Things You Can't Take Back

archaeologistsdontdigdinosaurs:

Stu’s reaction to the looted projectile points at a junk shop in Sandusky, OH.

culturalsecurity:

Looting continues at El Hibeh, Egypt

The site of the ancient Egyptian city of Tayu-djayet (modern El Hibeh) has been subjected to looting on a massive scale during the past year. A letter written by Carol Redmount, the Berkeley professor/archaeologist  who leads the government sanctioned excavations of the site, details the pillaging of El Hibeh by a group of local “gangsters.”

In addition to these criminals, recent events suggest that local police officers may be involved in some way in the illicit activities. Just 24 hours before Redmount was scheduled to resume excavation of the site, the dig permits issued by the Supreme Council of Antiquities were mysteriously revoked by the provincial police.

Redmount and her colleagues have set up a Facebook page in order to bring awareness to the situation, and to exert pressure on the Egyptian government to bring a halt to the destruction of the ancient site. Help save El Hibeh by going to the site’s Facebook page and becoming a member of the “Save El Hibeh Egypt” group.

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Garbage dumping and archaeological looting in Abu Sir alarm residents.

““Before, there were occasional cases of people searching at night with a shovel and a flashlight, but now it’s being done on a bigger scale, using the trucks during the day,” says a local resident who asked to remain anonymous due to sensitivity around the issue and a fear for his own safety.”

Today theGuardian published this article about the illicit antiquities trade, particularly the trade coming out of Egypt. Larry Rothfield has already shared his opinion on this article and, as with most things Larry Rothfield says, I agree with him entirely. I would like to add that we shouldn’t just be focusing on Middle Eastern antiquities, but on artifacts from basically EVERYWHERE. Looting in the Middle East is definitely a problem, but it is also a problem in South America and Asia as well. It’s a worldwide issue and it should be discussed that way. Additionally, though I am glad the Guardian is giving these issues some much-needed media attention, the same part of me that still can’t get over the Harry Potter movies not being exactly like the books also cannot get over the Indiana Jones reference in the first fricking sentence of this article.

The ARCAblog just published a post on some details of art-related crimes that author and historian Peter Watson recently discussed. Watson talked about unprovable details on various cases, such as the dealer Robin Symes’ jail time, or lack thereof, and various cases of arson that occurred after his jail release; a murder involving the Sevso silver; and threats made to the children of a Scotland Yard agent involved in recovering a stolen Munch painting. The post quotes Watson: “This is a very unpleasant world so watch where you’re going.”