Antiquity Collecting Needs to be Saved

HR 5703, a bill that purports to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk of destruction due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural and other disasters, is really a sneaky attempt to give the archaeology lobby more power. The cultural property zealots' crusade and attempts to circumvent the Law must be stopped in their tracks. Contact your representatives and remind them of this simple fact:

The United States was a participant in the 1970 UNESCO convention dealing with ownership of cultural property.  The implementing law in this country was carefully considered, debated and adjusted prior to its eventual enactment in 1983.  Consequently, CCPIA provides very clear and precise rules for government intervention in the trade of cultural property.  It is, in my opinion, a very well thought out and fair piece of legislation and remains in force today.  Because of CCPIA, unnecessary widespread restrictions on the antiquities trade have been made more difficult.  For that reason, opponents of private collecting have sought by various means to circumvent the letter and intent of the legislation.  It is worth noting that the current calls for trade restrictions or embargos seek action in the form of Executive Order rather than consideration under the prevailing law—where the public has a voice.

Treasure excavated during roadworks

A treasure trove was discovered by Hague archeologists during excavations for a new road. The treasure was found as a large clump of metal in a Roman pot. Once the clump was taken apart, it appeared to contain all kinds of items dating from the Roman period. The items include:

107 Roman silver denari dating from Nero to Marcus Aurelius
3 pairs of silver bracelets
A large silver-plated coat pin
Glass beads probably belonging to a necklace.

This treasure trove has doubled the number of Roman coins found in The Hague. It is possible that somebody buried the treasure on purpose, possibly as an offering or because of impending danger like an attack.

Government Needs Reining in

It is emerging that a State Department Cultural Heritage Center contractor faked the claim that stolen antiquities are ISIS' most important funding source after hot oil , why does the Bureau of Educational and Affairs and State Department leadership allow its own Cultural Heritage Center to engage in such shams? Archeologists seem to have the politicians in their pockets, as news broke last week that  that the archeological lobby is profiting from the ongoing tragedy in Syria by asking Congress to grant the State Department unlimited authority to enrich itself through a permanent grant program!  

What is the Evidence?

What's source of claim that IS got 'hundreds of millions of $ from smuggling antiquities out of Iraq to be sold in Turkey'?

Washington Conspirators Get their Egypt MOU

Scandalously, Egyptian sources are reporting that  a MOU will be signed in early 2015 authorizing blanket import restrictions on Egyptian cultural artifacts.  As Peter Tompa perspicaciously observes, this was obviously a "done deal"even before the Cultural Property Advisory Committee met this summer. Now the ban is coming in, discriminating against US collectors, preventing them from ever owning ancient artefacts from yet another country. This is yet more evidence, if any is needed, that MOUs are prejudged and that proceedings before CPAC are little more than a farce. We are becoming like the countries our State Department partners:

Egypt is now ruled by a military dictatorship which just ran a sham election that anointed General Sissi as Egyptian president. So, if the rule of law is important to our State Department as it is claimed, why does the Bureau of Educational and Affairs and State Department leadership allow its own Cultural Heritage Center to engage in such shams?  These kinds of shenanigans are standard operating procedure in military dictatorships like that in Egypt.  Instead of sinking to that level, our State Department-- which is so fond of lecturing others about the merits of  "Democracy" --should be providing the Egyptians with an example of what the rule of law means.

It is becoming increasingly clear to the collecting community and among the small businesses of the numismatic and antiquities trade that the Cultural Heritage Center is little more than a bureaucratic dictatorship in the service of the archaeological lobby and its crusade against collecting.  No wonder trust in government is at an all time low. 

Glasgow Academic Denies IS Claims

While our own pundits are claiming more and more ridiculous sums of money being made by IS through antiquities, they are keeping quiet about the news that a top Glasgow academic is stressing that there is no evidence that IS is receiving any money at all from antiquity sales. It is all spurious evidence.

Challenging the Crusaders' Myths

Wayne Sayles can always be counted on to expose the lies of the cultural property crusaders. In his latest post of Sunday, November 23, 2014, 'Media rush to judgement challenged', he is as hard hitting and astute as ever.

Chasing Aphrodite blogger Jason Felch surely surprised some in the world of Archaeobloggers and Cultural Property Nationalists when he recently challenged a rash of sensationalized media claims on the part of "scholars" and "experts".   The topic of this latest "meme" is the funding of terrorism and specifically of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.   A "sandstorm" of pronouncements in various media have claimed that the sale of antiquities looted by ISIS is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, second only to their revenues from looted oil.  While the evidence of ISIS looting and/or intentional destruction of cultural property is undeniable, the connection to ISIS funding through the sale of antiquities is far more spurious. That evidence is conspicuously lacking and the trade is essentially devoid of material that could conceivably have come through the hands of ISIS.  Are these calls for embargo then strictly for show?  I fear they are not.  They are part of a deliberate long term program of disinformation [...] a not-so-subtle underlying crusade that threatens the very underpinnings of law, order and justice.  

Collectors and dealers need to expose these lies and rein in the extremists that threaten our rights and the very foundations of out great nation. Stop this now.

Treasure hunter finds historic ship with metal detector off Oregon coast

CNN Wires, 'Treasure hunter finds historic ship with metal detector off Oregon coast', November 20, 2014 A man who was trying out his newly-purchased metal detector on the Oregon coast stumbled upon what might be historical artifact.

Seaside resident Ben Hidy said he was just hoping to find some coins when he ventured out to the dunes to try out his new metal detector. However, Hidy said he picked up a reading for “solid iron” and started digging. He and a friend found about 20 feet of wood with metal pieces attached to it buried under the sand. He and an archaeologist who examined it think the wood could be the keel of an old ship. Hidy said his research shows the area where he found the wood was once the tide line in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “I’m still kind of in shock about it, like it really hasn’t set in,” Hidy said. “There is still a lot more to learn about it. We’re gradually learning more every day about it. I really don’t know what to think yet. I want to be excited, but cautious. I don’t want to get too far into it.” Hidy said the archaeologist who examined the discovery will have more specific information soon, including how old the wood may be. If it’s more than 75 years old, the state will claim it as an historical artifact.

Under the Noses of IS

 

A stunning ancient Greek floor mosaic was just excavated in Zeugma, southern Turkey near the Syrian border. It is about 2200 years old and depicts the Nine Muses of Greek arts and sciences, who are said to have inspired all who engaged in those endeavors.  They were the daughters of Zeus, lord of all gods, and Mnemosyne, who represented memory. 

Speaking out

If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood

and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education,

the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence. . . . 

Such, in my opinion, is the command of the Constitution.

— Justice Louis Brandeis