June 15, 2002

- Ethiopia despairs about obelisk
- Stolen Egyptian artifact removed from sale by Christie's
- Dipankar idol in Vienna awaits legal assistance
- Manhattan Art Dealer Sentenced
- Museum to Return Aborigine Skulls
- Fire Destroys Parts of Saudi Museum
- Archaeologists are opposed to exchanges and loans of antiquities outside Greece
( Article in new bill puts monuments at risk of being taken abroad indefinitely)

Ethiopia despairs about obelisk

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia is "losing confidence" that the Italian government will return the historic Axum obelisk, looted in 1937 from the former Italian colony by invading troops under the dictator Benito Mussolini, the foreign minister has said here. "Ethiopia is losing its confidence in the Italian government. ... We don't have any belief that the Italian government will return the obelisk in goodwill," Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said late on Wednesday on his return from the World Food Summit in Rome. The 160-ton granite Axum obelisk, which dates from the third century BC, stands outside the Rome headquarters building of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), where it was damaged by lightning two weeks ago. Seyoum and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi both attended the FAO-sponsored food summit in Rome, where Meles tried to organise a meeting with the Italian authorities to discuss the return of the obelisk, a bone of contention between the two countries since the end of World War II.

Obelisk 'humiliated'

"During my stay in Rome, I sought a meeting with the Italian government but it replied that this was impossible because of the large number of guests in Rome," the prime minister told the Italian news agency Ansa. "It made me very sad to see the obelisk humiliated, tied up with rope," he said. According to Seyoum, Rome's refusal to meet with Meles over the obelisk was a betrayal of trust. "The relations between the two countries cannot be based on mutual trust hereafter," he said. "The Italian government failed to give back the obelisk by producing various excuses," he added. The Italian under- secretary of state for culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, last month agreed in principle that the renowned obelisk, damaged in a violent thunderstorm on May 27, should be returned to Ethiopia, dropping previous objections by Rome that moving the ancient monument could damage it.

55 years

"In 55 years, Italy has never said no, but always 'Yes, but,' to the subject of returning the obelisk," Meles said Wednesday. "Today the government says it wants to restore it. But we're afraid this is just another excuse," he added. "We just want to put an end to this story and turn over a new leaf. I feel more frustrated than angry," the prime minister said. Italy lost what was then Abyssinia as its colony at the battle of Adua in 1896, where some 25$nbsp;000 Italian troops were defeated by around four times as many Abyssinian soldiers. In 1936, in a prelude to World War II, fascist Italy annexed Ethiopia. - Sapa-AFP For related articles: http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/East_Africa/0,1113,2-11-997_1199087,00.html

Stolen Egyptian artifact removed from sale by Christie's

By NAUREEN S. MALIK
The Associated Press
6/13/02 3:36 PM
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- An ancient artifact stolen 12 years ago from an Egyptian temple has been identified at Christie's auction house in New York and withdrawn from the sale, officials of the Egyptian government and Christie's said Thursday. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities, said a French Egyptologist recognized the granite relief of a pharaoh in Christie's sales catalog and notified the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Hawass said he would go to New York next week for a final examination of the artifact and negotiations to return it to Egypt. Christie's said on its Web site that the artifact was valued at $7,000 to $9,000. Spokeswoman Margaret Doyle said the piece was withdrawn from an auction Wednesday. She said U.S. Customs officials notified them Tuesday that there were questions about the piece. The artifact, 15 inches high, is a granite relief of the head and shoulders of a god facing the left, Christie's said. Egyptian authorities said it was most probably created between 360 and 343 B.C., during the reign of Pharaoh Nectanebo II. It was excavated in 1977 from a temple in Behbiet el-Hagara in the Nile Delta, about 85 miles west of Cairo.

The Kathmandu Post
Kathmandu, Nepal Tuesday June 11, 2002

Dipankar idol in Vienna awaits legal assistance

Post Report
KATHMANDU, June 10
The ancient idol of Dipankar, stolen from the city of Patan some four months ago and found recently in Austria, needs legal support to be returned to Nepal, states a source in Austria.
"Guthi [temple association] owning the Dipankar would have to employ a lawyer here in Vienna, who would take up their case. Otherwise, the idol may even be returned to the art dealer," said a student now studying in the Department for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, in a letter sent here today. A group of Buddhist scholars, who have been in Nepal and have some idea about the importance of cultural heritage, are working to assist Nepalis to get back Dipankar. He added, "Right now, the state attorney is considering the case. If he brings forward charges against the art dealer, the fate of Dipankar idol will probably be settled in the same trial." He stresses that one should file a criminal case against the art dealer to reveal how the idol was taken to Austria right from Nepal, while there is a strong provision that Nepal cannot legally export any archaeological items from the country.
"If the criminal case proceeds, the art dealer would be forced to reveal how he got hold of the Buddha and his export papers would be scrutinised here. Without a criminal case, there is no chance to see these papers." The source added, without support from the Nepali government or without a lawyer employed on behalf of the Guthi (trust), it would probably be very difficult to ensure the return of the Buddha. In the meantime, UNESCO Kathmandu Office has expressed that it is ready to facilitate the issue and forward the necessary documents to the Austrian government and also to guide the concerned party on the formal process to claim one's stolen idol. "Though we ourselves cannot act to bring it back, we are ready to help the Nepal government as well as the Guthi members from our side," said an officer there.

Manhattan Art Dealer Sentenced

Wed Jun 12, 6:40 AM ET
NEW YORK (AP) - A Manhattan art dealer convicted of plotting to smuggle a stolen bust of a pharaoh out of Egypt has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison, prosecutors said. Frederick Schultz, 48, was found guilty of receiving and possessing stolen Egyptian antiquities by a jury in February. He was sentenced to 33 months and fined $50,000 by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, U.S. Attorney James Comey said in a news release Tuesday. The key government witness at the trial was Schultz's co-conspirator, a convicted art smuggler named Jonathan Tokeley-Parry. Tokeley-Parry testified he smuggled the stone sculpture of the head of Amenhotep III, who died in 1375 B.C., out of Egypt by dipping it in plastic and painting it black to make it look like a cheap tourist souvenir. Prosecutors said Schultz purchased the head from Tokeley-Parry in 1992 for $915,000 and resold it for $1.2 million to a London art collector. Schultz's lawyer, Linda Imes, told the jury her client never knew Tokeley-Parry was selling stolen antiquities.

Museum to Return Aborigine Skulls

Wed Jun 12,11:05 AM ET
HOBART, Australia (AP) - The skulls of eight Aborigines from Tasmania will be returned this week to the tribal lands they were stolen from a century ago, a museum official said Wednesday. Tasmanian Aborigines were almost wiped out by white settlement. Thousands were killed when pushed from their ancestral lands, and more died on reservations of diseases introduced by European settlers. Tasmania is an island state of Australia, off the south coast. Stored for the past 20 years in the State Museum of Victoria, the skulls will be handed over in Tasmania's capital, Hobart, on Friday at a ceremony capping three decades of campaigning for their return. "It's a satisfying, though long overdue breakthrough that will help with the healing process," said Jay McDonald, one of three Aborigines who will accompany the skulls to Tasmania. McDonald said he was not aware of other Tasmanian Aborigine remains in Australian museums, although many British museums still hold collections. Thousands of Aborigine bones and skulls were taken back to Britain during the 19th Century when Australia was still a collection of six British colonies. Tasmanian Aboriginal leaders are lobbying Britain for a law requiring that human remains be returned to their homelands.

Fire Destroys Parts of Saudi Museum

Tue Jun 11, 3:24 PM ET
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - A huge fire in the kingdom's largest private museum has destroyed many pieces of art, police said Tuesday. The fire on Monday gutted two of the three buildings housing the Abdul Rauf Hasan Khalil Museum in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, police said, adding that they were investigating the cause. The daily Al Watan quoted the founder's son, Khaled Abdul Rauf Khalil, as saying the fire might have been caused by an electrical short-circuit. The museum, which opened more than 10 years ago, included about $266 million worth of artifacts. About 13,500 pieces of art date back from the Stone Age and the early Islamic period. Khaled Abdul Rauf Khalil was quoted as saying the decorations inside and outside the museum, as well as some of the ancient pieces of art, were made of wood and had burned down. He provided no other details.
No casualties were reported

Archaeologists are opposed to exchanges and loans of antiquities outside Greece

(Article in new bill puts monuments at risk of being taken abroad indefinitely)

An article in a new bill on protecting antiquities providing for loans and exchanges of monuments belonging to the State is meeting with strong opposition from The Association of Greek Archaeologists (SEA).
The reference to the exchange of antiquities, in legal terms, means that the Greek State would relinquish sole ownership of an artifact which, according to Article 7 of the same bill, “as property of the State, cannot be traded.” SEA says the culture minister keeps invoking a provision in Law 5351/32 but neglects to say that for Law 5351, Article 53, to be implemented, the State is obliged to seek and abide by the approval of the majority of the Central Archaeological Council (KAS) members. The first law on this issue is 491/1914 which provides for exchanges within Greece, but this article has never been implemented and is considered only a formality. “The only time the Greek State has ever exchanged ancient artifacts was under a special law (3124/1955 on the exchange of specific ancient works of art) in order to send the palm of the Winged Victory of Samothrace to the Louvre in exchange for parts of the altar frieze at the same site. Archaeologists reject the idea of long-term loans of ancient artifacts for exhibitions or educational or research purposes. They say that this is not a temporary export of objects, since the article refers to a series of conditions for temporary exhibits, but it allows the culture minister to trade antiquities with museums, chiefly abroad, or to loan artifacts for unlimited periods of time, seeking only the opinion of KAS. They say the bill makes no mention of mutual exchanges, nor does it determine who is to evaluate these parameters. They add that any teaching or research establishment abroad would be able to “order” antiquities from state museums, virtually allowing foreign archaeological schools to send findings from their excavations to their universities and keep them for as long as they like. SEA points out that, as a result, Greece would not be in an equal position with other countries with regard to cultural issues, nor would the country’s cultural heritage be disseminated as the minister intends. On the contrary, the move indicates the State’s willingness to barter its cultural heritage. SEA also disapproves of other provisions, such as the need for unanimity on the part of various ministries to declare an archaeological site, the founding of new private museums, and an increase in the number of licensed private collectors. Meanwhile, antiquities dealers claim the bill tries to “involve the State in every area related to monuments and works of art”; they suggest differentiating between cultural artifacts of foreign countries, subdividing monuments according to historical period, and listing monuments to avoid “misunderstandings,” instead naming the finds in detail “without grouping them or referring to them in unspecific terms.”
http://www.ekathimerini.com/