The Source of the Problem

"The problem, of course, is that the State Department cultural bureaucracy and its enforcers at CBP seem more interested in scoring points with UNESCO, foreign governments and their allies in the archaeological establishment than addressing the legitimate concerns of collectors".

Peter Tompa  Thursday, August 28, 2014

Perversion of American Law by Radicals

American legislation was purposefully laced with protections against the wholesale embargo of cultural property.  With those specific protections in place, few could argue that such a carefully weighed restriction on transfer of cultural property (under the agreed conditions) would be anything but a fair and logical response.  If there are "reasonable grounds" to assume that an object came illegally out of Syria, then it should not be migrating out of Syria, even in an attempt to preserve it — an odd paradox to say the least, but that is the law (or regulation). [...]   The ancient coin collecting community respects and supports CCPIA.  Sadly, archaeologists do not.  Instead, they support the bureaucratic perversion of this law boldly criticized by a wide range of knowledgable and respected scholars and private citizens—including some who have worked within the very bureaucratic system that has perverted it. Unfortunately, the protective language against overreach in CCPIA has been stripped of its contextm by administrative procedure.  [...] Collectors represent an entire class of dedicated, capable and law abiding people who are among the world's best ambassadors for cultural understanding and tolerance.  Sadly, to many of them, the rule of law is becoming a paper tiger subject to selective enforcement and administrative nullification.  If this is indeed a sign of the times, the road ahead will a difficult journey.

More here.
 

When Egypt was a land of three faiths and one god

The British Museum in London is co-organising an exhibition next year with the State Museums Berlin about the Jewish, early Christian and Muslim communities of Egypt from the Roman to early Medieval periods. “One God: Three Religions on the Nile” will include sculpture, architectural fragments, jewellery, textiles and manuscripts from the museums’ collections together with loans from other institutions to tell the story of the three faiths in Egypt between 30BC and AD1200. The theme of politics and religion will inevitably present parallels with the Middle East today. The exhibition will chronicle the last centuries of pagan religion under Roman rule, the rise of Christianity—the dominant religion by the fifth century—and the arrival of Islam after the Arab conquest of the seventh century. At the British Museum, the exhibition is sponsored by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

Archaeology and Dictatorship

As wild claims continue to be made about alleged connections between Western collectors and Middle Eastern terrorists, there has been far too little academic interest about the far more direct and verifiable links between dictatorships and archaeologists. Certainly, prominent American archaeologists acted as apologists for Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and more recently they also have supported a proposed import ban on cultural goods on behalf of Egypt's generals

Peter Tompa rightly argues that there is a great need for some interest in this important topic. The connection between retentionist dictatorial regimes and the archeological lobby is leading to regrettable restrictions on the ability of ordinary Americans to gain access to common historical artifacts. This in turn has also:

skewed our view of history as these regimes select what parts of the archaeological record to highlight or even erase to suit their nationalistic purposes.

Anti-Collectors Taking Advantage of a Bad Situation in Syria?

The hard-line archaeological advocacy group Saving Antiquities for Everyone and related groups are taking advantage of the current bad situation in Syria to further their anti-collecting agenda. They have been applauding the UK's new regulations aimed at banning the import of Syrian artifacts and are urging that the US impose similar restrictions on American collectors. Any such restrictions will once again put many minor artifacts at risk for forfeiture though there is no evidence they are the products of recent looting.

And what of the CPIA's process for imposing import restrictions?  Any emergency request must come from the Assad government, not SAFE or the Archaeological Institute of America.  But if there is a valid request that is granted, should any artifacts that are forfeited go back to that murderous regime or should they instead be held in trust by US Institutions for the benefit of the Syrian people until such time the country is again at peace?  Presumably, if recent history is any guide, the repatriationist instincts of SAFE and related groups will demand the return of such artifacts to Assad now, no matter the facts on the ground or the equities of the situation.  But, if so, they won't that only confirm that their ideology is more important than fairness or common sense?

For more, see Peter Tompa's CPO, 'Taking Advantage of a Bad Situation' Wednesday, August 27, 2014

England: Auctioneer Discovers Cobweb-covered Ancient Egyptian Coffin Lid Inside a Wall

A mysterious discovery has been made inside the wall of an English seaside house - the lid of an Egyptian coffin thought to date back 3,000 years. Auctioneer Stephen Drake was assessing the contents of a property after the death of its owner when he found the cobweb-covered relic. It was standing upright in the cavity of an outside wall, complete with painted face and faded hieroglyphics. Mr Drake consulted historians at Cambridge University who said the six-foot-long sarcophagus cover appeared to date from 700 BC. But how it came to reside inside the modest address which was being renovated in Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex remains a mystery.

Read more.

Alexander the Great-Era Tomb Will Soon Reveal Its Secrets

As archeologists continue to clear dirt and stone slabs from the entrance of a huge tomb in Greece, excitement is building over what excavators may find inside. The monumental burial complex — which dates back to the fourth century B.C., during the era of Alexander the Great — is enclosed by a marble wall that runs 1,600 feet (490 meters) around the perimeter. It has been quietly revealed over the last two years, during excavations at the Kasta Hill site in ancient Amphipolis in the Macedonian region of Greece. Excavators recently unearthed the grand arched entrance to the tomb, guarded by two broken but intricately carved sphinxes.

Read more  [See Photos of the Excavation's Progress]

Boy finds 10,000-year-old arrowhead on beach

A boy playing on a New Jersey beach has unearthed a 10,000-year-old arrowhead possibly used by ancient Native Americans to spear fish or hunt mastodon. Ten-year-old Noah Cordle and his family were vacationing on the Long Beach Island last week when he found it at the edge of the surf in the community of Beach Haven. It was sharp enough that it hurt as it hit his leg. He thought it was a crab until he picked up the object. The Springfield, Virginia family contacted the Archaeological Society of New Jersey to check it out.
Read more.

Scythian Gold in Limbo: The US can Help

Carol J. Williams, reporting for the Los Angeles Times ('Dutch museum perplexed over where to return borrowed Crimea goldCrimean gold artifacts' 20th August 2014) discusses a European case of clash of interests. Amsterdam's Allard Pierson Museum borrowed from several museums in Crimea, then in Ukraine, some ancient Scythian artifacts for an exhibition "Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea" which they were mounting. But that was before the territory was seized and annexed to Russia after a widely condemned independence referendum virtually held at gunpoint. Russia's claim to Crimea hasn't been recognized by any country, and its forcible change of Ukraine's border has brought international condemnation  but as yet no backing for a military reversal of Putin's fait accompli. Now that the exhibition has run its course, the museum is in a quandary, who owns Crimean gold borrowed before annexation?  

"The Allard Pierson Museum has decided (for the time being) to not make a decision as to which of the parties the disputed objects should be handed over to,” reads a museum communique issued Wednesday. The museum will abide by any ruling by a court or arbitrator, or an agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian governments, the statement says in announcing that the museum is keeping the disputed treasures in Amsterdam until then. "The disputed objects will be safely stored until more becomes clear," the museum said.

News agency RIA Novosti noted in its report on the museum's quandary that the Ukrainian government had demanded that the gold be returned to Kiev now that the peninsula is claimed by Russia.  The museum is waiting for the decision of a court or arbitrator, perhaps in the meantime the best and safest place for these objects would be in a US museum which could mediate between the two factions?
 

Serious Questions About NY District Attorney's Office's Priorities

The collector-friendly lawyer Peter Tompa has once again blown the whistle on administrative overreach (' Video Raises More Serious Questions About NY District Attorney's Office's Priorities' Cultural Property Observer Monday, August 18, 2014)

A video has surfaced raising further serious questions about the New York DA's decision to give valuable Greek coins to the Greek government rather than to a New York institution or selling them for the benefit of the New York state taxpayer [...] the interests of the New York taxpayer seem to have been entirely forgotten in favor of the interests of Bogdanos' beloved Greece, a foreign power, the Archaeological Institute of America, an organization Bogdanos favors, and their repatriationist agenda [...] put them in a room full of chalk boards, and require them to write, "I work for the New York taxpayer and their interests come first" over and over again-- maybe 200,000 times for each dollar lost to the New York Treasury.

Why has this not been Done?

The Egyptian Military Dictatorship and the archaeological community have argued that import restrictions on cultural goods are necessary to ensure Egyptian cultural artifacts are protected and studied by trained archaeologists. But, if that is so, why after almost a century has elapsed have only 30% of the 5,398 objects that trained archaeologists removed from King Tut's tomb back in the 1920's been studied? The Boy King has made the Egyptian government millions upon millions. So, there should have been plenty of money available to allocate to such an important project. 

Cultural Property Observer We'll Get to It Eventually

Prominent Collector-Dealer Relieved of his Property s.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014 Collector-Dealer Relieved of his Coins:

The US Government has repatriated several valuable coins produced in Greece millenia ago to that country as part of a plea deal agreed to by prominent collector Peter Weiss. There is no suggestion that the coins that have been repatriated were "stolen" from Greece. Rather, it appears that the only basis for their repatriation was that they were produced in ancient cities now located in that modern nation state and that they were on Dr. Weiss' person at the time of his arrest on an unrelated charge. 

The Herakles coin of Dikaia has not been in Greece for at least 150 years as Duncan Finch has pointed out. This piece previously appeared as lot 828 of the first part of the sale of the collection of Clarence Bement of Philadelphia, sold on 28 January 1924 by Naville and Co. in Lucerne, Switzerland. Previous to that, it came from the collection of Sir Hermann Weber, where it appeared as catalogue number 2354. Weber seemingly got it in the late 19th century.

 Peter Tompa asks whether this seizure of private property of not inconsiderable value and its subsequent forced repatriation is an example of "good police work" or rather of "how culture cops can and do use the threat of criminal conviction to force the repatriation of objects with little regard to concepts of private property that are supposed to be enshrined in our Constitution". And he is right.

Mr Tompa also asks what will happen to the coins themselves. I think we all may doubt that the bankrupt, modern nation state of Greece can be a better steward for their care than American collectors.