The #antiquities trade has been accused of incentivizing #theft & #looting, especially in unstable parts of the world, and an ecosystem of private collectors, dealers, auction houses and museums has sprung up to handle items of dubious origin. A number of recent U.S. and Europe-based cases have centered on #falsified paperwork.
"The Metropolitan Museum of Art says it will return 16 ancient artifacts back to Cambodia and Thailand. The works, mostly sculptures, had been looted from those countries years ago during decades of civil war and unrest.
Among the works are a large head of Buddha made of stone in the seventh century, and a tenth century sandstone goddess statue from the Koh Ker archaeological site."
The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that objects borrowed 9 years ago by a museum in Amsterdam from museums in the now Russian-annexed region of Crimea belong to Ukraine and not Russia.
Looters, mafia and plundered antiquities: From ancient Italy to a Zurich auction house.
Italian authorities are investigating a spectacular case of illegal trade in antiquities, with Switzerland as a hub for looted cultural assets. Raids have recovered items worth millions of euros, with leads pointing to an Italian official and Zurich auctioneers.
In Ramses II's 16th regnal year, following the Battle of Kadesh, internal developments in the Hittite royal family would lead to the world's first known peace treaty.
Relationships between Egypt and the Hittite Kingdom changed drastically after the signing of the peace treaty, heralding a period of stability, improved trade networks and cooperation.
Archeologists have uncovered a 2700 year old state of a lammasu, an Assyrian guardian deity, near modern Mosul, Iraq. But the story of how an artifact known to scholars since the 1800s was finally excavated shows how archeology and heritage must contend with war, looting, and political turmoil.
Most ancient civilizations believed in the practice of magic to heal diseases and ward off the evil eye, and there were sorcerers one could contact and ask for assistance with problems that needed to be solved.
[Editorial] Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott critiques the way philanthropy structures our ideas about the pagan past to match the priorities of museum mega-donors.
Ancient Artifacts Used In Magical Rituals To Ward Off The Evil Eye Found Next To The Pilgrimage Road - Ancient Pages (www.ancientpages.com)
Most ancient civilizations believed in the practice of magic to heal diseases and ward off the evil eye, and there were sorcerers one could contact and ask for assistance with problems that needed to be solved.