Archaeologists Warn of Pillaged Egypt as U.S. Weighs Tougher Antiquities Laws
Officials and coin dealers debate proposed restrictions on antiquities.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANN HERMES/CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR VIA GETTY IMAGES
Published June 3, 2014
"Wholesale looting is occurring all over Egypt, and we are
seeing a big spike that came after the revolution," says archaeologist Sarah Parcak, who testified on Monday, opening a three-day hearing at the State Department. "If we don't do something to stop it, most sites in Egypt will be gone in 25 years."
Satellites, including some that are part of a program
spearheaded by Parcak, have revealed that the illicit digging in Egypt
is widespread. (Related: "Looters Shatter Museum.")
World Heritage sites are among the looters' targets, said
Parcak, of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, who is also a National
Geographic fellow.
Her satellite survey project, funded in part by the
National Geographic Society, examines more than 4,000 archaeological
sites in Egypt using Google Earth satellite imagery. Although
preliminary, the survey finds tens of thousands of looting pits dotting
the landscape, Parcak says, many of them recent.
Home of fabled pyramids, tombs, and ancient treasures,
Egypt harbors the ruins of one of the world's most storied
civilizations, a cradle of mankind. At the hearing, antiquities experts
faced off with coin dealers, largely over whether the import
restrictions requested by Egypt will help halt the pillaging.
Even before it began, the hearing attracted hundreds of
public comments from both sides, most of them from coin collectors
calling for an exemption from the proposed restrictions.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SARAH PARCAK
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SARAH PARCAK
U.S. Demand Fueling Antiquities Trade
Fueling the digging is burgeoning demand from the U.S.,
which in 2013 imported some ten million dollars' worth of Egyptian
antiquities, according to experts such as Erin Thompson of City University of New York.
Papyrus fragments of interest to biblical scholars are
already being sold online from looted sites, according to testimony at
the hearing.
"We'll never stop looting. We can only slow it down," says Egyptian art expert David O'Connor
of the American Research Center in Egypt, who also testified at the
hearing. His group supports the import restrictions, which he called "a
significant way of inhibiting the pillaging in Egypt."
Before 2011, Egyptian officials saw about 1,200 looting cases every year, according to government data.
The number has since doubled, spurred in part by economic hard times.
The tourism industry, which supported roughly 10 percent of the Egyptian
economy, was particularly hard-hit after the revolution, making
archaeological sites more attractive and vulnerable to looters.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANN HERMES/CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR VIA GETTY IMAGES
From Shovels to Bulldozers
Ancient coins, fragments of papyrus, or broken jars often seem
inconsequential compared to wares from royal tombs, said Brown
University's Laurel Bestock. But experts must study antiquities in their original setting and groupings to gain any insights into the ancient world.
Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna
testified at the hearing that organized looters are using bulldozers to
pillage some sites. Egypt employs about 1,200 guards at archaeological
sites, but most make only about $40 a week.
The committee asked coin and art dealers at the hearing
what prevented them from better documenting their wares to prove they
are legal, a sticking point often raised about the proposed import
restrictions.
At the same time, archaeologists were questioned sharply
about the true extent of the damage, whether Egypt is doing enough to
halt the looting, and whether the proposed restrictions would actually
affect the market for looted antiquities.
The advisory committee considering the proposal, headed by DePaul University antiquities law expert Patty Gerstenblith,
is scheduled to continue discussing the Egyptian request until
Wednesday, when it will make a recommendation on the new law to the
State Department.
Egyptian officials will testify about the request in closed sessions later this week.
Follow Dan Vergano on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered