Rio team toils to rescue items from devastating fire

A devastating fire gutted Rio’s National Museum in September and consumed most of its collection of 20m items, and irreplaceable archives went up in smoke. Yet some objects have survived, some 1,500 finds were made so far – including indigenous bowls, arrowheads and an axe – no matter how blackened or broken. Museum workers hope a new National Museum can emerge from its ashes.

A key moment was the rediscovery of “Luzia” – the 11,500-year old skull of “the first Brazilian woman” believed lost in the fire, then rescued in fragments from the remains of a metal cupboard. “It was a symbolic moment,” said historian Regina Dantas, 56. Six days a week, the 60-strong recovery team picks through the ruins; their findings are taken to a screening area, examined by specialists and stored in containers.

The fire was inevitable:

For decades, museum directors had pleaded for more money to protect the wooden-floored museum. In June, as the museum celebrated its 200th birthday, Brazil’s government development bank finally agreed to $5.6m for restoration work. But none of it had arrived when the fire broke out. [...]   In 2017, the museum’s budget was just $203,000 to care for Brazil’s most precious collection of historical, biological and anthropological items.[...] Police are still investigating the causes of the blaze, but the museum’s current director, Alexander Kellner, said he was well aware of the fire risk when he took office in February, but was unable to install a safety system in time.

 ” 'The museum is alive' - Rio team toils to rescue items from devastating fire

Italy is Unreasonable to Claim to the Getty's "Victorious Youth" Statue

Following a court ruling claiming ownership, Italy will now seek enforcement of its unilateral legal judgement in an American court. First and foremost the Victorious Youth that is on display at the Getty isn’t an Italian statue. Not even remotely Italian. It’s a Greek bronze statue believed to have been masterfully sculpted by Lysippus, who worked around the time of Alexander the Great. In unknown events, the statue was lost at sea. A shipwreck, perhaps, when Ancient Greek colonies shared trade, commerce and art from Athens to the southern shores of what is today (but wasn’t then) Italy. We will never know how the Victorious Youth ended up at the bottom of the sea a few thousand years ago but even this is irrelevant to the fact that its creator and style (and probably origin) were all Greek.  

How the case came to court:

In 1964 the statue was fished out of the ocean by Italian fisherman from the village of Fano in the Adriatic Sea. The fishy fisherman were hoping for a pay day themselves and hid the statue in a cabbage field, before selling it (illegally) to a local art dealer who hid it in the home of Father Giovanni Nagni, a local Catholic priest, before (illegally) selling it to an art collector in Milan. The statue was snuck out of the country without the knowledge or permission of Italian authorities, or an export license, which is required for such artwork. It made its way to an art dealer in Munich, Germany and was eventually purchased in the late 1970s by the Getty for almost $4 million. This is where the Italian government’s own legal claims dating to the 1970s might come back to haunt them in their legal claims today. The Italian government charged the fisherman with handling stolen property, and were convicted. But the ruling was overturned by Italy’s highest court because, according to court records, the prosecution could not prove that the statue was recovered in Italian waters. This ruling from the 1970s moots Italy’s sole claim to ownership to this statue, that is based on the location where it was found, since an Italian court itself claimed and proved that the fisherman could not prove that the statue was found in Italian waters. 

 The good news is that the Getty isn’t bending to the Italians on this particular matter.

 Lisa Lapin, Vice President of Communications at the Getty fired back at the Italians when the court announced its ruling. “We will continue to defend our legal right to the statue. The law and facts in this case do not warrant restitution to the Italian government. The statue is of ancient Greek origin, was found in international waters in 1964, and was purchased by the Getty Museum in 1977, years after Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, concluded in 1968 there was no evidence that the statue belonged to Italy.” Furthermore– and this is where I agree with the Getty mores than for any legal ruling or court evidence. “Moreover, the statue is not and has never been part of Italy’s cultural heritage. Accidental discovery by Italian citizens does not make the statue an Italian object. Found outside the territory of any modern state, and immersed in the sea for two millennia, the Bronze has only a fleeting and incidental connection with Italy.” The Getty proudly displays the Victorious Youth as a Greek statue and considers it one of its most prized pieces. The bronze artwork “has never been part of Italy’s cultural heritage” and thus, doesn’t deserve to claim it or own it. The issue of whether or not the statue should be returned to Greece– well that’s a whole other argument with nothing to do with the legal battle between Italy and the Getty.

Italy is Unreasonable to Claim to the Getty's "Victorious Youth" Statue

Murder in Istanbul

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and dissident, was called to the Saudi embassy in Istanbul on Tuesday, and has not been seen or heard from since. Tragically, he is now feared dead. We must demand immediate answers from the Saudi government. The killing, if confirmed, would mark a startling escalation of Saudi Arabia’s effort to silence dissent. Under direction from the crown prince, Saudi authorities have carried out hundreds of arrests under the banner of national security, rounding up clerics, business executives and even women’s rights advocates.

Archeologists Forced to Give German Farmer $1 Million for an Ancient Roman Bronze Found on His Property

In Germany, archeologists tried to cheat a property owner of what was rightfully his, but truth and justice this time prevailed:

After the man learned that this was no ordinary
find, he sued the government to get his fair share of the value.

When archeologists uncovered a 2,000-year-old Roman horse head during a dig on a farm in Lahnau, Germany, in 2009, they immediately knew it was the find of a lifetime. Now, almost 10 years later, a court has concluded that the farmer who owned the land deserves to profit off of the discovery, too. The incredibly well preserved antiquity had been left at the bottom of a 36-foot well, covered with water and protected from air. Initially, the state had paid the farmer just €48,000 (about $55,946) for the head, which was found on his property. But the man, whose name has not been made public, sued the government after reading news reports about the gravity and value of the discovery, which was trumpeted as one of the best preserved Roman bronzes in the world. On July 27, the Limburg regional court concluded that the farmer was entitled to half the estimated €1.6 million ($1.8 million) value of the antiquity. The local government now owes man a total of €773,000 (nearly $904,000)—plus interest.

Kate Brown, A German Farmer Was Just Awarded Almost $1 Million for an Ancient Roman Bronze Found on His Property Artnet news July 30, 2018

An English Metal Detectorist Finds a Super Roman gold signet ring

News from England

An amateur metal detectorist has discovered a Roman gold signet ring in a Somerset field. The 48g ring was uncovered at the same site, in Crewkerne, where a rare Roman lead-lined coffin was found. It's thought to be 24-carat gold with an onyx engraving of the God of Victory. The ring is yet to be fully assessed by the British Museum but local finds officers believe it dates from 200-300 AD.

 A metal detectorist discovered the Roman gold signet ring BBC:

Powder Keg Paris: 300,000 illegal migrants are living in one French suburb

Paris is lost. The rest of the EU isn't far behind. Powder Keg Paris: 300,000 illegal migrants are living in one French suburb

Recently, it was reported that this sprawling district now holds as many as 300,000 illegal immigrants, many of whom rely on crime or the 'black economy' to make money. The official legal population in Saint-Denis is estimated at 1.5 million. There are an estimated 135 different nationalities in Saint-Denis, most extremely poor, including an estimated 600,000 Muslims from North African or sub-Saharan African backgrounds. People bought and sold drugs openly. What law there is takes place inside Sharia courts, where Islamic leaders dispense the same forms of justice practised in the countries from which many here fled. Police have reportedly admitted the area is a 'no-go' zone, and will only drive through the areas armed and four to a vehicle. There are around 350 known jihadists living in Saint-Denis, while 1,700 are believed to have returned to France after fighting for IS in Syria, with 15,000 terrorism suspects in France. In Saint-Denis itself, there is a record number of mosques — 160 official ones, and many more unofficial — compared with 117 Catholic churches and 60 Protestant. Yet it is the unauthorised mosques — set up in basements and garages — that the authorities fear the most. 'The radicalisers use these hidden places of worship to influence the young and impressionable,' said a veteran police officer who has worked in Saint-Denis for more than two decades. He added: 'Salafists (followers of an extreme form of Islam) impose the rule of religion, so we can have very little influence. These radicalisers are the ones who motivate the young towards terrorism.'

See the Geller Report version here, and the comments below it. Food for thought.

Medieval penny far from home

Coins circulated widely in the ancient world

An early 10th c. Danelaw (Viking) imitation of a Winchester style penny by an Oxford moneyer which was found in Italy...

Moslem Teenager jailed for life over British Museum bomb plot

A young woman who was part of a group of Moslems planning a trecherous attack on our culture and values in the UK was caught and was convicted of terrorism offences. She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 13 years (Damien Gayle,"Teenager jailed for life over British Museum bomb plot" Fri 3 Aug 2018).

A jury found that Safaa Boular plotted with her partner, Naweed Hussain, an Islamic State militant, to launch a grenade and bomb attack on the British Museum in Bloomsbury, central London. She was also found guilty of attempting to travel to Syria to join Isis. Boular was the final member of her terror cell to be sentenced at the Old Bailey, after the convictions of her mother, Mina Dich, 44, her older sister, Rizlaine Boular, 22, and the family friend Khawla Barghouthi, 21.

In choosing the museum as a target of their heinous crimes, these retarded Moslem crazies apparently wanted to show their disregard for our traditional cultural values. I feel strongly that, if we continue to allow crazed destructive animals like these among us we, and all we stand for, are in terrible danger.

Benefits of Coin Collecting

A quote from Francesco Gnecchi, "Roman Coins, Elementary Manual", London, 1903, page 3.

Francesco Gnecchi (8 September 1847, Milan – 15 June 1919, Rome) was an Italian painter and numismatist.

In Britain, Archeologists Should Follow Patterns Pioneered by Collectors

Where the archeology ends up in Britain

John Howland in England writes "Dump it or Sell it?" Detecting and Collecting June 21, 2018

Britain’s archaeologists are dumping tens of thousands of unrecorded finds; pottery fragments; flint tools; medieval coins; for no better reason – they claim – than a lack of proper storage facilities. This deplorable situation was first revealed back in June 2016, by Patrick Sawer, the Daily Telegraph’s Senior Reporter. Whereas the UK’s detectorists have and are documenting well over a million artefacts on the UK Government-financed Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), or, with the privately run the United Kingdom Detector Finds Database (UKDFD), the reverse is catastrophically occurring in the archaeological world. 

Thousands of historical fragments are simply being dumped in skips. It seems there needs to be a system so that archeology’ can become in part, self-funding by selling off what it doesn’t need to collectors after having been properly recorded. Howland makes an important point about ownership:

Equally important perhaps, is the urgent need for farmers and landowners to know precisely what artefacts they have allowed excavators to be carted off and equally vital, whether they want them returned. Artefacts dumped without the knowledge of their owners is theft and might well place a well-meaning archaeologist in an invidious position. It would be equitable if landowners, farmers, and archaeologists entered into negotiated Finds Agreements of the kind pioneered by Britain’s detectorists to protect everyone’s interests. 

Some Things Never Change. A Letter of Complaint

One of the best historical documents ever. This Old Babylonian clay tablet, written in cuneiform 3,700 years ago, may be the oldest customer complaint letter yet discovered. The copper merchant Nanni details at length his anger at a sour deal, and his dissatisfaction with the quality assurance and service of Ea-nasir. Nanni complained that the wrong grade of copper ore has been delivered after a gulf voyage and that there was a misdirection and a delay of a further shipment. Assyriologist Leo Oppenheim translated and published the letter; Tell Ea-nasir:

Nanni sends the following message: When you came, you said to me as follows: “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!” What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory. Is there anyone among the merchants who trade with Telmun who has treated me in this way? You alone treat my messenger with contempt! On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas. How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full. Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.

Museum under fire over decaying artifacts

An increasing number of objects stored by Danish museums are falling apart, a report shows. The acceleration of mold and decay is blamed on "changing climate patterns" (Stephen Gadd, "National Museum under fire over decaying artefacts Sub-standard storage facilities a problem for Denmark’s museums" CphPost.dk July 5, 2018).

Storage facilities are often old building such as redundant schools, cellars, lofts or barns that don’t have air conditioning systems installed to control damp and temperature. A note from the Danish national auditor, Rigsrevisionen, reveals that around 1,000 historical arteficts have been thrown away by Denmark’s National Museum due to damage from mold, rats or insects, reports DR Nyheder. The report goes on to criticise the museum for not solving its storage problems, despite them being pointed out as long ago as 2007.

It has been suggested that none of the lost items were particularly irreplaceable from a historical or cultural point of view, the objects "deaccessioned" were things that are very well represented in collections already. The problem, of course, is money – or the lack of it for proper care.  There is therefore a risk of further items being lost or damaged before the problem is sorted out. Measures need to be taken by those responsible for museums in that country so that items will not be lost to decay but it will also be easier to locate things needed for exhibitions as they will be know better what they have got and where it is, which seems not to be the case at present.

Why can they not sell what is not needed to collectors to preserve asnd display, rather than keep everything jumbled together in stores that are not fit for the purpose?

Guilt Killing the West from within

Figures from the East Pediment of the Parthenon, exhibited as
part of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.
(Image source: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia Commons)

Italian writer Giulio Meotti addresses the problem of the crisis of the West ("Is Guilt Killing the West from Within?"  Gatestone Institute July 1, 2018):

  A "sense of guilt" for colonialism is debasing the West from within, according to Professor Bruce Gilley, and authoritarian regimes such as Iran, Russia, China and Turkey are profiting from this weakness. [...] The cultural elite in the West now seem so haunted by feelings of imperialist guilt that they are no longer confident that our civilization is something to be proud of. [...] The French scholar Shmuel Trigano suggested that this ideology is turning the Westerners into "post-colonial subjects" who no longer believe in their own civilization, but instead what will destroy it: multiculturalism.  

The antiquities we collect are also involved in this existential struggle, the campaign to repatriate cultural artifacts is born of this guilt artifacts taken out of Third World countries for safekeeping in former times are seen now as "thefts" committed by the colonial powers at the time. Not everyone agrees,  Zareer Masani, a historian of Indian origins, writing in the British newspaper The Telegraph, took a different position. It was the colonialists, he said, who had a decisive role in preserving the antiquities of the civilization:

"It was their dedication, often at huge personal sacrifice, that unlocked the wonders of many lost classical civilisations... The fact is that we have no idea what would have become of the world's 'looted' antiquities if they hadn't been preserved in Western collections. Would the treasures of Beijing's Summer palace have survived Mao's Cultural Revolution? Would the Elgin marbles have survived Turkish tour guides chopping off chunks to sell as souvenirs? Would Daesh [ISIS] have spared those Middle Eastern artefacts that survive in European museums?".

This has repercussions, western elites have excused many crimes committed in the name for example of political Islam, as if these were the consequences of our own colonial crimes. In 2015, ISIS destroyed Palmyra, one of the most important cities of the ancient world. But the West watched this cultural destruction passively and nothing was done to stop them.  As was stated by France's most important scholar of Islamism, Gilles Kepel:

Unfortunately, what we are "returning" are not only the colonial artifacts, but our very pride in Western civilization. A new "damnation of the memory" is taking place in our own museums, academia and chattering classes -- and it has deep consequences for our ability to deal with the enemies of civilization. "Postcolonial material provides an important fuel for jihadism." 

A Moment in Time from a Vanished Life...

A find by the excavators at the Isola Sacra necropolis - a toddler’s footprint in an ancient Roman roof tile. You can imagine the children playing in the workshop and running across the wet clay tiles while their parents shout at them! This is the appeal of collecting antiquities, a moment in time frozen in tangible form for eternity.

Moslem Egypt Shuns its Ancient History

Mohammed Nosseir  a liberal politician from Egypt, is a strong advocate of political participation and economic freedom. He has written an important article acknowledging the truth about the capabilities of the Egyptians to look after the heritage of their land ('Egypt will pay a steep price for shunning its ancient history', Arab News June 29, 2018)

Egypt possesses millions of highly valuable and universally admired artifacts, and has always had a smuggling problem. The current tendency to favor government megaprojects while overlooking the importance of ancient Egyptian antiquities to the development of our country has encouraged many to engage in the illicit trafficking of antiquities, a practice that has been increasing substantially, especially in the last few years.  [...] Meanwhile, as it focuses on projects that might help to feed citizens in the future, the government is paying less attention to protecting and promoting our antiquities [...]. Our government has still not provided proper professional management for the astonishing monuments and artifacts built by the pharaohs thousands of years ago — this kind of shunning of our history has prompted several nations to claim that the ancient civilization of the pharaohs does not belong to us. Minimal effort is needed to better protect and promote our ancient history, which could potentially generate billions in revenues. Instead, we have entrusted the management of our most valuable antiquities to a handful of bureaucrats, some of whom are engaged in smuggling. The Egyptian government needs to be extremely firm with antiquities smugglers. This is more a matter of enforcing existing laws than promulgating new ones. Many nations whose antiquities are certainly less valuable than ours are significantly more knowledgeable about the protection and promotion of antiquities than we are. Egypt needs to assign these nations as the caretakers of our antiquities to better display them to international visitors. 

Who Guards the Guardians?

Museum night watchman from the Archaeological Museum of Santorini in Greece is one of two people charged with stealing/possessing a number of artifacts taken from the museum's storage facility ( Santorini museum guard arrested over stolen artifacts).

Authorities said they found the man in possession of 15 clay pots dating to the 17th century BC that had been discovered at the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, as well as three figurines (two stone and one clay) and a crystal glass object from the Sanctuary of Aphrodite in Ancient Thera, among other valuable artifacts. A second person has been arrested in connection with the same case, according to the police, but no details have been released regarding his or her identity or role. An investigation into the suspects’ activities is under way, though the police said that they are believed to have been active for at least a year, stealing valuable objects from the museum’s collection that are not on display and selling them on the illegal antiquities market.

Archeologists Versus Metal Detectors

Archeologists are at their usual personal-freedom-limiting activities again: War erupts over metal detecting on Britain's battlefields

Detectorists argue that because of the scattered nature of material on battlefields, their method is the best way to gather the historical evidence.

So the archaeologists should let them get on with gathering thse historical items before they are plowed away.

coins circulated widely in the past

This crude counterfeit of an Abbasid dinar of the 8th or 9th century was found in northern England. It hints at how widely known such gold coins must have been in Anglo-Saxon England, some 2,500 miles away from where they were made.

China Exhibition of Recovered Stolen Cultural Relics

Shanxi holds exhibition of recovered stolen cultural relics Xinhua May 28

An exhibition featuring 4,431 recovered stolen cultural relics, mostly bronzeware from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, was held at the provincial museum of north China's Shanxi Province. The province earlier launched a campaign to crack down on the theft of ancient tombs, architecture, stone carvings, frescoes and sculptures. So far, the province has caught 296 suspects in cultural heritage-related crimes and solved 230 such cases. A total of 29 gangs were caught and 2,525 items were retrieved in Shanxi, according to the provincial public security department. Shanxi is home to 452 cultural relics sites under state-level protection and more than 28,000 ancient architectural sites -- the highest of all provincial regions. The exhibition is expected to last until August.

Once again showing the effectiveness of going after the thieves rather than collectors.

Greek Museum Guard Arrested over Stolen Artifacts

A night guard at the Archeological Museum of Santorini in Greece has allegedly been caught in possession of several items that were stolen from the museum he was supposed to be guarding, the Culture Ministry confirmed on Sunday.

Authorities said they found the man in possession of 15 clay pots dating to the 17th century BC that had been discovered at the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, as well as three figurines (two stone and one clay) and a crystal glass object from the Sanctuary of Aphrodite in Ancient Thera, among other valuable artifacts. A second person has been arrested in connection with the same case, according to the police, but no details have been released regarding his or her identity or role. An investigation into the suspects’ activities is under way, though the police said that they are believed to have been active for at least a year, stealing valuable objects from the museum’s collection that are not on display and selling them on the illegal antiquities market.

and of course it is collectors which will get the blame, not the thieves.

No MOU for Yemen?

Carole Basri and David Dangoor write "The Iraqi Jewish Archive is stolen property that should go back to its original owners", The Hill 04/27/18

The cultural property of many indigenous peoples of the Middle East is in grave danger, and the West is actively participating in the permanent theft and loss of this property from its original, legal owners. The most notable example of this is the Iraqi Jewish Archive, a collection of books and rare documents that a U.S. Army team found in the basement of Saddam Hussein’s intelligence headquarters in May 2003.  Though these items had been forcibly confiscated by Iraqi authorities from the more than 150,000 Jews who fled the country during the previous century, the United States will return them to Iraq. [...] The Iraqi Jewish Archive, a testament to a 2,600-year-old community, was in poor condition from neglect when it came to the United States to be preserved, catalogued and digitized. It has been on exhibit in a number of cities for several years. If it returns to Iraq, its original, legal owners will never be able to see it. [...] The Iraqi Jewish Archive should return to the private and communal Iraqi Jewish owners, who were not consulted on the expropriation of their property or the agreement to return the property to Iraq. 

If it gets back in Iraqi hands, there is no control on what they do with it, it will probably fall apart through the same neglect as happened last time they 'looked after' it.

At the beginning of the last century, almost 1 million Jews lived in the Middle East and North Africa. Living in what is today known as the “Arab world,” these Jews had preceded Islam and the Arab presence in much of the region by around a millennium. This all came to an end during the middle and latter part of the last century when these indigenous communities were forcibly expelled en masse, leaving few Jews remaining in the Middle East, outside of Israel.

For example in Yemen:

In Yemen, where Jews long have lived in second-class status with the threat of death by senior officials, all but a few Jews have fled the country. Some who fled grabbed what they could, such as religious possessions, but even these ultimately could be returned to Yemen. On Jan. 31, 2018, the International Council of Museums released a Red List for Yemen that directly targets Hebrew manuscripts and Torah finials. The Red List notes, “Yemeni authorities will ask for the retrieval and the repatriation” of these items. Frequently, issuing a Red List is the first step in a process to hold public hearings and ultimately pass memorandums of understanding between the United States and foreign governments that blockade art and cultural property, denying U.S. citizens the rights to their historic heritage.

This issue is not just a Jewish one.

Many other indigenous groups are being disenfranchised and forced to flee from parts of the Middle East — the Yazidis, the Kurds, Coptic Christians, Sunnis and Shias. Like the Jews, they are losing not just their homes and communities but also their communal treasures, personal assets and, by extension, their history.

the authors conclude:

The United States [...] should reverse its policies on the return of personal and communal Jewish assets to countries where Jews are not welcome. Before it is too late, Washington should stop the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the government of Yemen. This is not only a matter of law; it is above all, a matter of justice.

Moslems and Christians in the ancient world

A truly remarkable discovery is coming up for auction, a new Qur'an palimpsest probably dating from the late-8th/early-9th century CE. It's remarkable because 'upper-text' is the Qur'an and the lower text is biblical (Christie's "Lot 1AN UNRECORDED QUR’AN PALIMPSEST COPIED ON AN EARLIER COPTIC BIBLEPROBABLY EGYPT, SECOND CENTURY AH/CIRCA 8TH CENTURY AD AND EARLIEREstimate  USD 111,600 - USD 167,399)

Nine folios, comprising Qur'an V, sura al-ma'ida, v.40 to v.58, v.69 to v.76, v.83 to v.88, v.116 to v.120 (some in parts only), and Qur'an VI, sura al-an'am, v.1 to v.9, on vellum, the Arabic text inscribed above passages from the Deuteronomy in Coptic, each folio with up to 11ll. of sepia later hijazi or early kufic, one folio with foliate sura heading in polychrome, each folio with areas of loss, one folio in two sections Largest folio 4 3/8 x 5 1/8in. (11.1 x 12.7cm.)

The under-text of this palimpsest was a Copt translation of the biblical book of Deuteronomy (the last of the five Books of Moses from the Torah). This text was erased from the parchment, which was reused to copy part of the Qur'an. Even back then, the Moslems were intent on wiping out Christian culture and values.

Megan Fox Pisses Archaeologists

Megan Fox has a new show coming out on the Travel Channel (Rae Paoletta. "Megan Fox's "Alternative History" Show Has Archaeologists Rightfully Pissed" April 25, 2018) According to Deadline, the network just gave the green light to Mysteries and Myths with Megan Fox, a “four-episode hourlong series showing archaeologists as gatekeepers of information, actively trying to hide the truth from the rest of us.

 “Fox has been obsessed since an early age with the history of ancient cultures, people and places — always questioning their ‘documented’ story,” a spokesperson from the Travel Channel tells Deadline. “Now she is embarking on an epic and personal journey across the globe, where archaeologists and experts will re-examine history, asking tough questions and challenging the conventional wisdom that has existed for centuries. The series will delve into some of the greatest mysteries of time, including whether Amazon women really existed or if the Trojan War was real.” [...]   “History only gives us a one-sided view of the truth,” Fox tells Deadline. “I haven’t spent my entire life building a career in academia so I don’t have to worry about my reputation or being rebuked by my colleagues, which allows me to push back on the status quo. So much of our history needs to be re-examined.” 

In the past archaeological research and historical narratives have been manipulated for nationalist agendas and worse.

Shabti Army

Flinders Petrie Museum London

Tanagra Barber cutting a man's hair

Barber cutting a man's hair -  terracotta with traces of polychromy-Tanagra, Boiotia, Greece-early 5th century BC Both bearded men wearing chitons-flesh of both men is dark red-Chitons appear white-the stool, yellow-Base white w/ red paint along the edge (MFA Boston)

Denmark’s past is rotting away in its museums

Inside a European museum store

In the last three years, mold has been discovered in 118 storage facilities around Denmark. Roskilde Museum is a typical example, where up to 70,000 items are in danger of being permanently lost, Poor storage facilities mean that mold is destroying cultural heritage.(Howard Jarvis, "Denmark’s past is rotting away in its museums" Tourism 21 March 2018)

Mold and decay are getting the better of artefacts from the past that are hidden away in Denmark’s increasingly musty museums [...] Danish museums are fighting a losing battle when it comes to preserving the country’s cultural heritage. Many of the storage areas used by museums are not fit for the purpose. Often they are in old buildings such as redundant schools, cellars, attics and even barns, which lack the air conditioning systems necessary to control the temperature and keep away the damp.   As with the parallel issue of declining visitor numbers, this is not a new problem. In 2007 and again in 2014, the national auditors Rigsrevisionen sounded the alarm to the Culture Ministry, according to the media reports. Politicians and state funders are not taking the matter seriously enough [...] But museums cannot expect financial relief from the culture ministry any time soon, the minister Mette Bock responded, saying, “I must make it clear that there is no extra money for museums this year.”

It is a no-brainer that underfunded museums need to sell off some of these stored items to collectors to look after, and get the  funds to look after the rest.

New York Art Dealer Attacked in Foreign Jail

A New York art dealer imprisoned in India without a trial for two years has now been attacked in prison by a murder suspect in Trichy Central Prison according to the Times of India .

Kapoor has been lodged in Trichy Central Prison after his arrest in Germany in 2016. Yuvaraj, who was lodged in the Vellore Central Prison, was shifted to Trichy Central Prison on March 1 over security reasons. According to prison sources, the duo engaged in a scuffle when Yuvraj questioned Kapoor of wasting water. Kapoor was washing his cloths using water from a common tap. Yuvraj asked him to close the tap and not to waste water. But Kapoor refused to do so and asked Yuvraj to mind his own business. After a brief altercation, Yuvraj started slapping Kapoor. Prison guards came to Kapoor’s rescue hearing his cries. 

Beaten up for washing his clothes? The US authorities should be doing everything they can to end the captivity of this reputable dealer in inhumane conditions and bring Mr Kapoor home.

Famed Archaeologist 'Discovered' His Own Fakes at 9,000-Year-Old Settlement

Owen Jarus, Famed Archaeologist 'Discovered' His Own Fakes at 9,000-Year-Old Settlement Live Science March 12, 2018

A famed archaeologist well-known for discovering the sprawling 9,000-year-old settlement in Turkey called Çatalhöyük seems to have faked several of his ancient findings and may have run a "forger's workshop" of sorts, one researcher says. James Mellaart, who died in 2012, created some of the "ancient" murals at Çatalhöyük that he supposedly discovered; he also forged documents recording inscriptions that were found at Beyköy, a village in Turkey, said geoarchaeologist Eberhard Zangger, president of the Luwian Studies Foundation. Zangger examined Mellaart's apartment in London between Feb. 24 and 27, finding "prototypes," as Zangger calls them, of murals and inscriptions that Mellaart had claimed were real.  [...] Mellaart first published descriptions of the Çatalhöyük murals in 1962 in the magazine Archaeology, and published more examples over the following decades. Some of the murals that Mellaart described in publications showed only drawings and no actual photographs. These include a mural from Çatalhöyük that supposedly shows a volcano exploding. How many of the Çatalhöyük murals are fake is not yet clear. Mellaart "produced a mélange of published facts, unpublished data and imagination. It is virtually impossible to disentangle," Zangger said. Mellaart's career was not without controversy. In 1964, he was accused of inadvertently aiding smugglers trying to sell stolen artifacts and was barred from excavating in Turkey. "He still had half a century to live. During this time, he appears to have increasingly entered an imaginary world. Maybe he wanted to somehow retaliate by misleading his colleagues in the field," Zangger said. [...] Mellaart was evidently a genius in some ways. But he misused his talents, thereby causing tremendous damage to the field," Zangger said. Ian Hodder, who currently leads excavations at Çatalhöyük, declined to comment on the situation.

End of Imperial Cremation Rites

Who was the last Roman emperor to have been cremated? Cremation declined in the 2nd c., but the funeral pyre is often represented on the posthumous coinage of the 2nd and 3rd c. with Claudius Gothicus being the last emperor whose coin featured this image.

Image Patasos Coins

ICOM/DOS Red List leveraged to justify repatriation of artifacts of displaced Jews to war torn Yemen!

ICOM/DOS Red List leveraged to justify repatriation of artifacts of displaced Jews to war torn Yemen!

Artifacts Repatriated and put back into Danger

"We send them back to be destroyed"

In the article "Two Suspects Arrested for Smuggling Relics from Syria into Lebanon" (SyndiGate.info February 3, 2018), we are shocked to read:

Trafficked archaeological objects intercepted by security forces have filled warehouses in Beirut as conflicts in Syria and Iraq have raged on. But now many of those same storage rooms lie empty as Lebanon became the first country in the region to repatriate the looted artifacts to their countries of origin.

and:

Each retrieved piece is examined by the DGA to determine where it came from. A list of objects is then submitted to the country of origin and, upon its request, a plan for repatriation is agreed upon. “If the competent authorities [in the country of origin] send us a repatriation request, we must comply with it,” Anne-Marie Afeiche, Director of the National Museum of Beirut, said in January 2017. “These objects are part of the cultural heritage of that country and we are responsible for their safety only as long as they are on Lebanese soil.”

It seems the notion of providing a safe haven for the cultural property of all mankind is a foreign one to her. Sending them back to war-torn Syria is the last thing they should be doing.

Britain's PAS - Rescuing History

James Fielding writes on " The PAS - Rescuing History:

The metal detecting community in England and some of the more enlightened practitioners of the actual art and science of real honest archaeology, as well as the British Museum no less, have come together to discover, document, recover, study, curate and display the neglected artifacts of an ancient age. And they are making fantastic inroads in mutual cooperation, as well as historic finds, with their marvelous Portable Antiquities Scheme or PAS for short. As a result, English history and the tangible remains thereof, have received a tremendous boost in popularity, with the citizens and certain savvy academics, sporting a newly renewed interest in the lives of those who lived thousands of years ago through their everyday objects and coinage.
Of course, none of this came easy, as the old guard, somewhat yellowed and musty, in archaeological circles, organizations and institutions fought tooth and nail against it...as they still do here in America. The sounds of tiny gnashing teeth, an amazing side job in hysterically dissing artifact and coin collectors, along with the infantile name-calling habit, are still heard in certain puddles of these folks who choose to live in the academic basement of archaeological origins and practices. 

Mr Fielding astutely points out that despite this, there are some 21st Century archaeologists that have been turning to experienced metal detecting practitioners for help in racing the clock in recovering items being destroyed by chemical-based farming, road building, new structures and the like. Metal detectorists would do well to emulate this here in the United States before its too late.

Egypt’s Undemocratic Election

 If there was any doubt that Egypt’s upcoming presidential election will be neither free nor fair, the arrest of former military chief of staff Sami Anan shortly after announcing that he would run for president has made it crystal clear. The March vote will in no way confirm President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s popularity among the Egyptian people. This election campaign is merely an extension of the internal power struggle among the military and the regime’s security services, and it has nothing to do with democratic mechanisms worthy of the name.

(Sara Khorshid "Egypt’s Undemocratic Election" Foreign Policy January 24, 2018)

Years of extrajudicial arrests of activists and opponents, enforced disappearances and killings, lengthy political detentions, and plenty of prison and death sentences have left Egyptians craving an alternative. [...]  In the current moment of despair in Egypt, it seems easy to forget what everyone knows — that the army and its leadership have enjoyed an undemocratically privileged status and immunization from public or parliamentary accountability since Nasser and the Free Officers ousted the country’s monarchy in 1952. The only civilian to make it to the presidential office in modern Egyptian history, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted by the army in 2013
[...]  there will be no hope for democratization in Egypt without a dismantling of the regime’s kleptocratic powers and a radical reformation of the security agencies that have immunized themselves from real public oversight and accountability for decades. Many committed democrats tried to be optimistic when Morsi was ousted in 2013. They wanted to believe that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamist conservatism was gone and that Sisi wouldn’t dare to defy the people’s will again after he saw them take to the streets en masse in 2011 and 2013. They learned the hard way that they were wrong — that military rule is military rule and that a regime where the security agencies call the shots is the antithesis of democracy. 

We should show that we disapprove of such behavior among our 'allies', and refuse now to repatriate any heritage objects to this corrupt regime.

The Virginia Water Ruins in Surrey, England.

Anyone taking a walk through the Great Windsor Park in Surrey, England, is met with an impressive sight. Through the thick coverts and oak trees, across the long lawns where deer scatter, the towering lines of roman columns loom into view. This is the Temple of Augustus, a piece of classical finery crumbling into the ground of the mossy valley. At first glance, the ruins look like they have stood on that spot for thousands of years. But if you strolled through this park at the beginning of the 1800s, they wouldn’t be there at all. They originated in Libya, 2,000 miles away. In fact, the story of how these ruins ended up in the grounds of Windsor Castle goes back to the heyday of the British Empire

Read more here: Paul Cooper, "How Ancient Roman Ruins Ended Up 2,000 Miles Away in a British Garden A brief tale of imperialism" Science Jan 10, 2018

Historical door at Giza Pyramids stolen

Al-Masry Al-Youm, "Historical door at Giza Pyramids stolen" January 15, 2018

 A theft was carried out at the Giza Pyramids’ cemetery of builders, which was opened for visitors in November for the first time since its discovery in 1990 by Egyptian archaeologist and former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass. The incident revealed continued neglect by officials of the Ministry of Antiquities. Although the Antiquities Ministry maintained secrecy regarding the theft, Al-Masry Al-Youm learned from informed sources that the theft included part of the door of the tomb of Nefer Theth [...] the supervisor of the Royal Palace [...] the perpetrator broke a piece of up to 30 centimeters from the door of the tomb.

The only punitive action taken by the Ministry of Antiquities was the transfer of the Director of the Pyramids’ area’s administrative security Mohamed Fatehy Mansour to another post. The perpetrator,  a resident of Nazlet al-Semman area, has been arrested. But even so, the Egyptians obviously cannot look after the cultural property they have and need to allow others to help preserve it for them away from their raghead incompetence.

The tomb itself is discussed here and here.

Egyptian Heritage Turns Into National Embarrassment

In late 2016, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities and Ministry of Tourism announced that they had spent a collective $US 40 million to renovate the Great Pyramids of Giza Complex in an attempt to make the area more accessible and enjoyable for visitors. Almost 16 months later, visitors and locals are asking: where did the money all go? In the 2016 statement, the Minister of Antiquities Khaled Al-Anany said that the $US 40 million would be spent on constructing an information centre by the end of the year, administrative building, and toilet facilities; installing ‘high-tech’ security gates at the entrance; installing rubish bins throughout the Complex; and moving vendors to a designated area. Yet, in two separate visits to the Pyramids in January of this year, Egyptian Streets has found that the Pyramids Complex remains unsafe, unclean, and confusing.

(Egyptian Streets, "Giza Pyramids: Egyptian Heritage Turns Into National Embarrassment" January 14, 2018)

There is still no information center to provide visitors with any information or guidance, the ‘high-tech’ security gates are basic x-ray machines and metal detectors which are found across the country, but at the time of the journalists' visit were not working at all. The toilets allegedly constructed at the Pyramids are simply portable toilets that were found to be unclean. It was found that the rubbish bins were  scarce and unmaintained, with bags filled with garbage left next to the bins. Around the Complex, littering continues to be a problem. Visitors are intimidated, harassed and coerced by vendors:

Vendors and owners of camels continue to harass tourists throughout the Complex, with a group of individuals often awaiting tourists the moment they pass through the ‘high-tech’ security gates. While the Minister of Antiquities promised that vendors would only be allowed to engage with visitors at a designated area, this continues to be an unsolved issue. Egyptian Streets’ reporter was followed for more than 20 minutes by one vendor who simply refused the fact that the reporter was not purchasing any over-priced souvenirs from him. Meanwhile, in video captured by Egyptian Streets, a group of vendors were witnessed loudly arguing in the shadow of the Great Pyramid after one of the vendors ‘stole a customer away’. This behaviour attracted negative attention, and even involved physical violence, yet police simply stood by and watched.  

The fact that the Complex remains in shambles shows a lack of appreciation and respect for the world’s last remaining ancient wonder. Perhaps more importantly, where did the $US 40 million go and why has nothing changed for the better?

Collectors' Seized Property in Hands of Lebanon

Workers at Beirut's Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport unload two boxes of the Eshamun sculptures seized from Michael Steinhardt's private collection and repatriated to Beirut, Lebanon on January 12, 2018

Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

Fake News and Perversion of the Truth

Wayne G. Sayles writes:

Fact #1: Ancient coins have been collected and traded from literally the beginning of their existence in the 7th century BC.
Fact #2: No culture on earth ever considered, much less imposed, trade controls on ancient coins before the rise of archaeology as a "science" and the acceptance of these scientists as "experts".
act #3: Many millions, if not billions, of ancient coins legally crossed national boundaries without controls of any kind as late as the early 20th century when archaeology (once a hobby itself) started to achieve some recognition as an academic subject of interest. There is literally no way to determine modern ownership of ancient coins based on point of origin.
Fact #4: Between 1970 and 2017 the archaeological community has aligned itself with a progressive socialist ideology that radically opposes private ownership.
Fact #5: Radicals never let truth prevail and readily pervert truth for the "greater good".
Is it any wonder we are where we are?

What a parlous state archeology has become, unable to see the common sense wood for the socialist tress.

A Clash of Civilizations?

UNESCO boss Audrey Azoulay and Islamic Educational, Scientific and "Cultural" Organization Director-General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri met today to strengthen joint action in both educational and cultural areas. This raises the question whether the Moslems understand the term "culture" like the rest of us.

Turkey Hoarding the Past

In the last three years in Istanbul, a total of 52 482 historical objects were seized in anti-collecting, operations. These artifacts are now hidden in the sealed warehouses of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.

Israel withdraws from UNESCO

Israel has filed notice to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) alongside the United States. Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organisation's criticism of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011. [...] Both Israel and the US - which filed its own withdrawal notice in October, noting that it would instead seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO - will officially cease membership as of December 31, 2018.

Apart from its institutional anti-collector hatred, the organization is saturated with anti-Israel bias;  there is a clear need for for fundamental reform" within the organisation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the body had become "a theatre of the absurd". Israel has nine sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List, including the White City of Tel Aviv, the Incense Route along desert cities in the Negev, and the sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel.