Major Blow for Israeli Antiquities Market

As the year draws to a close, news comes through of an ominous development seriously threatening dealers' rights in Israel. As reported by the indefatigable Peter Tompa: "Israel Requires On-Line Inventories" Tuesday, December 29, 2015. 

After losing a court challenge, Israeli antiquities dealers will be required to establish on-line inventories that will allow Israeli authorities to better track purchases, sales and exports. In theory at least, this sounds reasonable, but CPO wonders whether the process will be a nightmare in practice, particularly for small, inexpensive items like oil lamps and coins.

Israel is among the few countries in the world that are rich in archaeological artifacts that legally allows the trade in antiquities. It seems the archeologists in their international anti-collecting conspiracy have now influenced the courts there to decide against the interests of the collectors.  This will force the dealers to increase the prices of the small, formerly  inexpensive, items like oil lamps and coins which will force the small collectors out of the hobby which will thereby become less democratic and be easier to ban. Peter Tompa observes, and it is difficult to assail his logic:

And if this is such a great idea, why not require archaeologists and museums operating in Israel to establish on-line inventories as well?  Such on-line inventories would help deter insider theft and perhaps provide information that will be helpful to scholars.

How humble oil-lamps throw light on the world of ancient Rome.

 
Caroline Lawrence says: "the humble oil-lamp can throw a different kind of light on the ancient world" (How humble oil-lamps throw light on the world of ancient Rome.)

 

Farmhouse from First Temple era, Byzantine church found in Central Israel

A huge farmhouse from the First Temple period, an ornate Byzantine church built over a thousand years later and a lime kiln dated to the Ottoman era have been found by Rosh HaAyin, during archaeological investigation ahead of building a new neighborhood in the central Israeli city. The sprawling 2,700-year old farmhouse has no less than 24 rooms surrounding a central courtyard, which is a common structure in the Middle East. Altogether the farmhouse area covers some 30 meters by 50. It was so well preserved that some walls were still standing to a height of more than two meters after nearly three millennia.

read more: here

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Credit: Griffin Aerial Photography

Poor Stewardship: Viking Museum Flooded

You would think more could have been done to prevent this. In Britain the "Jorvik Viking Center" in  York was flooded - not surprisingly, it is sited in a basement. That is no place to keep valuable artifacts, what were the archeologists thinking?

Coins: Important Source for Architectural Information

The Emperor Titus was born on this day in AD 39. The Colosseum shown on this coin was finished in his reign. The value of the images on coins for revealing the past cannot be overestimated. Archeologists very rarely use this sort of information in their work, and only criticize numismatists for their efforts to be able to independently study the past through this kind of material.

Poor Stewardship, ancient bridge collapses

It seems that poor stewardship of ancient sites and structures is rife in Europe. In Britain, a bridge dating to 1700 has just collapsed. Tadcaster Bridge was built in  c.1700; widened by John Carr of York c.1780. Now, apparently through lack of proper care and maintenance, it has gone.

UNESCO "Experts" get it Wrong

One of the doyens of numismatic scholarship, Wayne Sayles has caught so-called UNESCO "experts" out in another of their anti-collecting lies ("Leave it to the Experts" December 28, 2015).

Where in the world does the press come up with their "experts" on cultural property matters? The latest brazen show of ignorance appears in a citation by "leading world museums and the U.N. Cultural agency" in a supposedly expert warning distributed through a plethora of media outlets by Associated Press.

The photo they show is captioned, "Marinid gold dinars with kufic inscriptions (13th-15th AD), part of the emergency red list" and describes these as.one of the cultural treasures from Libya that needs to be watched for:

 Unfortunately, the image accompanying this caption is a silver tetradracm of Nikis, a magistrate of Cyrene in the late 5th to early 4th century BC — not even remotely from medieval Libya. So, what is a customs inspector to do when they see one of these treasures? Treat it as "looted Libyan goods" and seize it? It would be nice if the experts would get it right on something as simple as a common coin attribution.

The English publisher John Howland correctly calls UNESCO and ICOM a Vaudeville act and adds:

Perhaps some Customs Officers are opening themselves to civil claims and actions if they base their seizures on seriously flawed information as shown by ICOM's hideous gaffe.

Indeed, let us hope that in the New Year collectors and dealers start taking a firmer stance and challenging the threats to their rights more frequently. It is a good job we have such luminaries as Mr Sayles and Mr Howland to shed some light into the darkness of official ignorance and lies.

Poor Stewardship: Over 6000 Artifacts Are Back to Syria

Arian Zwegers, "6,500 Smuggled Artifacts Are Back to Syria"  28 December 2015

In an exclusive interview with Sputnik, Dr. Ma'moun Abdel-Kareem, head of the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums in Syria said that its employees managed to retrieve approximately 6,500 smuggled ancient artifacts and return them home. Several countries in the Middle East have cooperated with Syria in order to bring back 6,500 smuggled antiquities, the expert told Sputnik. "We got back ancient artifacts and registered them in our departments, precisely those in Damascus. I should highlight that Lebanon brought around 90 artefacts back to Syria," Abdel-Kareem said. At the same time he mentioned that not all neighboring countries cooperated with Syria on the issue. For instance, Turkey and Jordan refused to provide Syria with any information on the smuggled artefacts, while Ankara even accused the members of the mission "of politicizing the operation." 

I think you have to question the wisdom of sending anything back to Syria where it comes under threat of being destroyed by military action or worse. This is ridiculous, the corrupt and genocidal regime of Syria cannot be trusted.

Middle Kingdom for the Public

This Middle Kingdom "Head of a King" in the  Metropolitan Museum since 1912 expresses both youthful strength and graceful divinity.

Back in Egypt, where showing human images is against the religion of the land, many such masterpieces lie collecting dust in dark neglected storerooms.

Syrian regime 'bombs Unesco world heritage site'

 

Scandalous and tragic. Who could imagine sending objects back to these people? Their proper place is where they will be best looked-after.

The Syrian regime has bombed an ancient castle listed by Unesco as a world heritage site as it tried to root out rebel fighters who recently captured the town, according to reports. Government helicopters are thought to have been targeting the southern Syrian town of Busra Sham, classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site for its historic citadel, ruins and well-preserved Roman theatre. It was once the capital of the Roman province of Arabia and a stopover on caravan routes to Mecca. Photographs shared on activists' social media pages show significant damage to pillars inside the castle". 

Josie Ensor, "Syrian regime bombs Unesco world heritage site" Telegraph 24 Dec 2015

Monkey Bowl in Scotland Museum

Beautiful ancient Egyptian bowl of blue anhydrite decorated with monkeys from royal burial.

Carl Werner, Temple of Isis at Philae

'View of the Temple of Isis at Philae' (1865) by Carl Friedrich Heinrich Werner (1808-1894)

ISIS seizes UNESCO heritage site of Sabratha in Libya

Jerusalem Post 'ISIS seizes UNESCO heritage site of Sabratha in Libya'

Islamic State militants have seized control of the Libyan town of Sabratha, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to one of the world's best-preserved Roman amphitheaters, The Telegraph reported on Friday. Militants moved into the center of town on Thursday, traveling in a caravan of Toyota pickup trucks. Locals initially believed the terror group was engaging in a retaliatory raid after two of their men were arrested nearby, however the militants set up checkpoints around the town and claimed the town as their own, said The Telegraph. Sabratha is located 50 miles from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, which is currently facing threats of ISIS infiltration on both its eastern and western fronts. Destruction of the Sabratha ruins would be an incredible disaster, rivaling or surpassing the devastation caused by the destruction of Palmyra in Syria.

ISIS is building a base in Libya

Sirte ideally located to launch attacks on European culture

"Isis building global base in Libya as Syria battered"

The Islamic State jihadist group (ISIS or IS) has strengthened its grip in its Libyan stronghold Sirte, as new recruits and foreign fighters join its ranks while world attention focuses on Iraq and Syria. Experts and sources in Libya say Sirte has become a new focal point for the jihadist group as it comes under increasing pressure in its traditional Iraqi and Syrian power bases.

See also here: "ISIS controlling Sirte, Libya: City used to plot terror attacks".

How long before we see archeologists claiming all artifact sales from North Africa are "financing ISIS"?

Early Engraving of Colosseum

Engraving of the Colosseum by Hieronymus Cock, 1551.

Debunking the ISIS Antiquities Funding Myth

Art Law Expert Kate Fitz Gibbon
calls for a return to rationality

Ben Taub’s New Yorker article, The Real Value of the ISIS Antiquities Trade, blows apart the State Department, Department of Justice, and Antiquities Coalition claims that ISIS is raking in tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of antiquities. Kate Fitz Gibbon of the Committee for Cultural Policy writes ('Debunking the ISIS Antiquities Funding Myth'):

"There is a hidden agenda behind adoption of a story that promotes the Big Lie of ISIS’ funding through antiquities – the denigration and destruction of the legitimate international trade in art. US energies should not be wasted against ephemeral enemies. We should aim – swiftly – against the real targets who are providing funding for ISIS."

Enjoy and respect Native American art and traditions

Enjoy and respect Native American art and traditions

 

ISIS smuggles majority of oil via Turkey

A man stands on a truck near oil fields in Syria's
northeastern Qamshli province. (File photo: Reuters)

Iraq: ISIS smuggles majority of oil via Turkey Al Arabiya News Monday, 7 December 2015

Iraq’s premier Haider al-Abadi said Monday that most of the oil smuggled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group goes through Turkey, joining a chorus of countries linking it with the militants’ financing. [...]  It is the latest in a series of accusations linking Turkey and oil smuggling by ISIS [...]  Russia accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in the IS oil trade, to which he responded that Russia was in fact involved. [...]  Mohsen Rezaie, secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, said Iranian military advisors on the ground in Iraq and Syria had images of IS oil trucks going to Turkey. 

The archeologists say that it is collectors financing ISIS, when all the time it has been Turkey (where many archeologists seek excavation permits) which has been one of the main culprits.

Turkey receiving smuggled antiquities as payment for supplying weapons to terror groups in Syria

Syria army says Turkey increases arms shipments to rebels Reuters

The Syrian army said on Saturday that Turkey had recently increased supplies of weapons, ammunition and equipment to [...]  terrorists in Syria [...]. "We have certain information that the Turkish government has recently increased its support to the terrorists and the level of their supplies of weapons, ammunition and equipment necessary to continue their criminal acts," [...] The statement by the Syrian army command alleged that weapons were being delivered in shipments which Turkey claimed to be humanitarian assistance. It also alleged the weapons were supplied in exchange for looted Syrian and Iraqi antiquities and oil sold at low prices. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has denied accusations his country purchased oil from Islamic State, saying anyone making such claims must prove them.

Oil, not Antiquities

Cultural Property expert Peter Tompa also covers the ISIS debacle:

"ISIS Funding Narrative Begins Unraveling in Mainstream Media" The New Yorker has rightly questioned whether looted antiquities are really an important funding source for ISIS as our State Department and the archaeological lobby have claimed.  Hopefully, other mainstream media will follow.

John Howland from England notes that the English worked it out earlier than the federal government:

At last! Someone with the balls to question the 'academics'. ISIS get its money from what is termed 'hot oil' and that's why the UK's Royal Air Force is now bombing ISIS oil wells to oblivion. Were this not the case one suspects that the US and UK would be bombing the crap out of heritage sites, but ISIS has already done this. I expect any time soon to see the names of those in academe who proliferated the stolen collectables nonsense in the public domain, followed by a series of academic post becoming vacant. Ha Ha!

See "British airstrikes hit Islamic State oil fields, aim to deal 'real blow" Fox News December 03, 2015.

Significantly, another source gives the position of the "Omar Oilfield" mentioned as the targeted area as being right next to where that antiquities trader with his faked invoices lived. The anti-collecting story is being unravelled fast.

Common Sense reporting on "the real Value of the ISIS Antiquities Trade"

Finally, common sense reporting!

The Real Value of the ISIS Antiquities Trade - The New Yorker

New findings are shedding light on the Islamic State’s looting of cultural heritage, but they’re also raising more questions than they’re answering.

newyorker.com|By Ben Taub

US State Department Faking Link Between ISIS and the Antiquities Trade

Peter Tompa has expertly observed: 'Prominent Member of Archaeological Lobby Suggests US State Department Faking Link Between ISIS and the Antiquities Trade'.

Neil Brodie, a prominent member of the international archaeological lobby, has suggested that the US State Department has used forged documents to establish a link between ISIS and antiquity sales. Brodie also concedes that given what we know, antiquities must be a minor source for ISIS and that it's more likely that the Assad regime and the Free Syrian Army are profiting from antiquities sales. Nonetheless, Brodie, staying true to his anti-trade bias, remains all for "suppressing demand for antiquities" in order to save archaeological context.  

If it were true that the Federal government is trying to hoodwink us all, it would be a massive failure of government. But it would not be the first time....

The Reason Behind the Destruction

 Peter Tompa has expertly observed: 'Prominent Member of Archaeological Lobby Suggests US State Department Faking Link Between ISIS and the Antiquities Trade' that archeological hard-liners are

loath to consider possibility that the real problem may be that that the "State Owns Everything Old" model only associates antiquities with hated Middle Eastern dictators and devalues them so thoroughly that they are smuggled or even destroyed.

Depressing Numismatics

Coin of the Abbasids, Baghdad, Iraq, 765. The Abbasid Caliphate (Arabic: العبّاسيّون / ISO 233: al-'abbāsīyūn), was the third of the Islamic caliphates. Compared with the artistic glory of the numismatics of the Greeks and the historical grandour of the Roman coinage, this crude aniconic coinage with the repetitive and stereotypical 'La-La-Allah' legends is simply depressing. No wonder so few people collect them.