Egyptian Antiquities Minister: We've Got Things Under Control

Egypt's current antiquities minister is quoted as stating,

"All the warehouses of antiquities are fully secured, noting that only 2 percent of the artifacts were stolen during the state of lawlessness which prevailed in the country, he added."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202211274.html

If so, where is the "emergency" that has prompted all the lobbying from the archaeological community and the sole source contract to ICOM to prepare a "Red List" of Egyptian antiquities that are supposedly at risk?

Egypt in Crisis: Clamp Down on Pro-Democracy NGOs Derails Clamp Down on Collectors?

The Egyptian Military Dictatorship's decision to put Americans associated with pro-Democracy NGOs on trial may have derailed efforts to orchestrate emergency import restrictions on Egyptian cultural goods at least temporarily.

The roll-out of the new State Department funded Red List has occurred without the usual hoopla, except for this one post from a lawyer and former prosecutor who formally served as SAFE's Vice President:
http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2012/02/egyptian-red-list-now-available.html

And no wonder. While the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has been funding efforts of the archaeological lobby to justify import restrictions on behalf of the Egyptian Military Dictatorship with a sole source contract to prepare this "Red List," the higher ups at State have threatened to suspend all aid to Egypt over the jailing and threatened trial of Americans associated with pro-Democracy NGOs. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/world/middleeast/trial-of-americans-in-egypt-shakes-nations-ties.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=Egypt&st=cse

Cultural policy is a reflection of other government policies. In Greece, rational management of cultural resources has been hampered by over regulation, corruption and gross underfunding. Egypt's cultural policy suffers from the same ills along with an absolutely Pharaonic view of government control over the past. So why does the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, its Cultural Heritage Center and the archaeological lobby continue to subsidize and cheer for such corrupt and unfair systems?

CPAC and CPIA Issues Recap

Archaeo-Blogger Paul Barford has this rather uncharitable advice for a small businessman looking for information about the the CPIA, CPAC and import restrictions. See http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2011/12/looking-for-ccpia-duh.html

I've covered this area before, and here are some of the posts that hopefully will be of some help to those looking for some basic information:

For a short recap of the governing law, see: http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2008/07/short-recap-of-cultural-property.html


For a discussion of the impact of import restrictions, see http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-impact-of-import-restrictions.html

For discussion about how the governing law operates in practice, see

http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/03/cultural-property-implementation-act-is.html

http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2010/04/aba-panel-on-1970-unesco-convention-and.html

Bankrupt Greek Government Seeks More Money From Germany as Greek Cultural Bureaucrats Work With State Department Against German Interests

Go figure. On one hand, the bankrupt Greek Government is begging the German Government for yet another bailout promising "reforms" in return. See
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-eurozone-germany-greece-idUSTRE78Q1XV20110927

On the other hand, now that the US has agreed to an MOU with Greece, the Greek cultural bureaucracy is likely working with our own State Department bureaucracy to harm the interests of German small buisnesses that export ancient Greek coins to the United States. Of course, the clamp down won't impact the ability of Greek collectors to import such coins, but it will certainly impact the ability of German businesses to ship ancient coins to the US market.

And it's not as if German officials have not raised concerns about this. Indeed, the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Martin Zeil, has raised concerns about this in a letter to Judith McHale, Undersecretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In his letter, Minister Zeil states,

The proposed restrictions (along for similar ones being considered for Italy) would negatively impact the legitimate numismatic trade between Germany and the United States of America and also people to people contacts between US and German citizens.

Apart from very few exceptions, no licence or permit is needed in Germany, neither for import to Germany nor for export from Germany of coins.

If the import of certain coins into the United States required an export licence granted by authorities of the export country in future, this requirement could not be fulfilled by German retailers. Legal trade would then hardly be possible between Germany and the United States.

In Germany there are around 100 auction houses, more than 500 retailers and estimated more than a half million collectors of old coins. Moreover, a considerable number of them are located in Munich, and are engaged in trade with customers in the United States.

See http://www.accg.us/news/item/Europeans_Oppose_Potential_U_S_State_Department_Import_Restrictions.aspx

Will the Greeks and our own State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs heed these concerns? Or, will they just ignore them along with those of the 70% of the public who expressed opposition to extending import restrictions to Greek coins?

Lifeline for Zahi and Justification for "Emergency Import Restrictions"?

There is nothing like a good indictment to remind Egyptians about Zahi Hawass' successes in seeking the cooparation of US law enforcement to effectuate the return of Egyptian cultural treasures. See http://www.drhawass.com/blog/victory-fight-against-illicit-antiquities-trade

Yet, many Egyptians will not forget the Mubarak ties or the charges of high handed conduct and corruption leveled against Hawass and his ministry.

And what better than an indictment to justify so-called emergency restrictions on Egyptian cultural artifacts? It was only recently that seizures of artifacts from auctions based on the secret Medici archive were used to help justify yet another extension of a MOU with Italy and its expansion to include certain ancient coins. See http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2009/11/gill-pr-newswire-release-confuses.html

Yet, the activities complained about in the indictment against Mousa Khouli et al. date from 2009, not 2011. And, they do nothing to explain how private archaeological groups with professional and financial interests with Hawass and his ministry were able to gain some commitment from the US Government that such restrictions were a "done deal."
See
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/07/hawass-business-ties-raise-conflict-of.html

Egypt: No "Emergency" After All, Just More Exaggeration

Less than a month after Egyptian Antiquities Pharaoh Zahi Hawass suggested on his blog that archaeo-lobbyists of the "Capitol Archaeological Institute" had been given agreement authority by the US State Department to draft a MOU imposing "emergency import restrictions" on Egyptian cultural goods, see
http://ordinarymag.blogspot.com/2011/05/hawass-says-emergency-import.html, Hawass has blogged that there really is no "emergency" in Egypt after all. See http://www.drhawass.com/blog/can-egypt-protect-its-ancient-monuments

Hawass now states, " I have been distressed by recent reports that exaggerate the damage done to our antiquities...."

And so am I, but for different reasons.

This again just goes to show that archaeologists are simply not credible sources when it comes to reports of looting in countries where the facts are difficult to verify. Archaeologists have previously exaggerated looting in places like Afghanistan and Iraq to justify emergency import restrictions. Here, they have apparently done so again-- this despite Minister Hawass' own view that the situation is under control.

Emergency import restrictions are unnecessary here. Egyptian and US authorities are well able to interdict looted artifacts.

But archaeological fanatics want more: they see import restrictions as a way to drive unprovenanced artifacts off the market in the United States, at least.

And ginning up an "emergency" is their best way to assist their cronies in the State Department's Cultural Heritage Center to get the job done. Based on their exaggerations, yet another collecting area will likely become off limits to all those but the wealthy who can afford to purchase the limited number of artifacts with detailed collecting histories.

The Cultural Property Implementation Act: Is it Working?

The CPRI has placed the transcript of its seminar, "The Cultural Property Implementation Act: Is it Working?" on its website: http://www.cprinst.org/Home/issues/transcript---cultural-property-implementation-act-is-it-working

There are a lot of troubling allegations here, but to me one of the most disturbing is that CPAC is denied access to its own reports. If so, how can they and we be sure that CPAC's recommendations are conveyed to the decision maker accurately?

Egypt, Libya and Tunisia: UNESCO to the Rescue?

UNESCO is belatedly celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1970 UNESCO Convention with a conference in the City of Lights, Paris. See http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/ And what better way to show UNESCO is still relevant than to address the crisis in the Middle East?

The cultural bureaucrats are rightly concerned about the effect of unrest in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya on those nations' cultural patrimony, but one can only hope there is more emphasis on nipping the problem at the source rather than on taking advantage of situation to further an anti-collecting agenda. "Emergency import restrictions" that effectively shift the burden of proof onto the holder virtually guarantee seizures of perfectly legitimate artifacts that don't have detailed collection histories. Good police work combined with more effective efforts to record what is missing is a better, far less controversial approach.

Egypt's Antiquities Safe

According to the new Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities are now safe. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/01/AR2011020102755.html

I'm sure this welcome news will leave those in the archaeological community already clamoring for "emergency import restrictions" on Egyptian cultural artifacts somewhat befuddled. See
http://safecorner.savingantiquities.org/2011/02/should-market-countries-stop.html

If there is no longer an emergency, I guess such restrictions are not needed after all.