inlustre monumentum est

~ An Antipodean View on Classical Greece, Rome & the Mediterranean.

inlustre monumentum est

Tag Archives: stolen antiquities

Syria’s ancient treasures pulverised – Robert Fisk – The Independent

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by scot mcphee in 21st Century History, Archaeology, Classical History, Medieval History, News Items

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antiquities, iraq, Libya, looting, museums, stolen antiquities, syria

Of course this was going to happen. sigh

Robert Fisk: Syria’s ancient treasures pulverised – The Independent:

Reports from Syrian archeologists and from Western specialists in bronze age and Roman cities tell of an Assyrian temple destroyed at Tell Sheikh Hamad, massive destruction to the wall and towers of the citadel of al-Madiq castle – one of the most forward Crusader fortresses in the Levant which originally fell to Bohemond of Antioch in 1106 – and looting of the magnificent Roman mosaics of Apamea, where thieves have used bulldozers to rip up Roman floors and transport them from the site. Incredibly, they have managed to take two giant capitols from atop the colonnade of the “decumanus”, the main east-west Roman road in the city.

Brace yourselves for a outpouring of antiquities from these sites appearing on the market. Apparently there is a flood of objects already appearing in Turkey and Jordan.

Thieves loot Greece’s Ancient Olympia museum – BBC

18 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by scot mcphee in 21st Century History, Archaeology, Economics, Greek History, News Items

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economics, Europe, Eurozone crisis, stolen antiquities

BBC News – Thieves loot Greece’s Ancient Olympia museum:

Armed robbers have stolen dozens of artefacts from a Greek museum dedicated to the history of the early Olympics.

Two masked men smashed display cabinets and took more than 60 objects after overpowering a guard at the museum in Olympia, officials said.

If you read a little further into the article you’ll see that Greek museums are short 1500 guards because of government budget cuts. This is what “austerity” does – it doesn’t solve problems, it creates them. Germany and France are forcing the Greeks “to take their medicine” for their former profligacy. However Germany in particular — as an export-driven economy — has benefitted from the low Euro value that the Greek crisis precipitated. They weren’t asking questions when they were still selling BMWs in Greece. Not every economy can be like Germany’s. If the Europeans really want a properly federated Euro zone, they have to face the fact that the richer regions have to subsidise the poorer regions. It’s what happens in Australia – Tasmania and South Australia get far more money back than they put in. It’s a necessity to have a functional federation.

Italian PM Monti Brings Ancient Roman Sculpture Back To Tripoli

22 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by scot mcphee in 21st Century History, Archaeology, News Items

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Italian scandals, Italy, Libya, stolen antiquities

AGI.it – Monti Brings Ancient Roman Sculpture Back To Tripoli:

(AGI) Tripoli – In his first visit outside of Europe, the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti brought back to Tripoli an ancient roman sculpture, the so-called “Domitilla’s head”, in a bid to show that relations with Libya have now changed.

Domitilla was Emperor Vespasian’s daughter. The sculpture dates back from the first century b.C and it was stolen in Sabrata in 1990. “Domitilla’s head” was taken away from the body of the statue and ended up in an auction at Christie’s in London. It was then bought by an art collector from Rome, to be eventually found by the Cultural Heritage Division of the Italian Carabinieri.

Octadrachm confiscated

13 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by scot mcphee in Archaeology, Art & Art History, Greek History, News Items

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coins, numismatics, stolen antiquities

Swiss confiscation of rare Greek coin:

Greece secures Swiss confiscation of rare ancient coin that was allegedly illegally excavated – The Washington Post:

The high-denomination octadrachm — or eight-drachma — coin was struck by a little-known Thracian ruler named Mosses around 480 B.C., the time of the second failed Persian invasion of Greece.

Thessaloniki University professor of archaeology Michalis Tiverios said examples of Mosses’ currency are very rare.

“There are very few coins struck in his name,” Tiverios said. “Octadrachms were heavy coins used for transactions abroad, usually for mercenaries’ wages, which is why they are very rarely found in Greece.”

Coins of Mosses are indeed rare – see here – but … the same scholar in some ways also argues for it having been found outide Greece (my blod).

(Via Dorothy King’s PhDiva)

Libya displays Roman treasures looted by Gaddafi troops | Reuters

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by scot mcphee in 21st Century History, Archaeology

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Libya, stolen antiquities

Libya displays Roman treasures looted by Gaddafi troops | Reuters:

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi stole ancient Roman artefacts when they fled Tripoli, bundled them into sacks and planned to sell them abroad, Libya’s new rulers said on Saturday as they displayed the haul for the first time since its recovery.

(Via Reuters.)

Stolen Egyptian artifacts recovered in Australia

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by scot mcphee in Archaeology, Egyptian History

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stolen antiquities

Some stolen artefacts recently recovered from Mossgreen Auctions in Melbourne, and returned to Egypt, although I don’t understand how a Canopic jar could “belong” to one of “Horus’s sons dating from the Middle Kingdom”? I guess a mistranslation for one of the four gods who personified the jars.

Al-Ahram Weekly | Heritage | Recovered from down under:

Among the most unique of these objects are a 26th-Dynasty bronze statue of the Apis Bull; a glass statue of Maat, the goddess of justice; a bronze statue of Osiris, the god of prosperity; and a lid from a canopic jar that belonged to one of Horus’s sons dating from the Middle Kingdom.

Libya’s historic treasures, unscathed

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by scot mcphee in 20th Century History, 21st Century History, Archaeology, Roman History

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damnatio memoriae, Gaddafi, Leptis Magna, Libya, museums, stolen antiquities

Another article about antiquities in Libya and how relatively unscathed they were, this one from the BBC. Interesting bit at the end, about the vandalism of Gaddafi-themed exhibits in the museum, as the dead tyrant now undergoes damnatio memoriae.

BBC News – Libya’s historic treasures survive the revolution:

One day, in the not too distant future, visitors may flock to see the giant white marble statues of the Roman emperors, Claudius and Augustus, that grace Tripoli’s National Museum. Today the galleries that house them, and the ornate mosaics from the vast Roman site of Leptis Magna 120 km (75 miles) east of Tripoli, are completely deserted.
Outside the museum, at the edge of Martyr’s Square, a stall sells revolutionary souvenirs – necklaces and wristbands in the black, red and green of the new Libya. But the arched wooden door to the museum, now festooned with graffiti proclaiming Libya “free”, is firmly shut. “We don’t feel it’s safe enough yet to re-open,” says Mustafa Turjman, head of research at the national department of archaeology, as he shows me around. “We prefer to be patient rather than to open early and expose our precious things to any risk. We are not sure if our borders are safe and professional criminals could take advantage of this instability,” he says.

Stolen statuary from Sabratha, Libya (more info)

06 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by scot mcphee in Archaeology, News Items

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Libya, stolen antiquities

In an earlier blog post about the situation in Libya post I mentioned a statue head stolen from Sabratha in 1990 that was recovered in Italy. The post below, from earlier this week, has got more detail about that.

Christie’s Head: update (Via Dorothy King’s PhDiva)

Libyan sites mostly undamaged (report in the WashPo)

05 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by scot mcphee in Archaeology, News Items, Roman History

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Gaddafi, Libya, stolen antiquities

According to this report from archaeologist Hafed Walda’s first-hand inspection, it seems that most of the sites in Libya have escaped the tragic civil war (and welcomed overthrow of Gaddafi) relatively unscathed. Also there has been a recovery of “hundreds” of the over six thousand coins that were stolen (in an apparently inside job) from the bank vault in Benghazi early in the revolt (listed in the article title as “some old coins”, I’m not sure that the loss of a 6600 coin hoard is that insignificant). Another interesting thing we learn from this article is that “confusion in the country in the first weeks of the revolt may have contributed to the reappearance” of a looted 1st century bust from Sabratha was recovered in Italy; Carabinieri are now investigating where it has been in the interim.

Archaeologist grateful NATO raids spared Libyan ancient sites, but some old coins stolen – The Washington Post:

Walda, speaking at the American Academy in Rome at a conference on saving cultural heritage in crisis areas, said he had visited sites in the country’s west in late September, and all had “so far seen no visible loss”.

(Via Washington Post.)

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