Monday, January 30, 2017

Honest Collector Donates Statue


"Egypt retrieves 4,000 yo figurine from London"-Artifact stolen from Aswan in 2013 & smuggled to London Repatriated thanks to honest collector.


The figurine was part of the findings of Spanish mission working in Aswan in the period from 2009 until 2013, and has a height of about 16.5 cm and gilded inscriptions. Through poor stewardship, local thieves had no problems stealing this item. Now it is going back to Africa, maybe the natives will look after it better.

Why US museums and the antiquities trade should work together


Gary Vikan calls for a new culture of antiquities collecting, one built on legal sales not looting. Why US museums and the antiquities trade should work together Apollo Magazine 30 January 2017

Friday, January 27, 2017

Keeping America Safe from Radicals



President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend some immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries — Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya — for 90 days, halt the refugee program for 120 days and suspend the admission of Syrian refugees indefinitely.

Jordyn Phelps, Serena Marshall, 'President Trump's Executive Orders on Immigration Explained' ABC News Jan 26, 2017,

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Historic lanterns stolen from Cairo Mosque



Two men have been arrested charged with stealing six historic lanterns from the chamber of King Fouad I and Princess Feryal atRefai Mosque in Cairo, Egypt [Lamps stolen from Cairo's El-Refai Mosque recovered Ahram Online  24 January 2017; Historic lanterns stolen from Refai Mosque restored Egypt Independent 25 January 2017]. The question is however iof these people cannot look after their own heritage, why should we hand stuff back to them for them to mistreat and lose again?

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Pakistan's Moenjodaro is crumbling away


What is visible today represents only 10 percent of the entire site. The rest remains buried. Officials are reluctant to unearth any more than the 225 hectares they already have. Limited manpower and funding, and lack of awareness among visitors, make it difficult to justify the unearthing of more of the ancient city, said Qasim, who retired from his role in June. "If our estimates are proven correct, Moenjodaro was probably a cosmopolitan city of its times. [...] 5,000 years ago, when people in Europe and other places lived in caves and jungles, people in Moenjodaro lived in brick houses in a civilised and planned city,"
Pakistan's Moenjodaro is crumbling away   Al Jazeera 23 January 2017;

 

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Pax Romanorum


The statue of Aule Metele, possibly an Etruscan man, with his Roman toga.
Late 2nd-early 1st century BC, from near Perugia, now in Firenze

How Egypt is trying to stop looting at ancient mosques


Raghead thieves are even stealing from their own mosque. In a bid to preserve old mosques and protect them from being looted, the Standing Committee of Islamic and Coptic Monuments, affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities, decided Jan. 4 to move old mosque artifacts to the ministry's warehouses. Smaller items, such as niches, carpets and chairs, are taking priority as they are easier to steal (Khalid Hassan How Egypt is trying to stop looting at ancient mosques
January 20, 2017).  Apparently a number of years ago,  an agreement was concluded between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Ministry of Endowments to entrust security companies associated with the armed forces with the task of guarding and protecting old mosques against theft and trespassing. The Ministry of Endowments did not implement the agreement and thefts continued.
Islamic monuments in Egypt are neglected and have been left vulnerable to robbers over the past years due to the conflict in the tasks and functions between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Ministry of Endowments. On Jan. 2, Anani called on Minister of Religious Endowments Muhammad Mukhtar to find a solution to the conflict between the two ministries. On Dec. 14, 2015, then-Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el-Damaty announced the theft of three niches from the storehouse of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, located in the al-Fustat area in old Cairo. The thieves managed to replace the niches in the museum with fake ones without the ministry noticing until after they were offered for sale abroad. One of the niches that belonged to Sultan Barquq was sold in an auction in London, while the two other niches that belonged to Sultan Hassan and Emir Selehdar were sold in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The ministry did not officially announce the recovery of these pieces. 
Probably the objects are safer in collections abroad than exposed to the risk of theft by greedy locals, probably aided by corrupt officials associated with the military dictatorship. Who knows how long ot will be before some of those smallportable items from government stores will start appearing on the western market? Not very long, in all probability.

The Curse of the King


A British law enforcement officer has a curse hanging over his head ("The strange case of the ancient Assyrian curse and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police"). The police officer has become embroiled in a legal dispute over the ownership of a 2,800-year-old artifact, worth an estimated £800,000. He is being sued by Lebanese antiques dealer after his officers seized the sculpted slab from the London auction house Bonhams, following claims it had been stolen.What is remarkable is that the stone, now housed in a police store in an 'undisclosed location' is protected with a chilling curse placed over anyone who tampers with it or moves it from its place of origin.
On the black basalt slab, part of a larger piece depicting King Adad-Nirari III, are carved the words: “Whoever discards this image from the presence of Salmanu . . . and places it into a taboo house which it is inaccessible, may the god Salmanu, the great lord, overthrow his sovereignty; may his name and his seed disappear in the land, may he live in a contingent together with the slave women of his land.”
Mr Korban can show proper provenance and utterly rejects the notion that it was obtained illegally.” In the place of the police chief, I'd give it back... but, to be honest, just to be on the safe side, when he gets it back from the British police, and it comes up for sale, I will not be placing a bid on it myself.


  

Friday, January 20, 2017

Islamists Destroy History Again



Two famous ancient structures in the city of Palmyra have been destroyed by ISIS forces, Syria's antiquities chief says. The Tetrapylon and the facade of the city's Roman theater have both been almost completely demolished, the official says, according to NPR's Alison Meuse. "Activist Khaled al-Homsi, who is from Palmyra, shared satellite imagery to Twitter, which appears to confirm the scale of the damage," Alison reports. "The face of the Roman theater is a pile of rubble and only four of the Tetrapylon's 16 columns appear to be standing." Alison notes that this is the second time over the course of Syria's six-year civil war that the Islamic State has seized control of Palmyra. ISIS first captured the ancient desert city in 2015. The extremist group held it for more than a year before the Syrian government seized it back — and then lost it again last month.
Camila Domonoske, 'ISIS Destroys Ancient Theater, Tetrapylon In Palmyra, Syria Says' NPR January 20, 2017

One of President Trump's pledges was to rid the world of radical Islamism. I think now on his watch, we can show the world what we can do to fulfil that aim.

The President will Repeal the MOUs?


“The American carnage stops right here, right now, From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first. America first [...] we’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own”

A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions




President Donald John Trump:
"We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people. Together we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges. We will confront hardships, but we will get the job done. [...] Jan. 20, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.[...] America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.[...] Together we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And, yes, together, we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you. God bless America."

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Egyptians To Sue 'The Jews' Over 'Stolen' Exodus Gold


Egyptian law dean plans suit against "all the Jews of the world" for Exodus theft
When, after the Ten Plagues, Pharaoh finally let Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt, says the book of Exodus, the former slaves "plundered the Egyptians."Now, more than three millennia later, Egypt wants its stuff back.
Nabil Hilmi, dean of the law school at Egypt's University of Al-Zaqaziq, is suing "all the Jews of the world" for stealing "from the Pharaonic Egyptians gold, jewelry, cooking utensils, silver ornaments, clothing, and more, leaving Egypt in the middle of the night with all this wealth, which today is priceless," according to the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute).
"If we assume that the weight of what was stolen was one ton, [its worth] doubled every 20 years, even if the annual interest is only 5 percent," Hilmi told the paper.
In one ton of gold is 700 kg of pure gold—and we must remember that what was stolen was jewelry, that is, alloyed with copper. Hence, after 1,000 years, it would be worth 1,125,898,240 million tons, which equals 1,125,898 billion tons for 1,000 years. In other words, 1,125 trillion tons of gold, that is, a million multiplied by a million tons of gold. This is for one stolen ton. The stolen gold is estimated at 300 tons, and it was not stolen for 1,000 years, but for 5,758 years, by the Jewish reckoning. Therefore, the debt is very large … The value must be calculated precisely in accordance with the information collected, and afterward a lawsuit must be filed against all the Jews of the world, and against the Jews of Israel in particular, so they will repay the Egyptians the debt that appears in the Torah.
Hilmi says he got the statistics from Exodus 35:12-36, which details the gold and other materials needed for the Tabernacle.
"This is the Middle East, and it's no joke. Nor is Hilmi a crackpot:" Yossi Klein Halevi writes in The Jerusalem Post. "The surrealistic suit says much about the quality of moral discourse in the Arab world today. … In the culture of self-pity that has gripped the Arab world, justice and grievance belongs to its side alone. Still, there is, potentially, good news in this deeply depressing story. By intending to sue 'every Jew in the world' for the theft of Pharaoh's gold, Hilmi is acknowledging that Jews are the legitimate descendants of the children of Israel."
Beth Goodtree is similarly excited in an article for the Israel Insider. "Now that Dr. Hilmi has recognized the Bible as historical fact, we Jews should comb the Bible for historical references to Jewish ownership of other lands and sites that are rightfully Jewish," she writes. "We should then sue all the interlopers and usurpers to get back that which is ours. And our chief witness can be Dr. Hilmi, G-d bless his hateful little heart."

Monday, January 16, 2017

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Saudi Cleric: "Culture is Evil"


A Saudi Arabian cleric has declared that culture is evil:
Saudi Arabia’s highest-ranking cleric has warned of the "depravity" of cinemas and music concerts, saying they would corrupt morals if allowed in the ultra-conservative kingdom. "We know that singing concerts and cinemas are a depravity," Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh said in a television interview cited by the Sabq news website late on Friday. The head of the Saudi supreme council of clerics  [...] warned that cinemas "might show movies that are libertine, lewd, immoral and atheist, because they rely on films imported to change our culture", according to Sabq. He said there is "no good" in singing concerts, insisting that music entertainment and opening cinemas represent a "call for mixing between sexes". "At the beginning they would assign areas for women, but then both men and women will end up in one area. This corrupts morals and destroys values," he said. However, "entertainment through cultural and scientific media is okay", he said, urging the authority "not to open doors for evil". 
"Saudi mufti warns of ‘depravity’ of cinemas and concerts" The National, January 14, 2017.

This is a good reason why enlightened collectors who live outside regions where such false ideas are rife should be allowed, and even encouragedm, to preserve cultural items that would otherwise be in danger of being damaged if left in lands currently ruled by despotic and corrupt, culture-despising  ideologues.

The Truth about Retentionism


There is a clear link between cultural heritage retentionism and the abuse of human rights:
Peter Tompa ‏@Aurelius161180 2 hours ago
There is a correlation between nationalistic govt's that demand repatriation of cultural artifacts abroad with human rights abuses at home.
This is especially the case among corrupt and repressive raghead states like Egypt and Turkey.

Monday, January 9, 2017

Report that Antiquities Sales is Major ISIS Funding Source Disputed by Authorities


Joseph Coplin, co-owner of New York antiquities dealer Antiquarium on behalf of the American Council for the Preservation of Cultural Property, and James McAndrew, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s International Art and Antiquity Theft Investigations Program [made] a joint statement, “There is a great deal of incorrect information being disseminated by the media, generally groundless numbers generated by special interest groups that are parroted by the media without the benefit of fact-checking. Conceiving and implementing military or legal agenda based on bad data is dangerous.” [...] Coplin and McAndrew told Homeland Security Today that, “Grantham’s article provides absolutely no evidence that objects purportedly looted by ISIS have been sold to art collectors --that is because there is no evidence available. There have been no seizures of such material at US ports of entry, or by European customs. There have been no pieces removed from auctions, art fairs or dealers’ galleries that were proven to originate from the current crisis, despite the hundreds of thousands of legal and transparent transactions of antiquities that occur every year in the art market.”
“This is not, as Grantham suggests, because Western powers are turning a blind eye to such material; in fact, it is exactly the opposite,” Coplin and McAndrew said. “There have been intense efforts: legislative, law enforcement, diplomatic, social media, etc., to stop the influx of looted material from ISIS. It’s just that none of it has turned up outside of the region. Another issue that needs to be stated is that the Western antiquity market is already saturated with this type of material from the over the 100 years previous to ISIS when these common objects were freely traded. Anyone who collects this type of thing can find it in the legitimate market place in the West. Ancient Near Eastern is not a particularly popular collecting interest in the current market, partly because it is so heavily scrutinized, even though the material is relatively common.”
Anthony Kimery, 'Report that Antiquities Sales is Major ISIS Funding Source Disputed by Authorities' Homeland Security Today, Jan 7 2017.


 

The Temple of Hephaestus,Athens

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Another Large Hoard of Coins Found in China


Chinese archeologists are trying to deprive some lucky finders of antiquities of their find because they were "uncovered without permission"  on a riverbank beside the Gan River in Xingan county, Jiangxi province, last week. The private excavation of antiques is illegal as Chinese law stipulates that all such discoveries belong to the state. Hundreds of Chinese treasure hunters battled the police sent to stop them as they dug up more than 500kg of ancient coins during an unauthorised mass dig near a river. The police had to bring in 20 reinforcements the next day to repress the finders. The coins are thought to have been part of a Qing courtier’s fortune, which was lost when a ship sank as he was travelling home to Jiangxi after his retirement. The authorities plan to carry out a further archeological dig at the site ("Police ignored as Chinese treasure hunters dig up 500kg of Qing dynasty coins" South China Morning Post Thursday, 05 January, 2017)


 
Tis news story illustrated very well that the concerns of the archeologists are not so much preservation of the artifacts, but control.  Also huge hoards like this show that Chines cash coins like this are hardly rare artefacts of cultural significance and should be released for sale to collectors who will preserve and display them.

 

Minaret collapses as a result of strong winds in Alexandria



Egypt's usual standards of looking after its historical heritage Minaret collapses as a result of strong winds in Alexandria. Scandal.