Faculty Collections
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Title
Leonard Gorelick Papers
Collection Number
UA 2138
OCLC Number
In-process
Creator
Leonard Gorelick,1922-2011
Provenance
Donated by Jamie S. Gorelick (daughter) in July 2009.
Extent,Scope, and Content Note
The collection is comprised 5 linear inches of published articles authored and co-authored by Dr. Leonard Gorelick,
an orthodontist who practiced in Great Neck, New York and was a professor of dentistry
at Stony Brook University. Dr. Gorelick worked in collaboration with Dr. A. John Gwinnett,
Associate Professor of Oral Biology and Pathology at Stony Brook University.
Arrangement and Processing Note
The files are organized in chronological order by date of publication. The collection
was processed in 2011 by Kristen J. Nyitray.
Updated in June 2019.
Language
English
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.
Rights and Permissions
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection
does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole
responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials
to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission
where needed prior to publication.
Citation
[Item], [Box], Leonard Gorelick Papers, Special Collections and University Archives,
Stony Brook University Libraries.
Historical Note
Prepared by Jamie S. Gorelick, daughter of Dr. Leonard Gorelick.
Leonard Gorelick, D.D.S., combined a career in dentistry with a passion for science
and art to make significant contributions in the study of technologies used to make
ancient seals and other objects. Dr. Gorelick was born on February 20, 1922. He emigrated
to the United States from Ukraine with his family as a very young child, settling
in Brooklyn, New York, with his parents and his sister Beatrice. Dr. Gorelick attended
Tilden High School and was admitted to Brooklyn College in 1939. He received his
B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1942. Dr. Gorelick served in the Navy at the end of
World War II and again during the Korean War. He attended New York University College
of Dentistry, from which he received his D.D.S. in 1945. He received a Postgraduate
Certificate in Orthodontics in 1950, also from New York University.
Dr. Gorelick married Shirley Fishman on April 4, 1944, and they had two children,
Jamie Gorelick, born in 1950, and Steven Gorelick, born in 1954. Shirley Gorelick
was an artist – a painter, sculptor and teacher – and together they traveled widely
pursuing their mutual interest in art and culture. In the late 1960s, Dr. Gorelick
bought his first ancient cylinder seal which began a life-long interest in these tiny
carved stones. Seals are beautiful artifacts that were used to confirm or ratify
business exchanges from the Neolithic Age forward. When stamped on clay, they tell
a story or denote a person or thing. Dr. Gorelick eventually built one of the world's
best collections of seals, celebrated in a book called "The Mark of Ancient Man: Ancient
Near Eastern Stamp Seals and Cylinder Seals: The Gorelick Collection", accompanying
a show of that name at The Brooklyn Museum, in Brooklyn, New York in 1975. These
seals are now part of the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum (and can be viewed
through the "Images" section of its website). "The Mark of Ancient Man" is in the
Special Collections and University Archives at Stony Brook.
During his long career, Dr. Gorelick combined his interest in the scientific aspects
of orthodonture with his love for and interest in ancient cylinder seals, in which
he became quite expert. The two interests came together as he explored ways of determining
the authenticity, period and utilization of ancient seals using some of the emerging
techniques of dental medicine, particularly electronmicroscopy. Dr. Gorelick was
often consulted by scholars in the field of archeology and was named to the Visiting
Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Ancient Near East Department because
of his work in this area. He co-authored "Ancient Seals and the Bible" (Undena 1983),
with noted scholar Elizabeth Williams-Forte tracing the history and use of ancient
seals, as reflected in the Bible.
From early in his career, Dr. Gorelick combined his orthodontics practice with scientific
pursuits relating to that field and others. He edited the Journal of the Queens County
Dental Society from 1962 to 1974 and was President of the Society from 1960 to 1961.
He was the long-time editor of the Forum of the Long Island Jewish Hillside Medical
Center, with which he was affiliated. And in 1975, he became Associate Professor
in the Department of Children's Dentistry (Orthodontics) at Stony Brook School of
Dental Medicine. It was at Stony Brook that he developed a deep collaboration with
Professor John Gwinnett that lasted over twenty years and produced over forty-five
scholarly papers and countless additional lectures.
An article in the New York Times, on November 15, 1981, described their first decade
of work:
"With an extraordinary scanning electron microscope and the ordinary silicone materials
used to fashion dentures, two professors at the State University's Dental School here
are shedding light on how ancient man transformed stones into works of art and instruments
of commerce." As Dr. Gorelick explains in the article, in the course of working with
the scanning electron microscope on teeth, he and Dr. Gwinnett: "realized that since
we could see so much about what different polishing instruments do to the surface
and differentiate one form of polishing or instrument from another, we might adapt
the procedure for other research."
Since Dr. Gorelick collected ancient cylinder seals, he and Dr. Gwinnett decided to
study them. They found that they could show markings that revealed the seal's "signature"
and what kind of instrument had produced the original drilling and etching. In 1977,
the Metropolitan Museum of Art gave them a grant to study seal forgeries. As Dr.
Gorelick told a Stony Brook publication, "We're finding that an indelible imprint
of the tool's action remains in the object, providing a basis for identification of
the tool." Their work shed light on the industries and lifestyles of ancient cultures.
In 1977, they were the first dentists ever to be invited to address the American Institute
of Archeology. In 1980, Dr. Gorelick became the Conference Coordinator for the Archaeological
Institute's North Shore Society. Over the 1980s and into the 1990s, this work expanded
to include the study of drilled stone artifacts, drilled and finished glass, ancient
Egyptian stone drilling, ancient lapidary, bead-making in Iran in the Bronze Age,
as well as the role of artists with myopia in the creation of highly detailed work
before there were eye-glasses, the history of drills and drilling, forgery determination
techniques, and many other topics.
Subjects
Sealing-wax.
Civilization, Ancient.
Egyptians.
Seals (Numismatics) -- Egypt.
Seals (Numismatics)
Egypt.
INVENTORY
Box 1
Bibliography
Biographical File
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Ancient seals and modern science. Expedition 20: 38-47,
1978.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Ancient lapidary: a study using scanning electron
microscopy. Expedition 22: 17-32, 1979.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Close work without magnifying lenses? Expedition 23:
27-34, 1981.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. The origin and development of the ancient Near Eastern
cylinder seal. Expedition, 23: 17-29, 1981.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Functional analysis of drilling using scanning electron
microscopy. Annali 41: 327-335, 1981.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. An innovative method to investigate the technique
of finishing an ancient glass artifact. J. Glass Studies 25: 249-256, 1983.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. An ancient repair on a cycladic statuette analyzed
using scanning electron microscopy. J. Field. Archeol. 10: 37-38, 1983.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Ancient Egyptian stone drilling: an experimental perspective
on a scholarly disagreement. Expedition 25: 40-47, 1983.
Gorelick, L. Ancient seals and the Bible. Undena Press. Malibu, Ca.: 1-6, 1983.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick. The change from stone drills to copper drills in bronze
age Mesopotamia: an experimental perspective. Expedition 29: 15-24, 1987.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Further investigation of the method of manufacture
of an ancient near eastern cast glass vessel. Iraq 68: 15-18, 1986.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Evidence for the use of a diamond drill for bead making
in Sri Lanka c. 700-1000 A.D. SEMI: 473-477, 1986.
Gorelick, J. and Gwinnett, A.J. Life and death of the tooth worm theory or when I
believe it, I will see it. N.Y. State Dent. J.53: 21-25, 1987.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. History of drills and drilling. N.Y. State Dent. J. 53:
35-39, 1987.
Rounded triangles: reconsidered archaematerials, 1990.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Experimental evidence for the use of a diamond drill
in Sri Lanka, ca. A.D. 700-1000. Archaeomaterials 1: 149-152, 1987.
Heimpel, W., Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Philological and archaeological evidence
for the use and importance of emery in the bronze age. J. Cuneiform Stud. 40: 195-210,
1988.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. A possible lapidary training piece from Arikamedu,
India. Archaeromaterials 2: 187-193, 1988.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J.: "Collars" in holes of ancient near eastern cylinder
seals. Archaeomaterials 36: 39-46, 1989.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Evidence for mass production polishing in ancient
bead manufacture. Archaeoinaterials 3: 163-168, 1989.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. The ancient near eastern cylinder seal as social emblem
and status symbol. J. Near East. Stud. 49: 45-56, 1990.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Innovative lapidary craft techniques in neolithic
Jarmo. Archaeomaterials 4: 25-32, 1990.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Bead manufacture at Hajar ar-Rayhani, Yemen. Biblical
Archaeologist 54: 187-196, 1991.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Technical mutations in drilling. Akkadica 74: 37-48,
1991.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Beads, scarabs and amulets: methods of manufacture
in ancient. Egypt. J. An. Res. Cent. 30: 125-132, 1993.
Harper, P.O., Skjaervo, P.O., Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. A seal-amulet of the
Sasarian era: imagery and typology, the inscription and technical comments. Bulletin
Asia Institute, new series 6: 1992.
Gwinnett, A.J., Gorelick, L., Romano, J. The broken and repaired stone statuette of
Pepy I: an ancient or modem repair? Bulletin Egyptian Seminar 2: 1991-1992.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Minoan versus Mesopotamia seals. Iraq LIV: 1992.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A. J. Evidence for technological improvements in ancient
seal manufacture. PACT 23: 13, 1990-1993.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Forgery determination by functional analysis. Materials
Research Society Symposium Proceedings 267: 1992.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Rates of drilling as an indicator of technological
change in ancient lapidary. 1991 (unpublished).
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A. J. An unusual group of iron seals from Luristan?: preliminary
findings. N.D.
Noveck, Madeline, and Leonard Gorelick. The Mark of Ancient Man: Ancient Near Eastern
Stamp Seals and Cylinder Seals: the Gorelick Collection. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum,
1975. (separation note: cataloged for Archives)
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Diamonds from India to Rome and Beyond. American Journal
of Archeology 92: 547-552, 1988.
Gorelick, L. Near eastern cyclinder seals studied with dental radiography. Dental
Radiography and Photography 48 no. 1: 17-21, 1975.
Appendix: Bibliography
Note: an asterisk (*) denotes that this article was donated to Stony Brook University
Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives.
Gorelick, L. Near eastern cylinder seals studied with dental radiography. Dental Radiography
and Photography 48 no. 1: 17-21, 1975.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Ancient seals and modern science. Expedition 20: 38-47,
1978. *
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Ancient lapidary: a study using scanning electron
microscopy. Expedition 22: 17-32, 1979.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Inlayed teeth of ancient Mayans: a tribologic study
using the SEM. SEM, Inc. II: 575-580, 1979.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Functional analysis of drilling on ancient near eastern
seals. SEM, Inc. I: 405-410, 1979.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. An ancient repair on a cycladic statuette analyzed
using scanning electron-microscopy. American Journal of Archeology 85: 196, 1981.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Bead making in Iran in the early bronze age. Expedition 24:
10-23, 1981.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. A discussion of close work without magnifying lenses. Expedition 23:
15-16, 1981.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Close work without magnifying lenses? Expedition 23:
27-34, 1981.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. The origin and development of the ancient near eastern
cylinder seal. Expedition 23: 17-29, 1981.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Functional analysis of drilling using scanning electron
microscopy. Annali 41: 327-335, 1981.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Authenticity analysis of two stone statuettes in the
Mildenberg collection. M.A.S.C.A. 2: 88-90, 1982.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. An innovative method to investigate the technique
of finishing an ancient glass artifact. J. Glass Studies 25: 249-256, 1983.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. An ancient repair on a cycladic statuette analyzed
using scanning electron microscopy. J. Field. Archeol. 10: 37-38, 1983.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Ancient Egyptian stone drilling: an experimental perspective
on a scholarly disagreement. Expedition 25: 40-47, 1983.*
Gorelick, L. Ancient seals and the Bible. Undena Press. Malibu, CA: 1-6, 1983.*
Gwinnett,A.J. and Gorelick, L. Seal manufacture in the lands of the Bible. Undena
Press, Malibu, CA: 44-49, 1983.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. The change from stone drills to copper drills in bronze
age Mesopotamia: an experimental perspective. Expedition 29: 15-24, 1987.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Did the ancient Egyptians used fixed-cutting-points
for drilling - a scholarly dispute resolved.American Journal of Archeology 87: 237,
1983.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. The sculpted coiffures of Flavian women, a functional-analysis
using scanning electron-microscopy. American Journal of Archeology 90: 185, 1986.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Further authenticity analysis of statuettes similar
to those in the Mildenberg collection. Archaeoinetry Proceedings, 24th Meeting: 63-72,
1986.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Further investigation of the method of manufacture
of an ancient near eastern cast glass vessel. Iraq 68: 15-18, 1986.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Evidence for the use of a diamond drill for bead making
in Sri Lanka c. 700-1000 A.D. SEMI: 473-477, 1986.*
Gorelick, J. and Gwinnett, A.J. The change from stone drills to copper drills in bronze
age Mesopotamia. Expedition 29: 15-24, 1987.
Gorelick, J. and Gwinnett, A.J. Life and death of the tooth worm theory or when I
believe it, I will see it. N.Y. State Dent. J.53: 21-25, 1987.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. History of drills and drilling. N.Y. State Dent. J. 53:
35-39, 1987.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. The sculpted coiffures of Flavian women: a functional
analysis using scanning electron microscopy. Archaeometry 2: 39-46, 1987.
Rounded triangles: reconsidered archaematerials, 1990.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Experimental evidence for the use of a diamond drill
in Sri Lanka, ca. A.D. 700-1000. Archaeomaterials 1: 149-152, 1987.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Diamonds for drilling and engraving in the ancient
world. American Journal of Archaeology92: 261-262, 1988.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. On the value of silicone impressions to the field
archaeologist.. American Journal of Archaeology 92: 262, 1988.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Diamonds from India to Rome and beyond. A.J.A. 92:
547-552, 1988.
Heimpel, W., Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Philological and archaeological evidence
for the use and importance of emery in the Bronze age. J. Cuneiform Stud. 40: 195-210,
1988.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. A possible lapidary training piece from Arikamedu,
India. Archaeromaterials 2: 187-193, 1988.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. "Collars" in holes of ancient near eastern cylinder
seals. Archaeomaterials 36: 39-46, 1989.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Evidence for mass production polishing in ancient
bead manufacture. Archaeoinaterials 3: 163-168, 1989. *
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. The ancient near eastern cylinder seal as social emblem
and status symbol. J. Near East. Stud. 49: 45-56, 1990.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Innovative lapidary craft techniques in Neolithic
Jarmo. Archaeomaterials 4: 25-32, 1990.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Bead manufacture at Hajar ar-Rayhani, Yemen. Biblical
Archaeologist 54: 187-196, 1991.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Technical mutations in drilling. Akkadica 74: 37-48,
1991.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Rates of drilling as an indicator of technological
change in ancient lapidary. Unpublished, 1991.
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Beads, scarabs and amulets: methods of manufacture
in ancient. Egypt. J. An. Res. Cent.30: 125-132, 1993.*
Harper, P.O., Skjaervo, P.O., Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. A seal-amulet of the
Sasarian era: imagery and typology, the inscription and technical comments. Bulletin
Asia Institute, new series 6, 1992.*
Gorelick, L. Bead and scarab manufacturing methods from the Badarian to the Ptolemaic
periods. American Journal of Archeology 96: 355, 1992.
Gwinnett, A.J., Gorelick, L., Romano, J. The broken and repaired stone statuette of
Pepy I: an ancient or modem repair? Bulletin Egyptian Seminar 2: 1991-1992.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Minoan versus Mesopotamia seals. Iraq LIV: 1992.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A. J. Evidence for technological improvements in ancient
seal manusfacture. PACT 23: 13, 1990-1993.*
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Forgery determination by functional analysis. Materials
Research Society Symposium Proceedings 267: 1992.*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. Rates of drilling as an indicator of technological
change in ancient lapidary. 1991 (unpublished).*
Gwinnett, A.J. and Gorelick, L. A comparison of repairs and joinery in ancient Egypt. J.
Am. Res. Egypt 30: 125-132, 1993.
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A. J. An unusual group of iron seals from Luristan?: preliminary
findings. N.D.*
Noveck, Madeline, and Leonard Gorelick. The Mark of Ancient Man: Ancient Near Eastern
Stamp Seals and Cylinder Seals: the Gorelick Collection. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum,
1975. (separation note: cataloged for Archives)
Gorelick, L. and Gwinnett, A.J. Diamonds from India to Rome and Beyond. American Journal
of Archeology 92: 547-552, 1988.*
Gorelick, L. Near eastern cyclinder seals studied with dental radiography. Dental
Radiography and Photography 48 no. 1: 17-21, 1975.*