Dig days
Antiquities for sale
By
Zahi Hawass
Christie's and Sotheby's are just two of the most famous halls where antiquities are auctioned off every day. About a month ago, Al-Ahram, the Arabic daily, published an article about the antiquities for sale at Christie's. Up for bidding were statues, stelae, jewelry, shawabtis statuettes, pottery and furniture. Can you imagine? Those who understand even a little about history and cultural heritage wonder how an event like this can happen, and ask why it wasn't stopped.
We have to understand how this happened. I received a letter originally sent by a foreign Egyptologist who lives in Egypt. Her letter was handwritten to another Egyptologist who is prominent as a guide and aide to antiquities dealers. She was requesting his help in purchasing antiquities for a museum. To my sheer amazement, I learned that this lady is currently working to oversee and protect antiquities that are found during the construction of the sewage system in Luxor. I ask you: can we trust her to do this important work?
If you want to excavate in Egypt, don't get involved with antiquities dealers or the sale of antiquities. If any evidence is found linking a person (Egyptian or foreign) to the trade in antiquities then all ties should be broken. She or he has no place with us! However, for all those who are upset to hear about the development of this issue and want to help, it is important to understand the history of the antiquities market.
The first time that monuments left Egypt was during the Roman age, when many obelisks were moved to Rome. In the 19th century, Mohamed Ali gave gifts of antiquities to the crown prince of Austria. These formed the nucleus of the Egyptian antiquities collection at the Art Museum in Vienna. In fact, consular delegates used to be appointed in Luxor for the purpose of transferring mummies and other artefacts to their countries. Egyptian antiquities became even more important after the world discovered the value of the Rosetta Stone and the hieroglyphic language was deciphered by Champollion. The Rosetta Stone went to the British Museum after an agreement between England and France. Then, Egyptian antiquities began to be sold under several decrees and laws, with museums around the world buying them to add to their collections.
A 12 August 1897 decree by Khedive Abbas Helmi stated that anyone who takes antiquities that belong to the government will be fined 50 to 100 piastres and jailed for three to seven days. Another decree, this one promulgated by Ismail Seri, issued in December 1909, established that all ancient buildings and artefacts belonged to the government of Egypt. A 1912 law said that any monuments found either under or above ground belong to the Egyptian government. All of these laws protecting antiquities also permitted their sale. However, the laws stated that the antiquities dealer needed a license to buy and sell from the Antiquities Service, and that all monuments that leave the country should be purchased by a licensed antiquities dealer. The law further established that the transport of artefacts without a license was punishable by a year's imprisonment.
The government issued a law in 1951 that regulated excavation and the transport of artefacts to museums around the world. Under this law the buying and selling of antiquities was still permitted and artefacts continued to be bartered and shipped all over the world. More laws followed. Two decrees in March 1952 established a system for the sale of antiquities and also enumerated the necessary steps for their export.
It wasn't until 1983 that a law was established to stop the selling and export of antiquities. The law gave antiquities dealers six months to register the monuments in their possession but it clearly stated that no antiquities could be sold or exported. The 1983 law will be changed this year and the Supreme Council of Antiquities will have the right to confiscate monuments from the dealers.
This history tracks the domestic legal developments of the buying and selling of Egyptian antiquities worldwide. Still, we cannot do anything about the sale of antiquities in the United States or Europe unless we can prove that the statues, reliefs and other antiquities were taken illegally from a tomb or storeroom. If we have this proof then we can stop the sale, as we did with Christie's auction in New York selling a piece that had been stolen from a temple in the Delta.
