, I took a flight from Amman to New York City, arriving in the mid-afternoon. I came to participate in a symposium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in conjunction with their newly opened exhibition on Byzantium and Islam; I had written a number of entries for the exhibition catalogue. The Museum put me up in a hotel nearby for four nights.
I spent Monday at the museum for a special scholars’ day tour of the exhibit with presentations by a number of scholars. I finally got to see the back side of one of the pots that I wrote the catalogue entry for. It had been on display in the Amman citadel museum in such a way that I could not see it fully.
That evening I had dinner with my cousin Gretchen Morgenson, who is a reporter for the New York Times, and her son.
The symposium was on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 20. I spoke for half an hour about the Destruction of Images in Eighth-Century Palestine. A video of the symposium has been posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8VIKJHvZuI. Or search for Metropolitan Museum Schick.
That day I also had the opportunity to see the museum, especially the newly opened Islamic Art galleries.
I had not been in New York City in years, and I had never spent much time in the city, so I went sight-seeing the next day, Wednesday. I went to the Guggenheim Museum, which was a disappointing waste of time and money, and then to Lower Manhattan, Wall Street and the Battery.
The next morning, Thursday March 22, I went to the American Museum of Natural History; I was able to check email for the first time in several days with the Museum’s free Wi-Fi access. In the afternoon I went to Kennedy Airport for my 5:45 pm flight to Istanbul.
I spent Monday at the museum for a special scholars’ day tour of the exhibit with presentations by a number of scholars. I finally got to see the back side of one of the pots that I wrote the catalogue entry for. It had been on display in the Amman citadel museum in such a way that I could not see it fully.
The back side of the pot
That evening I had dinner with my cousin Gretchen Morgenson, who is a reporter for the New York Times, and her son.
Gretchen Morgenson and me
The symposium was on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 20. I spoke for half an hour about the Destruction of Images in Eighth-Century Palestine. A video of the symposium has been posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8VIKJHvZuI. Or search for Metropolitan Museum Schick.
That day I also had the opportunity to see the museum, especially the newly opened Islamic Art galleries.
I had not been in New York City in years, and I had never spent much time in the city, so I went sight-seeing the next day, Wednesday. I went to the Guggenheim Museum, which was a disappointing waste of time and money, and then to Lower Manhattan, Wall Street and the Battery.
The next morning, Thursday March 22, I went to the American Museum of Natural History; I was able to check email for the first time in several days with the Museum’s free Wi-Fi access. In the afternoon I went to Kennedy Airport for my 5:45 pm flight to Istanbul.
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