Spenta Productions

I was surfing around today, looking for the websites that discuss my Professor, David Stronach, for the occasion of his being awarded the AIA Gold Medal. I was one of the speakers at the medal ceremony and therefore, had been interviewed by Archaeology magazine. The interview exists in several places still, I remeber that it happens to still be on the CHN website, for example. As I was looking for the interview to give to my father (because fathers tend to like that kind of thing)...(and I am always willing to oblige) I found this very important website of one of our colleagues, Cyrus Kar, who David had mentioned to me several times as a filmmaker.

I would encourage all of you to please watch the short film on his website, spentaproductions.com There is a link provided on the sidebar. The film is important for several reasons: it broaches the point that the life and times of Cyrus the Great are both poorly-understood in western consiousness. As an early Persian(-Elamite) King, and founder of the Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus was able to conquer and appropriate vast territories of the ancient Middle East. Historical documents record that Cyrus was benevolent and was a humanitarian. The point is that his story is so relevant for our times (vis-a-vis, the US occupation of Iraq).

On the other hand, the story of the filmmaker, Cyrus Kar, and his arrest and detainment in Iraq (during the filming of part of his documentary) should bear witness to the policies of the current administration, and their lack of benevolence and humanitarian behavior.

A picture is worth 1000 words.