Rare 3,000-year-old golden torc unveiled to the public in Belfast

Rare 3,000-year-old golden torc unveiled to the public in Belfast... by David Young 

The golden torc was dug up in Co Fermanagh four years ago by a local man who at first thought it was a spring from a car engine. It was another two years before Ronnie Johnston figured it was rather more significant after noticing something similar in a treasure hunters’ magazine.  The item was subsequently declared a valuable artifact at a special treasure inquest at Northern Ireland Coroner’s Court and ultimately purchased by Stormont’s Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure.

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Schindler's List Up for Grabs on eBay

The iconic document used by German industrialist Oskar Schindler to safeguard the lives of over 1,000 Jews during World War II, is being sold to the highest bidder on eBay: 

"Don't miss your chance to own a piece of history that has inspired many on the difference one person can make in the face of great danger," reads the description on the item's eBay page. California collectors Gary Zimet and Eric Gazin, who own one of the four known copies of the "Schindlerjuden" roll call, have set an initial asking price of $3 million, but hope to bring in more than five when the auction ends in nine days. "We decided to sell the list on eBay because it has over 100 million worldwide members, and this is a global story," Gazin said when asked by the New York Post why eBay. "There are billionaires using the site, wealthy celebrities."  For the record, the other three copies of the list are located in museums: Two in Israel's Yad Vashem, and another in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum near the National Mall.

Schindler's List Up for Grabs on eBay
 

King David’s Palace Uncovered in the Judean Shephelah

King David's palace Uncovered in the Judean Shephelah ? The IAA press release here

"Two royal public buildings, the likes of which have not previously been found in the Kingdom of Judah of the tenth century BCE, were uncovered this past year by researchers of the Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority at Khirbet Qeiyafa – a fortified city in Judah dating to the time of King David and identified with the biblical city of Shaarayim".

Smithsonian, World's Largest Museum Complex

The Smithsonian, the world's largest museum complex, struggles to protect the 137 million objects in its collection. I wonder how many of the 137 million are on display and how many are locked away never to see the light of day?

Art Loss Register Boss Proposes Levy on Antiquities Sales to Raise Funds for Source Countries

Riah Pryor, "Call for levy on sales of antiquities" The Art Newspaper, 10 July 2013.

A proposed levy on sales of antiquities to raise funds for source countries to help them better protect their heritage has been proposed at an academic conference. Julian Radcliffe, the chairman of the Art Loss Register, made the proposal. “My idea is to make it very modest, say 1%, and only apply it to items worth more than £10,000, so that no one can claim that it is inhibiting trade or is worth trying to avoid, for example by swops, " he says. Conference participants also debated the merits of reviving the partage system, which in the past meant that excavated artifacts were shared between the host country and foreign archeologists and their sponsors through a licensing system.

Peter Lacovara comments: "Brilliant idea! Since the partage system ended, stuff just gets piled up in storerooms to deteriorate, be forgotten and stolen. A legitimate sharing of antiquities with responsible museums would make them available to everyone and the proceeds could help maintain what has been neglected in their countries of origin". 

"Top Macedonian Archeologist Held Over Artifacts Smuggling"

Sinisa Jakov Marusic and Sase Dimovski, "Top Macedonian Archeologist Held Over Artifacts Smuggling" Balkan Insight 15th July 2013

It is being reported today that Macedonia’s chief archeologist Pasko Kuzman, has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the smuggling of antiquities out of the country.  It seems that Kuzman is being questioned for his alleged involvement in an ongoing investigation into the smuggling of valuable icons and archeological artifacts. In fact: 

Several archeologists, employees of the culture ministry and illegal excavators have already been charged with involvement in the case. The archeologists are accused of helping the illegal excavators to determine the price of their artifacts and to find buyers abroad. Around midday on Monday, Kuzman was brought in handcuffs to the investigative judge at Skopje criminal court for questioning.

As head of the Cultural Heritage Protection Office, over the past few years Kuzman oversaw the main archeological digs across the country. If these allegations are true, it would seem that once again it turns out that the archeologists who criticize collectors are far from having their hands clean. Macedonia is notorious as a country which has arrested several American citizens (including two there on humanitarian missions) for possession of ancient artifacts, relatively minor infringements compared with this case.  Now perhaps we see the wider context of the victimization of American travelers. I wonder whether the anti-collecting archeologists will honestly be discussing the Kuzman case on their websites.

Bulldozers at Work Again

Bulldozers at Work Again (Cultural Property Observer):

Just weeks after an international outcry over the the destruction of a Mayan pyramid in Belize, it has been reported that developers have bulldozed another Pre-Columbian era pyramid in Peru, and have damaged up to eleven others at the site. It makes little sense for the US State Department and US Customs to preclude Americans from importing things like Pre-Columbian pottery from Peru when Peruvian authorities can't be bothered to protect such sites from development until AFTER the bulldozers do their work. Peru is another malefactor source country as far as I'm concerned.

Me too. And we have a long-standing MOU with that country restricting the access of US citizens to objects of the global heritage found within the modern borders of Peru, preventing them from looking after and preserving it. Somebody should do something about this.

The Oldest Chinese Script?

Didi Tang, "5,000-year-old primitive writing generates debate in China", The Associated Press July 11, 2013:

Archeologists say they have discovered some of the world's oldest known primitive writing, dating back 5,000 years, in eastern China, and some of the markings etched on broken axes resemble a modern Chinese character. The inscriptions on artifacts found south of Shanghai are about 1,400 years older than the oldest written Chinese language. Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings are words or something simpler, but they say the finding will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture. The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from Mesopotamia, dating back slightly more than 5,000 years. Chinese characters are believed to have been developed independently. Inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces dug out from the Neolithic-era Liangzhu relic site. The pieces are among thousands of fragments of ceramic, stone, jade, wood, ivory and bone excavated from the site between 2003 and 2006, lead archeologist Xu Xinmin said. More here....

Old Kingdom Sphinx Statue from Israel

Archeologists digging in Israel say they have made an unexpected find: the feet of an Egyptian sphinx linked to a pyramid-building pharaoh. The fragment of the statue's front legs was found in Hazor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site just north of the Sea of Galilee. Between the paws is a hieroglyphic inscription with the name of king Menkaure, sometimes called Mycerinus, who ruled Egypt during the Old Kingdom more than 4,000 years ago and built one of the great Giza pyramids. The inscription also includes the phrase, "Beloved by the divine manifestation … that gave him eternal life." Amnon Ben-Tor, one of the Hebrew University archeologists leading the excavations at Hazor, thinks that descriptor could be a clue the sphinx originated in the ancient seat of sun worship, Heliopolis, which is today mostly destroyed, and its ruins neglected and covered up by Cairo's sprawl.

Cultural Treasures in Egypt Threatened by Political Unrest

The insane hatred of radical rioting
ragheads may turn against the world's cultural heritage

Egypt's National Treasures Threatened by Political Unrest

Even before Egypt's military overthrew the Islamist government of President Mohamed Morsi, the country's antiquities were under severe threat from looting and institutional corruption amplified by the political chaos that followed the Arab Spring. So surely they are better off not concentrated in one trouble spot, but safely distributed among collectors who care about their safety? Why can people not see that?

British Museum exhibition examines legend of El Dorado

An exhibition at the British Museum in October will examine the truth behind the legend of El Dorado by displaying objects such as masks made for the mummies of ancestors, ornaments showing humans transformed into bats, jaguars or eagles, and elaborate containers made to hold drugs including coca and peyote. Many of the objects come from the British Museum's own stores, unseen in a lifetime, but more than 200 are borrowed from the Museu del Oro in Bogotá, whose collections include pieces dating back 2,000 years.

However, one of the Colombian museum's greatest treasures will not be coming to London: the Muisca Raft, a tiny gold model showing in intricate detail a new chieftain on the raft being rowed across the lake. It was found by chance by workmen in 1969, not in the lake but in a cave. The only similar model, found in the 19th century, was destroyed in a fire on board a ship in the 1950s as it was traveling on loan to Germany. That disaster will not be repeated: it is forbidden for the newer discovery ever to leave the country.

Maev Kennedy, "British Museum exhibition examines legend of El Dorado" , The Guardian, Thursday 4 July 2013