Copy of Newton's Principia stolen from Russian library
Agence France-Presse Moscow, November 10
A copy of Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy published in London in 1687 during the philosopher's lifetime has been stolen from the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday. The loss of the book was reported by a library employee, Interfax quoted police as saying without providing further details.
Newton's Principia (1686), demonstrating the conservation of energy and applying the rules of gravity to the motion of natural objects, is one of the founding documents of modern science. http://www.hindustantimes.com/
Fired employee sues Art Institute
Story has been removed.......
Jordanian expert says no danger of Al Aqsa wall collapse
By SHAFIKA MATTAR, Associated press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordanian architect in charge of reconstruction works on Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque said Sunday there was no danger that a bulge in the southern wall will cause it to collapse. Archaeologists have warned the 35-foot-long protrusion in the southern wall of the Al Aqsa mosque compound, around the corner from where Jews pray at the Western Wall, could cause the structure to topple. The mosque is built on the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples and the site is sacred to both religions. "The wall is so strong and thick that there is no danger, whatsoever, it would collapse," said Raef Nijem, vice president of the state-run Jordanian Construction Committee. The committee was established in 1954 to supervise any reconstruction or renovation of the Al Aqsa mosque. Jordan ruled the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for 17 years, until Israel seized the territory in the 1967 Mideast war. In 1988, the late King Hussein renounced all claims to the West Bank, but maintained his claim to the shrines in Jerusalem. Palestinians and Israelis have been blaming each other for causing the bulge. Palestinians point to Israeli excavations at the base of the wall, far below the bulge, while Israel maintains that renovation work by the Islamic Trust, which oversees the compound, caused the wall to sag outwards. A collapse could rain huge stone blocks onto Muslim worshippers. Jews do not worship at the site. Nijem said the Jordanian team recently completed the examination of the site and found a few gaps in the wall caused by rain entering cracks over hundreds of years, and several eroded stones that could fall outward, away from worshippers. He said the Scientific Royal Society in Amman, which supervised the examination, has presented its report to Minister of Religious Affairs Ahmad Helayel, who will organize renovation works. http://story.news.yahoo.com/
Ray of light for Marbles?
After years of refusing to consider returning the Parthenon Marbles to Athens, the British Museum may be considering a radical plan to exchange them for a series of rotating exhibitions of ancient Greek artifacts that could help increase its revenues, Britain’s Independent newspaper reported yesterday. The news came on the eve of Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos’s visit to London. Today he is to meet with his British counterpart, Tessa Jowell, and the British Museum’s new director, Neil MacGregor. The sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, will be at the top of Venizelos’s agenda. He will also be presenting plans of the new Acropolis Museum, which is to be ready by the 2004 Olympics and has been designed to house the marbles now in London. MacGregor is understood to be contemplating a deal over the sculptures in an effort to raise funds to help reduce the museum’s 6- million-pound deficit, the Independent said. Entry to the museum and its permanent collections has always been free. But by “swapping” the sculptures for a series of temporary displays of classical treasures, as Greece has offered, the museum would be able to gain a lucrative new source of income. As its source, the paper quoted Anthony Snodgrass, the retired Laurence professor of Classical archaeology at Cambridge University, who is the chairman of the British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures. He told the Independent that he had discussed this privately with MacGregor. “I suggested to him the idea that the Greeks’ offer of touring exhibitions could be used to raise money through entry fees. He agreed that was a theoretical possibility. With the museum’s present financial situation, they’ve got to look at everything,” Snodgrass said.
MacGregor was unavailable for comment on Saturday, the paper said. http://www.ekathimerini.com/
Greek minister on Marbles mission
The British Museum acquired the sculptures in 1816
The Greek culture minister has stepped up his campaign for the return of the Elgin Marbles, with the suggestion of a deal to the British Museum. Evangelos Venizelos asked for the sculptures to be loaned permanently to a specially-built gallery in Athens, for display during the 2004 Olympics. But the director of the museum, Neil McGregor, said they should stay put. The marbles are ancient friezes from the Parthenon in Athens and have been at the centre of a tug-of-war between the UK and Greek authorities for years. The marbles once adorned the front of the Parthenon Mr Venizelos, on a visit to the museum on Monday, said: "Now is the moment for a Great Britain gesture for the marbles. "We prepare the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens, and we must respect this great opportunity." Mr Venizelos said the issue for Greece was no longer who owned the marbles - about half of which remain at the Parthenon - but their location. "For us the problem is not the ownership, the historical rights of the British Museum," he said, but "to present the sculpture as a totality." He added: "I respect very well the global character of the British Museum but now we live in a new era and the globalisation is a very important element also for us."
Pollution
In return for the permanent loan of the sculptures, Athens is offering the rolling loan of other Greek antiquities to the museum.
The British Museum is currently £6m in debt
But Mr McGregor said: "The Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum are in the best possible place for them, and they must remain here if the museum is to continue to achieve its aim, which is to show the world to the world." On Tuesday Mr Venizelos will visit the culture minister Tessa Jowell to continue his campaign. The marbles depict the most formal religious ceremonies of ancient Athens - the Panathenaea procession. Although they once adorned the Parthenon, they were taken to England by the seventh Earl of Elgin and given to the British Museum in 1816. A recent campaign, Parthenon 2004, backed by more than 90 UK MPs and public figures, called for the marbles to be returned to Athens in time for the Olympic Games. Groups opposing their return say they have been saved from deterioration from Greek pollution by the museum.
British Museum considers Elgin Marbles 'swap' to reduce £6m debt
By James Morrison, Arts and Media Correspondent 10 November 2002
The skeletons of colonialism may get a decent burial at last
British Museum considers Elgin Marbles 'swap' to reduce £6m debt
The British Museum is considering a radical plan to return the Elgin Marbles to Athens in exchange for a series of rotating exhibitions of ancient Greek artefacts. Neil MacGregor, its new director, is understood to be contemplating a deal over the long-disputed Parthenon sculptures in an effort to raise funds to help reduce the museum's £6m deficit. As the museum has never charged for entry and the sculptures are part of its permanent collection, access to the gallery that houses them has always been free. But by "swapping" them for a series of temporary displays of classical treasures, the museum would be able to charge for entry, giving it a lucrative new source of income. News of the possible change of tack comes on the eve of a meeting between Mr MacGregor and Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek Minister of Culture. Officially, Mr Evangelos is in London to mark his accession to the rotating chairmanship of the European culture ministers. But few doubt that the continuing question over ownership of the marbles will be top of his agenda when he sees Mr MacGregor and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. As if to underline its renewed determination to win back the marbles, the Greek government has also organised an official VIP London "launch" of its proposed new Acropolis Museum on Tuesday. Plans for the museum, which is due to open in time for the 2004 Olympics, include a space specifically designed to house the marbles. Mr MacGregor's willingness to break with decades of intransigence at the British Museum and contemplate returning the marbles emerged at a private meeting with Anthony Snodgrass, the retired Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University. Professor Snodgrass, the chairman of the British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures, said last night: "I suggested to him the idea that the Greeks' offer of touring exhibitions could be used to raise money through entry fees. He agreed that was a theoretical possibility. With the museum's present financial situation, they've got to look at everything." Mr MacGregor was unavailable for comment last night. A statement issued on behalf of the museum's trustees said: "The British Museum is a truly universal museum of humanity, accessible to five million visitors every year entirely free of entry charge. Only here can the worldwide significance of the Parthenon http://news.independent.co.uk/
Berne Declaration
http://www.evb.ch/index.cfm?folder_id=121 Positionspapier der Erklärung von Bern zum illegalen Kulturgüterhandel und dem neuen Kulturgütertransfergesetz (KGTG) Im August 2002 wird die nationalrätliche Kommission Wissenschaft, Bildung und Kultur das neugeschaffene Bundesgesetz zum internationalen Kulturgütertransfer (KGTG) behandeln. Die Erklärung von Bern hat ein Positionspapier verfasst, in welchem Sie über die Auswirkungen des illegalen Kulturgüterhandels informiert und die Mitglieder der Kommission auffordert, der Vorlage des Bundesrates zuzustimmen. Das Positionspapier wird von 23 Nichtregierungsorganisationen in der französischen und deutschen Schweiz unterstützt. Der Nationalrat wird die Gesetzesvorlage in der Wintersession 2002 beraten. http://www.evb.ch/cm_data/Positionspapier_KGTG.pdf
Positionspapier der EvB zum illegalen Kulturgüterhandel und dem neuen Kulturgütertransfergesetz (KGTG)
Date sent: Sun, 10 Nov2002 11:56:49 -0800 (PST) From: John Lupia jlupia2@yahoo.com
Subject: The so-called James ossuary
Dear Sir/Madam:
I do not know if you cover stories about antiquities fraud but the best case in history is now under way.
The ossuary’s authentication process is not so much dependent on paleography as it is on scientific analysis of the limestone and its patina. This process is the key to authentication primarily because inscriptions with authentic-looking paleography can be faked and it is very difficult to determine. Whereas, limestone and its patina can be subjected to the rigors of exact sciences and data amassed is impartial. The reports on the patina published in BAR by the Israeli Geologic Survey were inadequate to affirm or confirm the patina as authentic since it appears that their principle concern was to investigate the presence of chemicals or pigments that would reveal forged vs. authentic formation. This is insufficient and naive as a scientific approach since I have already explained how forged patina could be produced without the use of modern materials. How do you clean silica-based patina off limestone without a sharp scrapper, chisel, high-speed drill or other instrument without leaving physical trace evidence of their use? According to their report there was no evidence of any modern tool being used anywhere in the inscription. So I ask how could such a cleaning have occurred? The only scientific answer I know is that forged patina cracks and flakes off, natural patina never does since it has an atomic bond with the limestone that crystallizes in such a manner that cracking and flaking off is an impossibility. This is a key observation that reveals the patina could not be authentic. Those who insist the patina is authentic must satisfactorily explain how the cleaning of patina off the inscription and completely out of the grooves of several letters was accomplished. Further comments that expand on this are below.
According to BAR (BAR 28:6 (November/December 2002), p.29): the "Ministry of National Infrastructures Geological Survey" analysis performed by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) equipped with EDS (Electron Dispersive Spectrometer):
The patina is composed mainly of CaCO3 (93%) and contains Si -5.0%; Al -0.7%; Fe -0.3%; P -0.4% and Mg -0.2%
According to the report the patina consists largely of calcium carbonate (93%). The remaining elements are: (1) silica (5%) this is a vitreous material or ground glass
(BAR 28:6 (November/December 2002), p.29) "The stone and the patina were examined by magnifying lenses (binocular). We observed that the patina on the surface of the ossuary has a gray to beige color. The same gray patina is found also within some of the letters, although the inscription was cleaned and the patina is therefore absent from several letters. The patina has a cauliflower shape known to be developed in a cave environment."
The variety known as "pearly patina" results from outdoor exposure and consists of calcium carbonate and/or opaline silica. The ossuary has a distinctive "cauliflower patina" produced by bacteria in humid gaseous caves. Beige patina of brown limonite sometimes consists of hydrated ferric oxides. There is no mention in the report of surface analytical data SEM, XRDS, FTIR, surface sputtering, any analysis of penetrated below the layers of the patina distinguishing their morphology. No mention of limonite, siderite, or various iron compounds that might be hydrous in addition to oxides including goethite.
Note that they specify that the inscription has been cleaned but the method of cleaning is not specified.
Reading the various circulating reports on the patina raised a red flag. The patina consisted of the appropriate minerals: CaCO3 (93%) and contains Si -5.0%; Al -0.7%; Fe -0.3%; P -0.4% and Mg -0.2% but it was reported to have been cleaned off the inscription. This is impossible since patina cannot be cleaned off limestone with any solvent or cleanser since it is essentially baked on glass. It would require a hammer and a chisel or some surgical instrument like a dentist’s drill or an engravers diamond bit drill. This is highly unlikely. The cleaning of the inscription would have abraded the inscription to some degree and produced a modern degradation adding to the natural microbial deformation. Now if any of these technical tools were used it would leave very obvious traces and the Israeli Geological Survey is quoted as saying, “No signs of the use of a modern tool or instrument was found.” So how does the Israeli Geological Survey explain the cleaning? It does not. Why? This is the $64K question, which in this case is somewhere between $1-2 million depending on the size of the insurance claim. As I have already said, t is possible to forge patina appearing naturally formed within a few years by burying it in wet salty soil containing a solution of iron salts, then exposing it to the air for a few weeks and repeating this process, but when it is it is not crystalline sufficiently to bond consistently to the limestone and so it cracks off in spots. This appears to be what happened with this ossuary since patina is lacking in the incuse of some of the incised letters. With these observations I immediately knew the inscription could not be authentic regardless of what any paleographer might say in favor of it since the physical aspects are prima facia evidence of forgery. Besides, at this point any paleographic analysis would have been superfluous.
Best regards, John N. Lupia
===== John N. Lupia, III 501 North Avenue B-1 Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208-1731 USA Phone: (908) 994-9720 Email: jlupia2@yahoo.com Editor, Roman Catholic News http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Roman-Catholic-News
From: "Jos van Beurden" Jos.vanBeurden@inter.nl.net
Subject: Nok, Nigeria and the Netherlands
Date sent: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 10:23:09 +0100
Nok, Nigeria and the Netherlands
I am an independent research journalist. My focus is the preservation of the cultural heritage of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In my country the Netherlands (and also elsewehere in Europe), every now and then Nok statues are being offered for sale. Sometimes this is being published, as was the case two years ago with the capture of five Nok statues at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht. Most of the time no attention is paid to it.
I am looking for a colleague in Nigeria with a similar focus to share information and look for possibilities for cooperation. Jos van
Beurden E-mail: jos.vanbeurden@inter.NL.net
p.s. Do not expect any financial gains.
Special: urgent need for support the National Museum in Afghanistan
November 12, 2002
from ICOM-L
Dear colleagues, During the 7th ICOM ASPAC Assembly in Shanghai from 21-24 October an appeal has been adopted to assist the museums in Afghanistan and especially the National Museum (see below).
The director of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul was a participant at the meeting and presented a report on the situation in the National Museum. (At the end of this message a document is included with background information on the situation of the national museum of Afghanistan).
Although much help has been pledged, almost nothing has been materialized so far. A lot of efforts still need to be done and a lot of help is still needed.
In the appeal a list of short term and long term needs have been identified.
ICOM has promised to raise awareness on the needs of the National Museum by using its vast network. Posting this message on our ICOM-L is one of the means to do so.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could convey any willingness of assistance to the museum by sending a message to ICOM indicating the kind of support you could offer. Sincerely,
Manus Brinkman Secretary General ICOM http://www.icom.org/
APPEAL TO ASSIST THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFGHANISTAN
The 7th General Assembly of ICOM-ASPAC, convened at the Shanghai Museum on Thursday, October 24, 2002 ; Having been informed about the current dramatic situation of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul ;
Having been informed that the short term needs of this museum are -- to rehabilitate the current building -- to train the staff -- to receive essential resources; and the long term needs are -- to move the museum to a new location -- to develop a protection mechanism for Afghanistan's cultural heritage -- to develop a mechanism for the repatriation of stolen collections -- to establish a sustainable training scheme for cultural heritage professionals ; Urges ICOM to actively support the National Museum of Afghanistan in its efforts to address those needs and in securing the necessary support.
The 7th Regional Assembly of the Asia Pacific Organization, International Council of Museum, notes with great pleasure the interest expressed by many countries to rehabilitate the National Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan.
However, the Assembly notes with distress that essential pledges made by governments have not yet been honoured. The National Museum can still not function at a basic level. This is a dramatic situation with the winter rapidly approaching.
Hence, the Assembly urges all governments that have made those pledges to honour them as soon as possible.
---------------------------------------------
An Overview of the Situation of the National Museum in Afghanistan
by Jim Williams UNESCO Field Office Kabul
Background
Situated at an important junction on the ancient Silk Roads, Afghanistan has been the crossroads of cultures since time immemorial. Its unique cultural heritage reflects a history that is marked by the complex indigenous encounter with Achaemenid Persia, China, Alexandrian Greece, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. The collections representing this rich and unique cultural heritage were displayed in various museums in the larger cities of Afghanistan, especially in the National Museum in Kabul.
King Habibullah (1901-1919) brought together collections of wooden sculptures previously brought from Nuristan by his father King Abdur Rahman, carpets, silk and wool embroidery, metalwork, manuscripts with miniature paintings and other luxury objects having belonged to former royal families, to create the royal collection in his father's former pleasure palace at Bagh-e Bala. His successor, Amanullah Khan, decided to modernize Afghanistan and in Kabul he created the suburb of Darulaman, including a European style museum in what had been the Municipality building, just below his palace. This museum was inaugurated with the collections from Bagh-e Bala, enriched with the archaeological finds of the Délégation Archélogique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA), by his successor, Nadir Khan, in 1931.
The Museum in Darulaman was renovated and enlarged two times, once in the mid forties and again in the mid seventies. After the political complications that followed, during the period of Daoud and the Soviet occupation, the museum suffered from its location in this distant suburb, which became the frontlines of much fighting. However, the collections were preserved.
During the years that followed the collapse of the Soviet backed government, the Kabul museum was the theatre of the looting and destruction that went on in Afghanistan over the following twelve years. An intensive traffic of cultural heritage objects developed. The culmination of this traffic occurred during the occupation of the Taliban, who destroyed anything that resembled an animate figure and that could not be carried away for sale.
Present situation
The often quoted sign over the museum's entrance door reads, "A nation is alive, when its culture and history are alive", but the Kabul museum is today a ghost museum. Objects stolen from the National Museum have shown up for sale on markets around the world. The museum staff's efforts to preserve the collections have been, and are today, exemplary, and thanks to their perseverance, large numbers of objects, although many damaged, are stored at the museum and in the Ministry of Information and Culture. Despite the destruction and the looting, the Kabul museum remains today culturally rich and unique.
Although, international pledges were made to rebuild and rehabilitate the museum, ten months after the fall of the Taliban and the establishment of a new government, no work has yet begun on the museum building. Collections remain stored in precarious situations, and restoration of objects has begun in bombed out rooms without water or electricity.
As the pledges and promises have yet to give concrete results and no work has yet begun, UNESCO Kabul has decided to prepare the museum for winterization, by providing electricity, water and window panes. This will at least permit the museum staff to continue to work during the deadly cold of winter, and will protect some of the collections from the rigours of winter.
The major problem that remains is the lack of a roof over the museum structure. At present there is only a layer of dried mud "Kah gel", and this does not protect the collections from infiltrations of water from rain and snow.
Perspectives
In December 2001, the Greek Government announced that it was interested in helping in the restoration of the National Museum in Kabul. This was indeed "good news". This promise was reiterated at the International Seminar on the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage, organized by the Ministry of Information and Culture with the support of UNESCO from 27 and 29 May 2002.
While in Greece, during the month of August, this promise became more tangible during the meeting with the architect, Manolis Mavrakis, who has been named by the Greek Representative in Kabul, Michael Maniatis to rehabilitate the museum building.
During discussions with Mr Mavrakis, what became apparent was that he had been very surprised to learn from Mr. Omara Khana Masoudi, the Director of the Kabul Museum, that the museum was in a dangerous area, and that he was not in favour of it being reconstructed at the same site. In fact, the area is no longer serviced by public transport, which is a tremendous burden on the museum staff. The isolation of the museum, in the far suburb of Darulaman, was one of the factors that contributed to its deteriorated state. If the museum had been in the city centre, it would not have experienced so much looting, as neighbours would have seen the looters and protected their cultural heritage.
There has been a plan, for over two decades, to build a new museum. However, today the land that was allotted to the Ministry of Information and Culture for this purpose is situated near the Arg (citadel) and is today a no-man's-land, occupied by the Ministry of Defence. This location is not suitable for a museum, as it is exposed to great risks.
The ideal site for a future museum seems to be the vicinity of the National Archives. In fact, the Ministry of Information and Culture owns the land adjacent to the National Archives. If a new museum was to be built here, it would become a museum complex, sharing a common restoration laboratory, for both manuscripts and other museum objects. In the past conflict, the Archives were not really damaged. The location was very much protected from both missile fire and looting, by the proximity of the mountains and the local population.
Immediate needs
As the rehabilitation of the present museum has not begun, the Ministry of Information and Culture with funds from UNESCO is preparing the building for winterization, by installing electricity, water and window glazing. The basic and absolute essentials necessary for the museum staff is to continue working during the winter. The greatest problem for the winter is the lack of a roof on the museum building. Although the upper floor has been covered with dried mud (Kah gel), the seepage from rain and snow into the museum building hinders work and destroys the objects stored there.
Without reconstructing the present building or undertaking the construction of new national museum, there can be safe storage of cultural heritage objects, stored in various places around Kabul and in the provinces. The Ministry of Information and Culture needs the space occupied by the stored objects for its staff to be able to work. The situation of storage on the ground floor of the Ministry is very precarious, as was demonstrated by the recent bomb that exploded just outside, across the street.
Along with this precariousness of the stored cultural heritage objects, there is another problem, linked to this one, that of not being able to take-in the objects coming from excavations. The Minister of Culture has said that today the number one problem of Afghanistan in the culture sector is illicit excavation and looting. Fortunately, many objects have been stopped from leaving the country, but where are they to be kept? If there was museum space to restore and protect these objects, scientific archaeological excavation could begin. This would at the same time put an end to much of the illicit excavation, as it did in Iraq.
It is impossible to speak about the museum without mentioning the human factor. The National Museum in Kabul has one of the most dedicated staffs in the country. They have done their utmost, and the seeming impossible, to save what could be of the museum collections. This dedication should be repaid, but in fact, the museum staff is in one of the most precarious situations in the country. This is due to the isolation of the museum in a far suburb of Kabul, which has no public transportation. Also, their working conditions in a building without electricity or water were excruciating, especially during the winter months.
The museum staff has not had the benefit of training and the use of up-to-date methods of inventory and restoration. For the last two decades, they have not been in contact with their colleagues around the world and the exchange of ideas and methodology that goes along with this contact. If the museum is to continue to attract such dedicated staff, training opportunities and exchange must be provided. Not only short term training should be organized for the dedicated staff, but long-term training for the younger generation must be foreseen and organized, in the near future, in order to ensure the continuation of quality work in the museum.
The estimates of reconstruction of the Darulaman area range from ten to twenty years. In the meantime, the museum and the collections must be rehabilitated and exhibitions organized for the edification of the public. Education of the younger generation now in Afghanistan, and returning to Afghanistan, is of the highest importance to the country and to the future understanding the unique Afghan cultural heritage, which has been shrouded by the last years of obscurantism.
The Ideal Museum
Kabul today is in search of a cultural direction. Attempts to create popular cultural manifestations have met with resistance from the more conservative elements of society. An example, among others, is the musical concert, which was foreseen for the Nauruz celebration in the Olympic Stadium, and which was cancelled at the last moment without explanation. Artists have not found exhibition facilities. There has been much discussion of the intangible cultural heritage of Afghanistan, but up until now, popular expressions of art and culture have not been encouraged. The ideal national museum would become a place of study and artistic expression. There is need of a museum complex comprising an archaeological, ethnological and popular museum.
Museum sinks hope of marbles deal
Greek culture minister fobbed off with tea but no sympathy
Fiachra Gibbons, arts correspondent Wednesday November 13, 2002 The Guardian
He came, he was given a cup of tea, and yesterday Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek minister of culture who wants the Parthenon marbles back in time for the 2004 Olympics, returned to Athens bearing an ancient piece of broken masonry. Unfortunately, a 5th century BC sculpture he carried back from his "historic" visit never adorned the top of the Parthenon. Instead it was a headstone stolen from Thebes museum that had somehow turned up in London. The choice of gift from Britain could not have been more symbolic.
For after making the biggest concessions in the three-decades-long cultural cold war over the marbles, the Greeks great hope of making a breakthrough were effectively buried again yesterday. In a friendly but nonetheless firm statement, the British Museum's director, Neil MacGregor, said that since the marbles were among a "select group of key objects which are indispensable to the museum's core function to tell the story of human civilisation, the sculptures cannot be lent to any museum, in Greece or elsewhere". The very fact that Mr MacGregor had been willing to meet the minister - the first director of the museum to do so - had been interpreted by the Greeks as a sign that glacial indifference their protests had been met with in the past was over, and the British Museum might be willing to do a deal. In a historic attempt to compromise, Professor Venizelos dropped all claims to repatriate the treasures, and insisted that the issue of ownership of the marbles was no longer of the "utmost significance". He even offered the British Museum a share of the gallery being built at the foot of the Acropolis to accommodate the Greek-owned half of the surviving marbles as a sweetener for a long-term loan. The clarity of the British Museum's statement seems to rule out any even short-term loan of the figures, which were bought by Lord Elgin in the most murky of circumstances while Greece was still part of the Ottoman empire.
Greek commentators are angry that the statement setting out the reasons for the museum's refusal was handed out even before the minister could put his case in person. But the bullish Prof Venizelos, the man responsible for preparing Greece for the Olympics, the biggest construction project undertaken there since the days of the classical architect Deinocrates, attempted to put a more positive spin on events. He insisted that his was not a wasted visit. "We have applied pressure. A Mori poll has shown that a big majority of the British people would like the marbles to be put on dis play in Athens, and we have begun a dialogue between the British Museum and the New Acropolis Museum." Nonetheless, last night he went over Mr MacGregor's head to appeal directly to the prime minister, Tony Blair, saying it would be a shame if museum opened and "we were obliged to promote the dismemberment of the marbles" instead of celebrating their symbolic return. Although work on the sensitive archeological site on which the museum is being built has only just started, Prof Venizelos said the first-floor gallery built to house the marbles would be opened before the Olympics. http://www.guardian.co.uk/
From: "Connie Lowenthal" clowenthal@nyc.rr.com
Subject: RE:Art Sales War-Looted Art
Date sent: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 10:35:44 -0500
To the Editor: Regarding Will Bennett's article in the Telegraph, "Art Sales: War-looted Art" (November 4, 2002 on MSN).
I fail to see how Mr. Bennett reached his conclusions and implied criticism about Sotheby's activity regarding sales of art that was once looted by the Nazis. When this art is sold at Sotheby's (or at Christie's) -- it is either being sold by the heirs or with their agreement, as part of a settlement between them and the consignor.Far from being a conflict of interest, the heirs' interest and Sotheby's coincide: both want to achieve the best sales price. When Sotheby's gets involved in settlement negotiations (sometimes because its research identifies and locates heirs who had no idea where to find their stolen property), it can only sell the art if the heirs are happy with that arrangement. Selling recovered art is perfectly legitimate. Once the heirs are identified and their interests satisfied, I can see nothing more to discuss. Sotheby's is not benefiting from the "Nazis' legacy" at all; it is benefiting from the RESOLUTION of a past injustice. If Sotheby's has a hand in achieving that resolution, because a prospective seller brought the property to them, so be it. That heirs wish to sell the art (because there is no other way to divide its value among them) is a function of time and circumstance and is not Sotheby's doing.
It is very easy to criticize the marketplace, but let us save accusations for real, not imagined, transgressions.
Constance Lowenthal cl@lowenthal-inc.com
Historic Newton Book Stolen from Library
(see also our message about this theft November 10, 2002)
ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Thieves have stolen Newton's "apple" from a Russian museum -- the celebrated book in which the 17th century English physicist formulated his eponymous law on gravity which revolutionized science.
Posing as readers, the thieves stole a rare first edition of Isaac Newton's "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" from the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, a library official told Reuters Sunday. "The loss was discovered straight away when the reading room was closing on November 6 and it had not been returned by the readers who had requested it," the official said.
The theft was reported to police Friday.
Newton's "Principia" (or Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, is considered to be one of the most important single works in the history of modern science. In "Principia" Newton formulates the three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. Legend has it that the young Newton was reading under an apple tree when he was struck on the head by a falling fruit, an innocuous event which provided the inspiration for his theories on gravity and secured him a place in history. His new laws helped him to explain a range of phenomena, including the motion of planets, moons and comets within the solar system, the behavior of Earth's tides, the procession of the equinoxes and irregularities in the moon's orbit. The library official said the stolen book was usually kept in the archives and only given out to readers for work in the library's reading room.
Farmer With Ancient Coins Arrested
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - A Greek farmer was arrested after police found a large horde of illegally excavated antiquities in his car and the basement of his home, authorities said Monday.
Stavros Hatzioannidis, 48, was arrested after police seized 143 copper coins and scores of other ancient artifacts, many of them more than 2,500 years old, authorities said. The artifacts were illegally excavated around Skidra, a village about 60 miles west of the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Under Greece's strict protection laws, it is illegal to own, buy, sell or excavate antiquities without a special permit. Searching for ancient objects is also illegal and items must be handed over to authorities if they are found accidentally.
Israeli Official Doubts Jesus Reference on Casket
Mon Nov 4, 1:46 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli Antiquities Authority official said on Monday archaeologists would never prove beyond doubt that an inscription on an ancient limestone casket referred to the brother of Jesus. Scholars had hoped the nearly 2,000-year-old ossuary, a box once used to hold bones for burial, would be the most important find in the history of New Testament archaeology. The earliest previously known artifact mentioning Jesus was a papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John, dated about 125 A.D. Bearing the Aramaic inscription "James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus," the porous limestone box has been dated to about 63 A.D and could be the earliest known non-biblical reference to Jesus. Now in a Toronto museum for its first showing, it belongs to an Israeli who is reported to have bought it for a few hundred dollars in the 1970s. Canadian museum officials estimate it is worth about $2 million. Uzi Dahari, deputy head of the Israeli authority responsible for the nation's antiquities, doubted that experts would be able to determine for certain that the casket's inscription referred to the brother of Jesus.
"Statistically the chances of it being Jesus's brother are low and we will never know the truth because the casket is from an unofficial dig and ended up in the open market," he said. "We don't even know if the cave in which it was found was in Jerusalem or far from Jerusalem. There are so many questions that will never have an answer so that no one will ever be able to say for sure that is the ossuary of the brother of Jesus." The Geological Survey of Israel determined that the ossuary sat in soil native to Jerusalem's Mount Scopus and said in a letter to the journal Biblical Archaeology Review, which announced the find on October 21, that no evidence was found to detract from the inscription's authenticity. Stephen Phann, president of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, has seen the inscription. "If we were to have an A,B,C,D rating of certainty, this is up there at B-plus, or fairly certain," he said. Under Israeli law, the Antiquities Authority, which authorized its export to Washington and then Toronto, has the right to examine it on its return in early February. If it has national significance, the government can claim it. The ossuary was cracked on its way to Toronto, where it is scheduled to go on display on November 16.
Fate of artifacts on hold
By Associated Press November 12, 2002
LARAMIE - Admonished by a federal judge, lawyers for the government and the Wyoming Territorial Park are attempting to settle their dispute over ownership of artifacts in the U.S. Marshals Museum. "This public bickering between a respected public park and the Marshals Service is unseemly and not in the public interest and it should end," U.S. District Judge William F. Downes of Casper said during a hearing held by telephone conference call last week. Urging the parties to "come to grips with reality," Downes told Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Vassalo and park attorney Mary Chinnock Petroski that "it's time for everyone to act like adults, and this court doesn't have time to entertain the temper tantrums of litigants." The judge then issued a temporary injunction blocking the park from auctioning off the artifacts. Jennifer Goodman, executive secretary of the park, said the parties immediately began an attempt to reach a settlement, which she said is continuing. The Marshals Service exhibits, which include such things as a Ku Klux Klan robe, a jail cell door and a display of posters with pictures of wanted fugitives, had been at the park for 11 years under a series of agreements with the Marshals Service. After the latest agreement was not renewed, the park filed a lien against the property, gave notice of foreclosure and set the auction date. The artifacts remain in the now-closed museum, located in a building near the 19th century Wyoming Territorial Prison, which is the centerpiece of the park. "This property is the property of the United States," said Downes in a partial transcript of the hearing filed in the court clerk's office. "If it is sold, it is lost, and the public interest is harmed irretrievably." Downes told the parties that "there appears to be vast case law recognizing the general rule that a lien cannot attach to the property of the United States unless there's been a waiver of sovereign immunity." The park maintained that the Marshals Service had waived this immunity when it agreed to loan the articles to the park. The judge said he found little support in the law for this argument, but would consider it if the parties fail to reach agreement and he has to rule on the merits of the case.
Witnesses at the hearing included Goodman and David Turk, historian of the Marshals Service.