Religious Freedom in Egypt Under the Military Dictatorship

Egyptian cultural bureaucrats have pulled the excavation permit of American archaeologists from Brigham Young University because they disagree with the tenants of their Mormon faith.  This is shocking one's religious beliefs (or lack thereof) should never come into play in deciding whether to award excavation permits or not.

So, how will the US State Department, which supposedly promotes religious freedom as a core objective of American foreign policy, respond? And will the 'International Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities' put even 1/10th the effort lobbying the Egyptian Government on behalf of the Brigham Young archaeologists and their religious freedom as it has lobbying the U.S. Government for "emergency import restrictions" on Egyptian cultural goods? Or, will both just shrug, and celebrate the expected announcement of the pre-judged MOU with Egypt in early  2015 as if the country was still a democracy, albeit an imperfect one? If there is any time to rethink a MOU with Egypt, its's now.

German Proposal: The Alarm Bells Should be Ringing Loud

Yet the German proposal could be “a big step,” said Neil Brodie, an antiquities expert at the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research at the University of Glasgow. “You don’t just have to prove something is not guilty, but show that it is innocent.” Do I detect the acrid aroma of:- Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer in all of this? The alarm bells should be ringing loud.

Reconstruction of the Second Temple

A brilliant Reconstruction of the Second Temple, it almost feels as if you were there under the hot sun of the Holy Land:

The Herodian version of the model shows visitors how excavators believe the Temple Mount site appeared prior to its destruction by Roman troops in the year 70 CE. The focus is on the southern portion of the enclosure, and includes reconstructions of Robinson's Arch (an early overpass linking the top of the platform with the major city street below), the Hulda Street gates and passages onto the platform, the Royal Stoa, and the Second Temple. The reconstruction is based on the excavations at the Temple Mount under the direction of Ronny Reich and regional archeologist Gideon Avni. On view at the Davidson Center,

Playing it Straight, Telling the Truth

An English archeologist (archeo-blogger/activist/researcher/journalist) at the center of the anti-collector campaign  has sought fame (if not fortune) as respected DC lawyer and collector Peter Tompa says: 

based on a hyped claim that the terrorists of ISIS made $36 million from looted antiquities in one area of Syria alone. And when that claim fell apart?  Was it time to issue a retraction and an apology to those who were attacked for questioning the claim?  Of course not. Blogging is one thing, but we should all expect more from anyone who also purports to be a "researcher" and a "journalist' and the "news outlets" that publicized this false claim.

Mr Tompa's own widely read "Cultural Property Observer" champions the pursuit of the truth and the longstanding interests of collectors in the preservation, study, display and enjoyment of cultural artifacts opposing the radical "archaeology over all" perspective found in most blogs about cultural property issues. His Web page is a public resource for general information and opinion about cultural property issues, and collectors can be sure that it can be relied upon to present the whole truth about them.  

The Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Act

The English Prime Minister
has good reason to be pleased,
heritage policy is working well.

Wise words indeed from the "Ancient Coins" blog and a useful resource about The Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Act.

Advocates of collectors' rights point to the cultural property laws prevailing in the United Kingdom as being the most effective approach yet devised for effectively reconciling the many disparate, often conflicting goals, interests and concerns of all those interested in discovery and ownership of antiquities. The PAS/Treasure Act scheme is very much in the British tradition of working things out in a practical, cooperative manner whenever possible -- preferably one which attracts a maximum of local interest and support -- as distinguished from a rigid, confrontational approach ending in enforcement by compulsion with significant unresolved grievances and conflicts remaining. The latter approach unfortunately prevails in most other nations.

The ISIS Scaremongering Industry

For several weeks now we have been reading articles by archeologists and journalists that have been giving their far-fetched stories undue credence about how artifact collectors in this country and Europe are allegedly "financing Islamic terrorism". We know that there is not a scrap of evidence for this.  The trade, followed by a growing number of prestigious journalists, are now questioning the entire direction of reasoning here, and the premises on which it is based. They are showing that there is a possibility that the entire "war'' on terrorist funding by antiquities sales is in error. Archeologists are getting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government for their research programs based on these premises, so are unlikely to be questioning them too closely. This is despite the fact that numerous  publications by individuals who have become involved in this controversy indicate the fallacies of their arguments. These dissident articles are, of course, only a tiny fraction of the remarkable outflow of texts unjustly and falsely attacking collectors for their alleged "financial support of terrorist activity".

Nevertheless, the arguments presented against the "collectors-finance-terrorism" hypothesis are sound, although they are difficult to independently evaluate.  Only further manipulation of the few facts keeps the argument alive. In part, there is a lack of direct evidence for any argument. Who has the possibility to go to the region to check for themselves what is going on? The burden of proof is on the "collectors-finance-terrorism" advocates - a burden they have not accepted in a forthright manner. Second, it is increasingly doubtful that the ongoing expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars to chase this chimera is achieving anything useful.  Furthermore, the "collectors-finance-terrorism" hypothesis  is conveniently serving as an excuse for all sorts of social engineering and public misinformation that could not be sustained without a "crisis.'' This emerging travesty indicates the dark inner workings of government and the way in which "consensus building'' has diverted thousands of dollars into the pockets of the consensus builders of the anti-collector industry.

Frau Grutters Helps US Collectors

Archaeologists with an axe to grind against collectors, together with the cultural bureaucrats of failed states and/or dictatorships like Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria are keeping up their campaign of attrition. Under the pretence of  "Stemming a Tide of Cultural Theft" they want to impose increasing, unconstitutional and crippling restrictions on the collector. This is as premediated as it is premature, failing to have twisted the evidence to prove their case. The arguments that antiquities collecting, which fosters international understanding, is in any way responsible for the war in Syria is a false one.

Not that this will in any way deter the frumpy German bureaucrat Monika Grütters, Germany's Commissioner for Culture, from proposing her draconian solution to all the world's ills. Frau Grütters has outlined plans for

a new law that would require documented provenance for any object entering or leaving Germany, long among the laxest of regulators of the art market. Among other measures, dealers would be required to show a valid export permit from the source of the piece’s origins when entering Germany.

As one informed observer points out: "It's unclear how Grütters believes German dealers and collectors are going to come up with documentation that simply does not exist for artifacts that have been traded legally for generations without such paperwork". Of course what will happen is the opposite to the intended effect. Firstly more material will be dug up in order to be brought into Germany this time with paperwork, and/or there will be massive forgery of the provenenances and papers of the objects already in the hands of dealers. Alternatively there is another possibility that is being overlooked, this new law will be a landfall for US collectors, to whom it does not apply, and more objects will become available for the US market.

How do Syria region coins enter the US and UK Markets?

An outspoken European archeoblogger who really does not deserve the attention he gets asks: "How do Syria region coins enter the US and UK Markets? "  - Er, from old collections, you know "old bean". Doh! As for  why there is  no provenance listed in the sale records, this is up to the seller, just how much to reveal about his sources.

A practical view from an Archeologist on looting

In the current anti-collector campaign conducted by archeologists with an axe to grind against collectors in cohorts with the cultural bureaucrats of failed states and/or dictatorships like Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, there is little discussion about what archeologists themselves can do to prevent looting. There are several simple steps archeologists can take that will discourage looting in places, they after all, have direct contact with the people of source countries like Syria today. Such steps include hiring site guards and paying local diggers a living wage. Such steps are already been taken by ethical archeologists in other countries (Derek Fincham, 'A practical view from an archaeologist on looting', December 10, 2014). Kathryn Morgan, a University of Pennsylvania PhD candidate and archeologist who has dug at the ancient site of Gordion in Central Turkey, asked what can be done, from an archeologist’s perspective to stem looting of sites, offered practical solutions, or at least initiatives, that would address the core of illegal activity and work to the benefit of all who have an interest in the past:

Education and economic incentives are probably the two most effective anti-looting “measures,” if they can be called measures. Education, because if people value the past for itself and think that it’s important, they don’t want to loot; and economic incentives, because if they are reliably prosperous without relying on looting, they don’t have to. Alternatively, you can try to foster the idea that an excavation itself and/or the tourism that it brings is a more sustainable long-term alternative source of income than a quick loot-and-sell operation. As far as I understand it, looting often isn’t that profitable a business for the looter: he’s giving whatever he finds to a middle man, who may be giving it to someone else, and him to someone else, until it finds a legitimate seller and a legitimate buyer who hasn’t dirtied his hands with any of the illegal activity. So, for the little guy, it’s dangerous – because looting is of course illegal – and he’s not making that much money off of it; he’s not going to do it unless he has to. If you can foster a good relationship with locals – providing them with employment opportunities, buying food for the project from within the village, some projects get students to teach English or organize pick-up soccer games with the workmen – those personal relationships are key to the long-term success of your project. But that’s kind of a warm and fuzzy answer that doesn’t deal with all of the complicated motivations that real people have in the real world. Realistically, what do we do? What can we do? The Gordion project employs a site guard year round who checks on the site. We give a map of the area to the local Jandarma, the police force, of the “most sensitive” areas archaeologically, that they need to keep an eye on. [...] the “winning hearts and minds” approach is more effective in the long run than a structural, legal response.

So why not make them a legal requirement for every archeologist excavating abroad? It's always better to tackle any problem at the source.

Tackle the Problem at the Source

Nobody knows more about the trade in stolen antiquities better than James McAndrew, a former senior special agent with Homeland Security. In a recent excellent text he warns that it is only when the countries neighbouring Syria and Iraq do more to halt the terrible destruction that progress will be made. In short, the Middle East must put its own house in order. He also debunks the notion that collectors here and in Europe are financing the terrorists and disproves the assumptions that looted Syrian material is coming here in any quantity.

On the contrary, evidence suggests that objects pillaged in Syria and Iraq predominantly remain in the region.[...]  Assistance should be given for increased border security, border enforcement, and the discovery and recovery of looted artefacts before they leave the region. Punitive measures should also be considered by Unesco if any one of the countries neighbouring the conflict refuses to assist. [...] To stop the spread of looted artefacts, action must take place at the borders of Syria and Iraq. The best example of a pro-active effort is the now well-known story of the Monuments Men (and women), recently made into a film by George Clooney. During the Second World War the Allied forces were aggressive in their pursuit of stolen works of art and antiquities. It makes sense for an international coalition to proactively encircle Syria and Iraq’s borders to intercept looted artefacts and stem the flow of the heritage of these beleaguered countries.

Why should the American collector carry the can for the mismanagement of incompetent and corrupt foreign ragheads? Let the failed nations of the Middle East get their own house in order and stop being a burden for the rest of us. What they cannot be bothered to stop at their borders however should be considered 'fair game' once it is within ours.

Complete Rubbish from the Archeologists on Stolen Antiquities

An archeologist likes to fantasize about vast treasure houses of looted antiquities in the deserts of Iraq or Syria, such ideas are merely "Fantasyland" according to trade representative Peter Tompa. Complete rubbish:

You can imagine too, can't you, the smiling Lebanese dealer shaking hands with the well-dressed man offering him some prime antiquities. The seller is an ISIL political officer, suave and well-groomed in a suit. The dealer is anticipating a good profit, he has some clients on his list (15000 people, you know) who he knows will be very interested in those Assyrian reliefs, no need to put them on open sale, he can sell directly. The coins he can shift too, to America - nobody there asks any difficult questions. Plausible? You bet. Did it happen? Could have.

Mr Tompa, a respected Washington cultural property lawyer addressed this same issue in an earlier post:

This red herring first appeared after the initial phase of the Second Gulf War in 2003-2004 to explain why a promised avalanche of  looted Iraqi antiquities never surfaced in the United States and other Western markets.  As of 2013, before the rise of ISIS, these stolen artifacts still had not appeared in quantity. Is it reasonable to assume [such]  secret facilities exist in today's Iraq and Syria?  Or, is it more reasonable to believe that no rational middle man would create such "cold storage" in a "hot war zone" where one bomb or mortar shell could easily turn a treasure house into dust.  

Most likely the archeologists themselves have got this stuff stashed away in their own private collections, caveat emptor.

Numismatic and Archeological Ethics

English heritage writer and publisher John H. Howland reports on the Cultural Property Observer blog a case of academic malpractice which deserves to be wider known

John H said... In 1982, archaeologist Ralph Pinder-Wilson, who was at that time Director of the British Institute of Afghan Studies in Kabul, was sentenced to death in Afghanistan for stealing gold coins from an excavation near Kabul. He was later reprieved and repatriated to England, where he continued to work as an archaeologist until his death in 2008. Significantly, not a single archaeologist anywhere condemned Pinder-Wilson's thieving activities. Yet, this same silent majority crawls out of the woodwork to condemn non-academic antiquity thieves, and legal collectors with monotonous regularity. Best wishes John Howland England

As that great authority and mentor on ancient coins dealer Dave Welsh said...

"When has any archaeologist publicly condemned another archaeologist for any illicit, unprofessional or immoral act? [...] the difference in how misconduct is regarded within the numismatic and archaeological disciplines certainly does not suggest that numismatists are less responsible or less ethical than archaeologists -- who notoriously remain silent whenever other archaeologists are exposed for sins against accepted standards of professional and/or social conduct". 

Yet these are the people who cast accusations at collectors and expect them to carry the can for poor stewardship of the cultural heritage by the failed raghead nations of the Middle East and beyond. Let them first get their own house in order.

Egypt Expells US Archeologists from Important Site

Somebody needs a warning.... that we
will not stand idle by while we are humiliated

The Luxor Times is reporting "Mummy Curse Strikes Again: MSA Stops BYU Mission" that the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has just stopped a US archeological mission from continuing its research at the site of Fag El Gamous in Fayoum. This site was being excavated by Brigham Young University under the direction of Egyptologist Dr. Kerry Muhlestein.

The cemetery is largely a Roman period cemetery, located in the Fayoum area of Egypt. The burials are not in tombs, but rather in a field of sand. The people in the cemetery represent the common man. They are the average people who are usually hard to learn about because they are not very visible in written sources. They were poor, yet they put a tremendous amount of their resources into providing beautiful burials.

The reason for the stopping of the mission, which has been going for 30 years, seems to be because they had made public the results of their research directly to the press, instead of going through the Egyptian ministry in the usual way demanded by Egypt's military dictatorship.

Khalifa

Today (Thursday), the ministry of antiquaries denied the “discovery of a million mummies cemetery” and made an official statement describing the published news as “rumors” and decided to stop any cooperation with the mission after the press statement were published in the Daily Mail. [...] Dr. Youssef Khalifa, head of Ancient Egypt department, said to Luxor Times on phone “What was published in the newspaper is not true. There are no million mummies [...] The mission violated the rules and regulations of the agreement with the Ministry of Antiquities concerning making press statements and that’s why the committee of the ancient Egypt department took the decision to stop their permission to work at the site after 28 years of working at the site and the last season finished last March.”[...] Dr. Youssef said “What was published was clearly stating wrong information and I think the Permanent Committee will also approve our department’s decision to stop the mission”.

This is just a scandal, after all the money and technical help this country has supplied Egypt over the years, this is how they turn round and treat us? Maybe the US State Department should make it clear that we will not be treated in this manner and threaten to cut off all aid to Egypt unless Egypt does not allow the US team back.

Gilding the Lily Archeo-style

English heritage writer John H. Howland has a point about the archeological deceits revealed recently by Peter Tompa:

When archaeologists 'gild the lily' with such things as the $36-million ISIS allegedly makes from illicit antiquities sales, then one has to ask, whether they have been economic with the truth elsewhere. In short, can we (the public) ever really trust their word or research as definitive. My position is... certainly not. Does Piltdown Man or the Hitler Diaries ring any bells with you? I hope this is clear. Best regards John Howland England

It is difficult to argue with that. Thank goodness there are people in the collecting world willing to speak out for the truth.

The Devil is in the Detail

Foxholes in use, a possibility
ignored by archeologists

A sensible suggestion from respected DC lawyer, collector and author Peter Tompa about those holes on the satellite photos. It seems the archeologists are guilty of over-interpretation:

But what of all those holes at Apamea (a site the archaeological lobby is also loath to admit is controlled by the Assad regime)?   CPO agrees satellite imagery appears to show looter's holes, but notes again reports out of Iraq after the Second Gulf War suggest all may not be what it seems.  Under the circumstances, isn't it at least possible most of holes at Apamea (and other sites like Dura Europos) were "dry," i.e., they produced little of value or that the excavations were actually for military purposes, i.e., "fox holes" for the troops of the warring factions? Or, is this again yet another case where such obvious possibilities cannot be seriously considered because they would  further undermine the archaeological lobby's efforts to encourage government decision makers to impose the "devil's proof" on collectors of ancient artifacts?

Apamea, Syria - as any citizen can see on Google Earth

Of course, anyone can see that this looks just like the scenery of "All Quiet on the Western Front" ....Just what do the archeologists think they are doing? Do they take us all for fools?

Million-Mummy Cemetery In Egypt

The excavations

For 30 years, archaeologists from Brigham Young University in Utah have been slowly excavating a massive cemetery near the town of Selia, Egypt (about 50 miles south of Cairo). The cemetery is known as Fag el-Gamous, which translates to “Way of the Water Buffalo”. It covers approximately 300 acres of land and is named after a nearby road that runs through the region. Kerry Muhlestein is an associate professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture at BYU and the project’s director. Last month, Muhlstein presented the project’s findings at the annual Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities Scholars Colloquium in Toronto. “We are fairly certain we have over a million burials within this cemetery. It’s large, and it’s dense,” he said during his presentation. Many of the remains in the cemetery are dated between the 1st and 7th century A.D., a time when the northern part of Egypt was under Roman and Byzantine rule. 

Read more here.... Mbiyimoh Ghogomu, 'Archaeologists Are Unearthing A Mysterious Million-Mummy Cemetery In Egypt' the Higher Learneing,  December 17, 2014

Archeologists: "Shoot the Looters"

Peter Tompa reveals today ('They Shoot Looters, Don't They?') that incredibly they are actually debating in the archeological blogosphere whether execution is an appropriate sanction for disturbing archeological context for personal gain!

The fact that some in the archaeological lobby have supported the ultimate sanction in the past should give everyone pause. The death penalty was imposed selectively in Saddam's Iraq; while those associated with the regime apparently looted with the Dictator's blessing, others without connections forfeited their lives if caught. The same kind of selective prosecution also apparently lives on in today's Iraq, but at least no one is getting executed for looting in areas under government control. And isn't that a good thing?

As Wayne Sayles wisely comments: "Looting, in any case, should be dealt with firmly and penalties should be stiff. But summarily executing looters in one case and virtually ignoring them in another, based purely on ideological and political grounds, is a mockery of justice and a threat to civilization".  It is time these people-hating psychopaths were dealt with.

Debunking of the $36 million figure

Collectors are facing new criticisms today from the radical archeologists, followed by the international media and are unjustly being blamed for the current war in Syria. This is based entirely on the allegations by a journalist of a socialist newspaper in England that ISIS has made $36 million from looting one site alone in western Syria. That is ridiculous and trade champions have been trying to get across the truth to these people. Peter Tompa has made great efforts on our behalf: '$36 million looting figure loses further credibility'

Hopefully, anyone in the archaeological blogosphere still holding out hope that that $36 million figure for looted artifacts in one area alone has or will be "verified" or "corroborated" will read this: "So how much money is ISIL making from looted antiquities? Several media reports over the past two months put it at millions of dollars. One said ISIL had made $36m (Dh132m) alone from looting at one site in Syria. A spokesperson for Unesco’s Emergency Safeguarding of the Syrian Heritage Project also called the high figures being quoted grossly inaccurate. Desmarais [of ICOM] agrees: 'If someone gives you a number today, they are lying to you.' Brodie also questions the financial figures put on looting and has called for proper verification. “I don’t believe these figures,” he says. “In 2013, Sotheby’s New York turned over $20m in antiquities sales from the entire Mediterranean and Middle East area, so ISIL would need to be making more than Sotheby’s from one site. For another perspective, assuming found antiquities in Syria are worth $50 each (which is an optimistic estimate), ISIL would need to have found and sold 720,000 antiquities.”

No wonder government, academia and the press are held in such low regard these days. The same writer has produced additional proof that the English journalist (deliberately misled by lying Iraqi intelligence officers) got it badly wrong ('More Debunking of the $36 million figure').

Artnet news, citing German sources, has also debunked the claim that $36 million in antiquities were looted from one area in Syria. Why is this so important? - because the figure has been used to justify proposed changes in the law in both Germany and the United States that will impose the "devil's proof" on collectors of common artifacts which have been legally held for generations.

English writer John H. Howland adds a cogent comment: 

Most seriously perhaps, is that many archaeologists, on the one the hand reckon 'archaeology' is something akin to 'science' of forensic accuracy, yet, when it suits them, latch on to and promote UNPROVEN allegations as FACT. This must in my view, and I suspect others too, strongly suggest that if they are capable of such chicanery, how much reliance, even integrity, can be placed on their academic work? Presumably, some US legislators are being led by the nose up the garden path? It will be illuminating to see which US Senators and Congressmen fall for the ruse. Warm wishes John Howland England 

Putting the Parthenon Marbles into perspective

An English collector has an interesting post "Putting the Parthenon Marbles into perspective".

I do not condone what Elgin did - his 'rescue' was undoubtedly not entirely altruistic, the legality of it was tenuous, and his methods caused horrendous damage to the remaining structure - but it is perhaps unfair to judge him by the standards of today. We can only speculate on what would have happened to the sculptures if the French had got them instead or if they had remained. But if they had remained, as Mary Beard has noted: "Whatever Elgin's motives, there is no doubt at all that he saved his sculpture from worse damage." (Beard 2011) Meanwhile, the debate continues as to whether the sculptures should stay in London or now be returned to Athens ...

Thought-provoking, read more here...