Cultural Heritage Center in Conservative Cross-Hairs

The State Department and its Cultural Heritage Center find themselves in conservative cross-hairs for wasteful spending in their Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Heritage Preservation.   The Weekly Standard paints a picture of a misguided "soft power" effort that has spent millions in anti-American countries.  In so doing, the author, Stephen Schwartz, focuses on the foolishness of giving millions for restoration projects to the same Assad regime which has bombed the Old City of Aleppo into rubble.

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Egypt's Most Iconic Object Irreparably Damaged in a Botched Cleaning and Restoration Effort

King Tut's Gold Mask, Egypt's most iconic object, has been irreparably damaged in a botched cleaning and restoration effort.  The idea of using epoxy (!!!) to fix such an iconic object is beyond belief. This horrible news is part of a pattern, the Egyptians cannot look after a hugely important area of world heritage.  Just recently, allegations also surfaced that an unqualified contracting firm had also botched the restoration of the Step Pyramid. 

All this raises a simple question.  Is this really time to help legitimize the Egyptian Military Dictatorship with a MOU that will in effect recognize its rights to exclusive control over every artifact deemed "Egyptian?"

Poor Stewardship on the Nile

Alex Ortiz, '"Tut, tut!" say critics over disastrous pharaonic shave', CBS News January 22, 2015.

 

Egypt's Most Iconic Object Irreparably Damaged in a Botched Cleaning and Restoration Effort - King Tutankhamun's gold mask,  most iconic object, has been irreparably damaged in a botched cleaning and restoration effort.  by Egyptian archeologists. This  horrible news is part of a pattern.  Just recently, allegations also surfaced that an unqualified contracting firm had also botched the restoration of the Step Pyramid.  Is this really time to help legitimize the Egyptian Military Dictatorship with a MOU that will in effect recognize its rights to exclusive control over every artifact deemed "Egyptian? 

It's Official: AIA Against All Dealing in Cultural Artifacts-Violators to Be Terminated

The AIA has now also made quite clear that it's against all trade and private ownership of archaeological objects, not just those without a collection history dating back before the 1970 UNESCO Convention. The stated intent of this new rule makes private ownership itself, not just illicit commerce in antiquities, the AIA target.

132-year-old Winchester ’73 found leaning against tree

Eva Jensen, Cultural Resource Program Manager at Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada’s Snake mountain range, was exploring the park with the archeology team looking for Native American artifacts on November 6th, 2014, when she spotted an object leaning against a Juniper tree. Upon closer examination, she saw that it was a rifle so cracked and weathered that it was perfectly camouflaged by the cracked and weathered tree behind it. The grayed wood stock was embedded in the dirt, leaves and rocks at the base of the tree. Eva Jensen had to carefully dig away the debris in order to liberate the rifle. Once able to examine the whole thing, the team spied “Model 1873″ engraved on the iron gun body, the classic imprimatur of the Winchester ’73, “the gun that won the West.”

More here: '132-year-old Winchester ’73 found leaning against tree'.

In Defense of the Trade

One of the major players in the antiquities trade, California dealer in ancient coins and art since 2003 David Welsh has this to say about the recent AIA statement which constitutes an attack on all who wish to contribute to the knowledge of ancient societies by collecting and preserving their art:

The AIA statement refers to "... the commodification of archaeological material and in effect [this sale] condones the traffic in antiquities, which is in opposition to the AIA’s principal missions of research and education. As stewards of the past, no one associated with the AIA should be incentivizing the illicit trade in antiquities, which is a global criminal activity." The "traffic in antiquities" to which Sheila Dillon refers is NOT an "illicit trade in antiquities, which is a global criminal activity." If the terms in which this statement is framed do not actually constitute libel or slander, they approach that, and should be resented and condemned by the many legitimate and ethical individuals involved in the licit antiquities trade. Classical Coins deals honestly and ethically in the field of supplying ancient coins to collectors, and I strongly resent and condemn the AIA's unwarranted claim to be "stewards of the past" and arbiters of "ethical standards" regarding the antiquities trade.

No organization representing a few thousand professionals has any right to imply or suggest that it thereby has the moral authority to dictate what is or is not "ethical" for individuals who are not society members. "Archeocentrism (the unreasonable viewpoint that archeology trumps all other human activities and concerns in its importance) endangers cultural heritage in its own insidious ways, perhaps just as much as the overt offenses of looters and smugglers involoved in illicit trafficking in antiquities". 

Collectors not the Ones at Fault

Another of the archeological anti-collecting crusaders goes on record  playing the "social conscience" card. Instead of blaming collectors for looting, the needs of conservation would be better served if archeologists addressed the abject poverty that motivates looting, by employing local diggers paid a living wage, paying for site guards in the long off-season, and ensuring significant items they find stay and get displayed in local communities rather than being packed off to store rooms in some far off national museum. And yes, really what's wrong with selling off some duplicates for the benefit of the local community and collectors after they have been properly recorded?

Missouri Strikes out Against Ideological Dictatorship

This is getting exciting, as others are observing, it remains unclear in what way when it put up well-provenanced artifacts for sale to benefit local programs designed to foster interest in archeology the St. Louis Society violated AIA regulations. But the members and board of the organization are standing by their decision (CPO: 'Saint Louis AIA Chapter Stands Firm')

They must be made of tougher stuff in Missouri. First, the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild was born there. Then, the Saint Louis Art Museum stood up to overreach by both the Egyptian and US Governments in successfully defending its title to the Ka Nefer Nefer Mask. And now, by voting to retain its current board, the Saint Louis Chapter of the AIA has rightly stood up against the ivory tower bullies of the national organization. That the fanatics that currently run the AIA made the deaccession of such well provenanced artifacts such an issue at all speaks volumes about how far archeological elitists have distanced themselves from collectors and museums.

Collectors' rights advocate Wayne Sayles warns that the AIA leadership probably in fact has a much smaller mandate than most realize and that they cannot represent the heart and mind of the science.

What human being in their right mind would want to be held in tow by a group of fanatics? The St. Louis Society deserves huge applause for their intestinal fortitude in standing on principle and adhering to the rule of law rather than the rule of an ideological dictatorship.

150 Years Ago Today

 150 years ago: A dramatic battle in North Carolina, the beginning of the end.

Archeological Infighting over Artifact Sales

The  politburo of the Archeological Institute of America has gone crazy, spewing venom at one of its own affiliates, the St. Louis Society. The details are neatly summarised by Wayne Sayles ('Missing the Point', 1/13/2015). The whole fuss is about the sale of some artifacts from a store that had been brought from Egypt a hundred years ago but never been on public display to raise revenue to fund educational programs. This bizarre event has been criticized by even some of the most radical archeologists in the anti-collecting crusade.

The AIA is calling for repression of a long cherished right in America, the right to own and trade property [...] If perfectly legal artifacts are barred from sale today, simply because of a philosophical point of view, what will be barred tomorrow? We are a nation governed by law, not by the whims of some special interest. [...] From time to time the world becomes witness to fanatical movements that are anathema to the mainstream of society. [...] As the leadership of Archaeology becomes ever more self-serving and dictatorial, in many ways like National Socialist regimes of the past century, that former sparkle has become a scourge and the light of archaeology may be in real danger of becoming a faint flicker. [...] sooner or later the weight of unfettered oppression will spread and become unbearable.

If Mitt Were President

At home, our economy is still not as strong as it could be, long-term growth is in doubt, wages are stagnant, and around the world there’s deep concern that as America’s leadership has unraveled, hostile forces have filled the vacuum. Mitt Romney was right on these issues in the last campaign, and they form the core of another campaign for president. I think if Romney were president there wouldn’t be an ISIS at all, Putin would know his place in life, and domestically, things would be in better shape ('Mitt Romney crafting a rationale for 2016 run').

Since gaining power in Syria, Islamic State has moved into Iraq where it has seized control of several cities. Romney argued Obama failed to take advantage of an opportunity to stop the group before it established itself in Iraq. "Almost a year ago, American intelligence sources told the president that there was a group forming called ISIS ... and that there was a significant chance that they would go into Iraq and invade a city there. The president failed to take action. He watched," Romney said. "We saw ISIS roll into Iraq and, instead of attacking them immediately and knocking them in their convoy when they would have been easy to knock down, relatively easy to knock down, the president again watched. And now we're in a position where ISIS has run throughout major portions of Iraq. There have been horrific human rights abuses, tragedies."

We have failed to prevent the Islamist terrorists ISIS from gaining power in both Syria and Iraq, and now America is in a very difficult position with respect to Islamic State."In my view, it is unacceptable for Americans and for the world to see the establishment of a major territory ... that is controlled by radical, violent jihadists from which they would clearly launch attacks against our friends and allies throughout the world, but also against us," said Romney. "So, we must take action, including the air strikes that you're seeing as necessary to prevent ISIS from becoming a major geographic and economic player." Perhaps we will even be forced to take the step of sending young Americans out there to bring peace. This affects us all. We have seen how our enemies in the mainstream media even place the blame on antiquity collectors, accusing them of financing the ISIS war chest.

Yet this could all have been avoided. "Mistakes were made and now we have ISIS," Romney said. The  Islamic State would not have gained ground if America had adopted Romney's 2012 plan for dealing with the revolution against Syrian President Bashar Assad. "If you go back a few years when Syria fell into revolution and tumult, when rebels were pushing against Assad, I laid out what I thought was a prudent course for us to see stability in Syria," said Romney. "Had we followed that course, there's a good chance you would not see an ISIS today." He had postulated not only backing and arming the moderate revolutionaries in Syria, but also assuring Assad's tribe (the Alawites), that they would have a future in the country without the current regime. "These kind of actions would have stabilized Syria, at least I believe so, and would have prevented the growth of a group like ISIS," explained Romney.

We should have maintained our presence in Iraq, but President didn't do it. If we'd armed the moderates in Syria before all this began, they could have been able to keep something like ISIS from being formed. And as a result of the mistakes that have been made in the past on the President's part, we now have terrible visions being shown on TV and the threat to ourselves here in the homeland. We have to be open to whatever it takes to destroy ISIS. It is not acceptable for ISIS to represent the kind of threat it does to the peace of the world and to our interests as Americans. 

It could happen here

Writer and publisher John Howland from England warns what could be happening here if archeologists get their way.

BEWARE! It starts like this and costs taxpayers...millions. You might even call it 'Al Capone Archaeology'. It works like this:- Step 1. Blame groups (usually detectorists, or 4x4 enthusiasts) as being a 'threat' to the heritage. Lobby politicians hard. Step 2. Enact laws that ALL groundwork SHALL NOT be carried out unless archaeological excavations are completed. Expenses for this work is 'absorbed' by the developer. Archaeologists worm their way as advisors to the lawmakers! Step 3. Archaeologists then form themselves into 'for-profit excavation companies' offering a range of pre and post-excavation work to developers, that developer's MUST use to the satisfaction of........archaeologists! 

Peter Tompa ('Archaeological Lobby Goes for the Gold?') presciently shows that current moves by archeologists in our country may be the thin end of the wedge  which may lead to the introduction of such an undemocratic and Unconstitutional system into the USA too. We must stop the rot, and resist the perverse influence of English archeology.

The True Colors of the AIA

The AIA has again shown its true colors  the St. Louis Society has become the victim of the fanaticism of the AIA  for the "crime" of selling well-provenanced artifacts for the benefit of archaeology. The AIA   is unalterably opposed to all collecting, not just the collecting of unprovenanced artifacts. 

The Charleston Museum

Today in 1773: First public museum in U.S. is established. The Charleston Museum. 

Inspired in part by the creation of the British Museum, the Museum was established by the Charleston Library Society on the eve of the American Revolution and its early history was characterized by association with distinguished South Carolinians and scientific figures including Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Reverend John Bachman and John J. Audubon. First opened to the public in 1824, the Museum developed prominent collections, which Harvard scientist Louis Aggasiz declared in 1852 to be among the finest in America. Operations were temporarily suspended due to the Civil War, but began again shortly afterward. Progressively acquired since the late 18th century, the Museum's collections now represent the most comprehensive assemblage of South Carolina materials in the nation. Focusing on the South Carolina Lowcountry, modern collecting emphases include natural history, historical material culture and both documentary and photographic resources.

Antiquities "looted during unrest in Egypt are reaching public markets in the West"

"Antiquities looted during unrest in Egypt are reaching public markets in the West" says a London archeologist-anti-collecting-blogger.

"Anyone sane must agree, if antiquities that have demonstrably been looted from crisis-and-unrest-riven Egypt are reaching public markets in the West, then they must also be reaching private markets in the West, even though the nature of those markets makes their illicit commodities practically invisible. And anyone reasonable must accept, if antiquities that have been looted during the unrest in Egypt are reaching Western markets, then antiquities that have been looted during the conflict(s) in Syria and Iraq too must be reaching Western markets, even though the nature of those markets makes their illicit commodities practically invisible".

Prove it. What was it that was being said the other day about fanciful claims that looted artifacts provide ISIS' second largest funding source or that $36 million was derived from looted antiquities in one Syrian locality alone? Yet the archeologists will not willingly abandon their discredited anti-collecting propaganda.

Greece balks on art loan after Parthenon Marbles row

The British Museum still waiting to hear on its request for a sculpture from Athens ('Greece balks on art loan after Parthenon Marbles row') The Museum’s decision to send a piece of their Elgin marbles to Russia has delayed a loan from Greece of a key antiquity for a forthcoming exhibition on classical sculpture (“Defining Beauty: the Body in ancient Greek Art” - 6 March-22 June). The Greek museum has not yet decided on the loan request

because of tensions with the Greek government after one of the Parthenon Marbles, the headless figure of the river god Ilissos, was sent to the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg in December. Antonis Samaras, the Greek prime minister, described the loan, the first time one of the sculptures has left Britain since they were controversially taken from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, as “an affront to the Greek people”.

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Archaeological Snobs Criticize Significant Reported Find

The metal detectorists filled a whole bag with coins and still the skeptics moan

The recent Lenborough hoard discovery in England has the archeological anti-collecting schemers all riled up. They rant and moan about how it was recovered (despite there being a member of the British Museum's FLO present to make sure it was done carefully and they got all the coins). They moan about what "damage" was caused by digging a small hole down to the find and how "everything of importance is gone" now the hoard has been dug out - safe from the reach of the plow.

Well of course. I mean now that this small, six by six area was disturbed, no reason to follow-up with any additional digging is there? Yep, probably better this hoard, like all the others found by detectorists, was left in the ground for that archeological dig that was surely going to take place someday in the not too distant future?

See also Peter Tompa on the same fuss and how it is due to the 'professional' jealousy, snobbish attiitudes and ingrained hatred towards personal liberty harbored by certain archeologists. It may be suggested that they are not so much concerned about the find itself (archeologists do not care much for coins except for dating sites) but about the excellent pro-collecting publicity that accompanies such momentous numismatic events.

Time of reckoning for Government Overreach

The time of reckoning is coming... The White House is being taken to court over the overreach of the government of President Obama who has consistently exceeded his executive authority in his administration of our laws. Collectors have long been making this point  over the disgraceful and discriminatory import restrictions on "coins of Cypriot type" and coins "from China". We have however not been allowed to make our voice heard. But the time of reckoning is coming. The usurping of the Constitution has got to stop. It is time for the people and politicians of this country to wake up to the destruction that greed and lawlessness are causing. 

Economist on ISIS Funding

According to an authoritative article in the Economist, ISIS terrorists derive most of their funds from hot oil, taxation, extortion and ransoms. As one knowledgeable commentator puts it

Fanciful claims that looted artifacts provide ISIS' second largest funding source or that $36 million was derived from looted antiquities in one Syrian locality alone are no where to be seen.  Good for the Economist not to be taken in by such nonsense.  

Egypt Dictates Bedroom Behavior

This is the face of the intolerance of the Egyptian Military Dictatorship 'Gay Egyptians living in “constant fear” as crackdown from authorities and media worsens'. In recent months, 150 suspected homosexuals have been arrested and detained, while reporting by pro-government media has further fuelled prejudice against gay people. Muslim scholars and prosecutors have condoned the arrests, arguing that “homosexuals are shameful to God” and that “it is the government’s duty to protect morality”. As a respected Washington lawyer comments, if there is any time to rethink a MOU with Egypt, it is now. Any need for "emergency restrictions" has long since passed. This is no time to reward the generals for their continuing crackdown on dissent and repression of human rights, human rights and freedoms which our State Department and its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs supposedly stand up for.

Legal Heroin in Trouble with Egypt Military Dictators

Amal Clooney, the archeological lobby's latest heroine for her calls for the return of the Parthenon marbles, is now in trouble with the Egyptian military dictatorship for her views on the lack of independence of Egyptian courts. Cultural Property Observer ' Archaeological Lobby's Latest Heroine in Trouble with Egyptian Military Dictatorship). Peter Tompa asks whether Mrs Clooney can count on the archeological lobby's support. "Not a chance.  After all, open support for Clooney may put precious excavation permits at risk".

Awesome Historic Hoard Find in England

Amateur treasure hunter finds £1million hoard of 1,000-year-old Anglo Saxon coins - after a whip-round for petrol to get there Paul Coleman, 59, stumbled upon silver coins in dig in Buckinghamshire He was on dig with friends on December 21. Initially father-of-two wasn't going to go because he couldn't afford the gas. The vast hoard of 5,251 pieces is described as one of largest in British history. The finders could get a large reward if coins are declared treasure:

the unemployed father-of-two hit the jackpot when he dug up the pristine collection of more than 5,000 silver coins made in the reigns of Ethelred the Unready (978-1016) and Cnut (1016-1035). It is thought that the find could be connected to a mint established by Ethelred at nearby Buckingham and which remained active during the time of Cnut. The 5,251 - and a half - coins were in a lead-lined container buried two feet under ground. Only some have been properly cleaned but all have proved to be in excellent condition. [..] I saw a shiny disc and I knew instantly it was a coin. I bent down to pick it up and I could see lots of discs - one I identified as a Saxon coin. I couldn’t believe it.' The grandfather-of-four said he will share some of his fortune with his metal detector friends - a customary tradition with a big find - and has pledged to buy a new house for his wife Christine, 53. Mr Coleman, who owns a Southampton-based wedding cars business, has been metal detecting for four decades and will also split the proceeds with the landowner.