On This Day Pompeii was Annihilated

Today was the day that Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 burying the landscape in volcanic debris and covering the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as other settlements and rural villas in the area.

Saved from Destruction by the Moslem Fanatics

A little bit of Bamiyan, brought back in 1930 and now in the Guimet.

Mayan Pot Art Styles

Classic Maya painters developed innovative styles on their ceramic canvases to convey complex mythological narratives and and deity depictions for the vessels' patrons. On view at @mfaboston.

Morgantina is on fire.

The ancient site at Morgantina is on fire. Nobody seems to care.

Collector Surrenders Krishna Statue

An English collector has returned artefacts bought from NY gallery owner Subhash Kapoor.

India on August 15 regained possession of a priceless bronze Navaneetha Krishna, thanks to a rare instance of moral courage by an art collector from London. After U.S. authorities charged Indian antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor with possession of stolen property last June, the London-based connoisseur, who had bought a few artefacts from him, came forward to U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), expressing a desire to surrender the pieces. [...] The Krishna bronze is estimated to be from 17th Century from Tamil Nadu. 

It looks like, even though these is zero evidence this piece was actually stolen, as is the case with Robin Symes and his fellows, the heritage police are now going just as zealously to jump on anything that passed through Kapoor's hands.

This statue does not look very old to me.

Athenian Tetra Fact

It is hard to imagine that for every Athenian tetradrachm (this one 17.14grs) the miners had to take out 64kg of ore from the mine galleries of Thorikos and the Lavriotiki, besides the stone waste. [Amsterdam, Allard Pierson Museum 14.047; 310-290 BCE; APM Mededelingen 118/118, 2018]

Greek Pottery in the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam

Greek Pottery in the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam.
Nice orderly typological arrangement:

The Hellenistic collection, great lighting, cool room

Unesco demands answers from Peru over impact of new Machu Picchu airport

The UNESCO heritage police have warned the Peruvian government that they want to be consulted over plans to locate an airport near world heritage sites that include the Inca citadel and Sacred Valley ( Dan Collyns, "Unesco demands answers from Peru over impact of new Machu Picchu airport" the Guardian Fri 9 Aug 2019)

Unesco has sent a letter to the Peruvian government demanding information about the construction of a new airport near Machu Picchu and what impact it could have on the Inca citadel, the country’s biggest tourist attraction and a world heritage site. The letter, which has not been made public, reminds Peru of its obligation to protect its world heritage sites and directly refers to Chinchero, the historic village in the Sacred Valley, near the town of Cusco, where the controversial new airport is being built – to the horror of archeologists. The missive insists that Peru must coordinate with Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural agency, on any construction that could affect Machu Picchu and Cusco’s historic centre, also a world heritage site. [...] On a visit to the site this week, Peru’s transport minister, María Jara, said “nothing would stop” the airport’s construction.

Peter Duggans ‘Artoon’

Peter Duggans ‘Artoon’

But, interestingly (see here), a figure leans contrapposto against a doorway in a relief from Saqqara, now in the Ägyptisches Museum in Berlin (ÄM 13297). It dates to the late 18th Dynasty (c. 1320s BC). This kind of pose is often said to have developed in Greek statuary in the 5th century BC.

Antiquities and Islamic State Revenues

There is a RAND report on ISIS financing just come out. It contains only one paragraph on antiquities looting (on p. 67) and it is only based on interviews with anonymous sources. In general, this report seems to confirm that antiquities were only  minuscule portion of ISIS' total funding.  It seems that:
- most smuggled antiquities were small, portable items.
- sold only in neighboring countries.
- there is mention of a gold bracelet sold for $400,000
- one source reports that artifacts from the Mosul Museum were smuggled abroad and sold in Turkey.

Moslem Migrants Terrorising Europe, America Next

After a man is hacked to death in broad daylight by a Syrian migrant with a samurai sword, Merkel’s media says “differences in culture exist”. Coming to a city near you if the globalist leftists elites have their way. Western civilization is under attack. Isn’t it amazing, they leave their countries for a ‘better life’ and immediately try and destroy ours, and bring everything they say they’re escaping to Europe. Time to make a stand against the islamification of The West. Wake up Americans.