The ring, which depicts a bull-leaping scene, was initially dismissed as fake before its authenticity was established by a team of Culture Ministry experts.
The scene depicted on the 15th century BC artifact also includes a lion and a tree.
Source: Kathimerini [January 12, 2015]
“The artifacts were discovered hidden in cheap vases during an inspection of a shipping container from Alexandria, Egypt, at the Port of Valencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast,” said Director-General of Guardia Civil Arsenio Fernandez de Mesa.
The ancient Egyptian artifacts, with a total value of between 200,000 and 300,000 euros (U.S. $225,000-339,000), were recovered as part of a comprehensive crackdown launched by agents from European law enforcement authorities in 14 countries to prevent looting, theft and illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.
The Spanish police showed the press 36 of the recovered Egyptian artifacts including “a majestic bust of Sekhmet, the ancient Egyptian warrior goddess, worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($125,000),” Spanish Police Captain Javier Morales was quoted as saying by news24.
Also among the most valuable recovered artifacts is a statue of Isis, ancient Egyptian goddess of magic, and a vase covered in hieroglyphics, said Morales.
“During the comprehensive operation, dubbed ‘Aureus,’ the agents carried out checks on 6,244 individuals, 8,222 vehicles, 27 vessels, as well as 2,352 inspections at antique and art dealers, auction houses and secondhand outlets. Checks were also stepped up at airports, land borders and ports in Europe,” according to Europol.
Most of Egypt’s major archaeological sites have been targeted for looting since the 2011 uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of ancient Egyptian artifacts, most of which were obtained from illicit digging activities, are now flooding the global markets, auction houses and electronic commerce websites.
In spite of the Egyptian government’s efforts to track smuggled artifacts inside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, the issue is still unsettled.
“During the past four years, Egypt has recovered over 1,600 artifacts and is currently working on other cases in many European countries,” Ministry of Antiquities’ Museums Sector head Ahmed Sharaf previously told The Cairo Post.
It is estimated that around $3 billion in Egyptian antiquities have been looted since the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution in 2011, according to the International Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities, a U.S.-based initiative partnered with Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry.
Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [January 29, 2015]
According to an announcement of the Culture Ministry, the coins were found in the luggage of a Greek citizen travelling by car to Munich and seized by the German police.
Most of them are made of copper and date back to the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and post-Roman eras.
It should be noted that several members of an antiquities smuggling ring that was dismantled in March 2012 were involved in the case.
Source: Protothema [January 24, 2015]
Police estimated the value of the 5,361 vases, kraters, bronze statues and frescoes at about 50 million euros ($58 million). The works, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century, were laid out Wednesday at the National Roman Museum and may go on public display.
Carabineri Gen. Mariano Mossa says it was "by a long shot the biggest recovery in history in terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures."
They were found during an investigation into Basel-based art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, accused by prosecutors of being part of a huge trafficking network.
Source: Associated Press [January 21, 2015]
Currently the stables and part of the grounds of the Abbey are rented to a private person who runs a restaurant and holds large weddings and receptions within the grounds of the Abbey that continue late at night. This has been ongoing in excess of 20 years and it has not been duly regulated by the authorities.
There have been alterations and extensions to the historic buildings, which compromised the aesthetic and physical integrity of the historic look of the Abbey.
Currently the proprietor of the said restaurant is in the process of building a sewerage treatment plant approximately 15 meters away from the foundations of the Abbey, which is already precariously positioned.
There is visible erosion caused by weather conditions over the centuries and the Abbey itself has not had any restoration.
A huge crack has appeared on the western wall right above where the proprietor of the restaurant placed a generator. The supporting wall around the foundations collapsed in places. The other walls are also visibly in urgent need of repair.
A conscientious group of citizens has set up a Facebook group for raising awareness of this unacceptable use and neglect of Cyprus' national heritage by both the authorities and the proprietor of the restaurant.
The group has also set up an online petition (in Turkish) to submit to the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) parliament calling for the removal of the sewerage plant and to investigate the terms and conditions via which the lease has been granted.
Author: Fatma Kaya | Source: Balabayis'a Aritma Tesisi Yapilamaz [January 12, 2015]
Archaeologists on Thursday were assessing a collection of gold jewelry discovered by police in a hidden compartment in the ceiling of a home in Imathia, northern Greece, to ascertain whether they are of historical value.
The 59-year-old resident of the home, which was raided by officers acting on a tip-off, has been placed under arrest and may face charges of illegal possession of antiquities if the items are authenticated, the Greek Police said.
Among the items found stuffed into a hollowed-out compartment in a foam ceiling tile are gold necklaces and earrings, as well as leaf-shaped fragments that resemble the ornamentation used in Alexander-era crowns and ceremonial wreaths. They also found five small bundles containing semi-precious stones.
Source: Kathimerini [January 08, 2015]
In the biggest shake-up of arts and culture of modern times, Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister, has announced that the Government is to run advertisements in the Economist on January 9 to recruit new administrators "because we want to have the best directors in the world".
The leadership changes are part of a dramatic shake-up of the arts spearheaded by Dario Franceschini, the Culture Minister, in an attempt to make the country's galleries, museums and historic sites more profit-driven. Italy boasts nearly 3000 cultural sites that attract 77 million visitors a year.
The Colosseum alone draws 5.5 million of those.
Among the other "super museums" Franceschini wants to develop are the Borghese Gallery and National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Under a government decree, Franceschini hopes to generate earnings of more than 2 billion ($3.16 billion) in 2017, with further growth in the years to come. Italy's museums, galleries and archeological sites generated only 380 million in revenue in 2013, according to La Repubblica newspaper, and cost 350 million to operate.
The minister's office declined to comment on the new plans. But, according to La Repubblica, Franceschini wants to model Italian museums on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and add more restaurants, gift shops, guides and accessories that will attract more visitors and ultimately more profits.
He also wants to create 18 new regional offices with responsibility for the country's biggest artistic sites and grant more power to individual directors who run them. Italian media also said he was expected to appoint 12 new directors-general within his ministry who would manage specific sectors such as tourism, cinema and live theatre.
Franceschini has openly favoured other measures to increase tourism by "adding value" to the country's heritage and strongly supports corporate sponsorship.
He recently backed a move to bring live cultural events and concerts to ancient monuments such as the Colosseum because he said they needed to be "brought alive" for visitors from around the world.
In June, he launched a $50 million appeal to preserve the vast Domus Aurea palace built by Emperor Nero beside the Colosseum.
The Domus Aurea, loosely translated as the Golden House, is a sprawling complex of interconnecting dining halls, frescoed reception rooms and vaulted hallways on the hill opposite the ancient amphitheatre.
"The state has very limited resources unfortunately," said Franceschini at the time.
"This is an opportunity for a big company to sponsor an extraordinary project, which will capture the world's attention. It would be scandalous if no one comes forward."
Source: The New Zealand Herald [December 26, 2014]
In October, a Canadian woman made headlines around the world when she personally returned to hand back a 2,000-year old fragment she had stolen from Pompeii on her honeymoon 50 years ago.
The woman from Montreal, who is in her 70s, said the theft of the first century AD terracotta roof decoration had weighed on her conscience for decades.
Now Massimo Osanna, superintendent of the World Heritage-listed site, said that was not an isolated case and hundreds of archeological artefacts had been sent back to the museum in recent years, often with letters of apology written in different languages.
"We have been receiving hundreds of packages with hundreds of fragments now for years," Mr Osanna told the Italian daily, Il Messaggero.
"People write expressing regret, having realised they have made a terrible mistake and that they would never do it again and for this reason they are sending the stolen pieces back.
"But the most curious thing, from an anthropological point of view, are the letters that accompany the stolen fragments which reveal a cross-section of people worth studying."
Mr Osanna said that one particular fresco fragment that had been returned was crucial in the restoration of the Casa del Frutteto, or house of the orchard keeper, which collapsed in the 1980s.
He said the property was restored but after work was completed experts realised a piece of wall plaster was missing. He said it was returned to officials in March and would now be added.
Mr Osanna could not be contacted on Tuesday but said he would like to stage an exhibition to showcase the precious objects that had been returned.
Alessandro Pintucci, president of the Italian Confederation of Archeologists, welcomed the return of artefacts but warned more security was needed to protect valuable cultural sites and to prevent thefts where there were often too few controls.
Pompeii was buried by a sudden volcanic eruption of nearby Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. The preserved remains of the town attract around 2.5 million tourists every year.
Theft is a problem at ancient sites like Pompeii and the Colosseum in Rome, with tourists regularly trying to take "souvenirs" of their visits.
Last September a pair of American tourists were caught at Fiumicino airport in Rome with a stone artefact they had taken from Pompeii.
Author: Josephine McKenna | Source: Telegraph [December 24, 2014]
Most of the archaeological sites and features, which date back to prehistoric, classical, medieval and early modern periods, were discovered as a result of stringent planning permit monitoring procedures and field surveys carried out by MEPA and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH).
These newly unearthed archaeological sites include extensive areas characterised by a high density of prehistoric and classical pottery scatters, classical tombs, rural walls with long stretches of megaliths and ashlar stones, historic paths, ancient enclosures and water systems. Rural structures worthy of preservation such as giren (corbelled huts), apiaries and small vernacular buildings were also identified.
These archaeological sites and features are of local and national importance and contribute towards the understanding of the cultural landscape of the area.
A number of single chamber tombs and small catacombs have been recorded in Mġarr and Żebbiegħ. These tombs indicate a well established human presence in the classical period and could provide data for establishing the location of settlements and ancient roads in this period. The classical period features provide an archaeological landscape which is distinct from the prehistoric one, even if both overlap the same geographical space.
The undeveloped landscape in Mġarr and Żebbiegħ is characterized by the presence of extensive stretches of karstland, interspersed with small pockets of reclaimed agricultural areas. Within the surviving karstland, a large number of cart-rut systems and ancient quarries are recorded. An industrial site containing a kiln complete with water channels and a cistern has also been discovered. Some of these rock-cut archaeological features date as far back as the Bronze Age.
As expected, within such a primarily natural landscape characterized by active agricultural areas, one comes across a number of traditional rural structures in various degrees of conservation. These rural structures include old pathways, apiaries, giren, animal pens (some of which underground), cisterns, silos, post-holes, vine trenches and water channels which have a varying level of cultural or historic importance, but which collectively presents one of the most interesting agricultural and historically rural landscape in Malta.
A WWII shelter at Jubilee Square (Wesgħat il-Ġublew) and Fisher Street have also been scheduled by the Authority.
This area, with its substantial number of archaeological sites as well as rural and military heritage features is one of the most complete and complex rural and cultural landscapes in Malta with a history that spans over 7,000 years.
Source: Malta Today [December 23, 2014]
Italian bank Unicredit and the nonprofit foundation CariVerona signed a deal Wednesday with Verona's mayor to restore the Arena at a cost of 14 million euros ($17.5 million).
The project aims to secure the open-air Arena, the third-largest Roman-era amphitheater to survive antiquity, against infiltration from rain, which has damaged the seating areas, and upgrade its stairs and infrastructure like the electrical system.
The deal falls under the government's Art Bonus initiative adopted this year that gives donors a 65 percent tax credit.
With state funding to culture shrinking amid Italy's recession, Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi praised the Art Bonus program, saying that public resources "would never be sufficient to maintain treasures like ours."
The Arena is one of Verona's biggest tourist attractions and the venue for its famed summer opera festival. Some 1.5 million people enter the monument each year.
Tosi said the restoration work is expected take three years.
The mayor has another, more controversial project, in his sights: adding a roof to the 1st -century building. Tosi said he was awaiting approval from the culture ministry to solicit proposals.
Source: The Associated Press [December 19, 2014]
According to Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, the budget for the project amounts to 5,650,000 euros. The purpose of the initiative is to make improvements to the landscape surrounding this important archaeological site, including the addition of a herb garden with healing plants, new pathways for tourists, kiosks that will provide information about the history of medicine and promote local agricultural products with healing properties, etc.
Located in a small valley in the Peloponnesus, the shrine of Asclepius, comprises of three principal monuments, the temple of Asclepius, the Tholos and the Theatre – considered one of the purest masterpieces of Greek architecture – that date from the 4th century.
The vast site, with its temples and hospital buildings devoted to its healing gods, is a precious testimony to the practice of medicine in antiquity.
Source: Protothema [December 18, 2014]
The castles are the Tavolese manor near Florence and Sapia castle near Siena. From northern to southern Italy, dozens of private castles are on the market, according to a statement by Lionard Luxury Estate.
Prices range from 1,200 to 8,500 euros per square meter for mansions of great charm and prestige, perfectly maintained, some of which have already been fitted as hotels or farms.
''On our website alone we have 37 castles on sale, but there are over 70 across Italy in the portfolio'', said the CEO of Lionard Luxury Real Estate, Dimitri Corti.
High maintenance costs and growing fiscal pressure on real estate have convinced many owners, in many cases for many generations, to consider selling to foreign buyers, at the moment the only ones interested in investing in this type of property.
The most advantageous properties are currently located in Piedmont: one of the most stunning castles in Monferrato, located in a park with secular trees, a manor of 5,962 square metres in perfect condition, with a 16th century guesthouse, is on sale for 7 million euros, just over 1,000 euro per square meter. Similar occasions can be found in Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria and Tuscany, one of the most sought after for this type of property.
It is the case of the 19th century Castello di Acquabella, in the splendid natural reserve of Vallombrosa, near the abbey by the same name, which has been perfectly renovated, for a total of 5,000 square meters inside.
On the coast between Livorno and Castiglioncello, a castle dating back to the beginning of the 1900s with splendid sea views is on sale - 700 square metres on four floors with two towers. The park includes palm trees, secular pines and exotic plants.
The castle of Sapia - from the name of Sapia Salviati - near Monteriggioni, just 7 km from Siena, is also on sale. Set in a splendid landscape, the hotel needs a full renovation and is on sale for 2.5 million euros.
More expensive are stunning castles in the Chianti countryside near Siena and Florence, like the imposing Castello di Tavolese, which belonged to the house of Farinata degli Uberti, the family of Petrarca's mother: 7,676 covered square meters and 67 hectares of park, which includes buildings such as a church and farms.
Source: ANSAmed [December 15, 2014]
Nearly 100,000 people have signed an online petition attacking the idea. Authorities insist the project poses no risk to the monument, said Joaquin Paredes, the creator of the petition. “How can it be that the transfer and installation of courts and bleachers as well as allowing access to thousands of people won’t have any effect on a monument that’s more than 2,000 years old?”
Local groups have also taken aim. Cavex, the umbrella group of neighbours associations in Extremadura, conveyed its “absolute rejection” of the idea in a statement. “It’s a total lack of respect for one of our most emblematic monuments,” the group said. “Mérida has much more appropriate spaces for padel tennis.”
Others have backed the idea, arguing that Mérida is far from pioneering the use of ruins to host large events. As Damián Beneyto, a politician representing regional political parties, pointed out on Twitter: “The bullring in Nimes is a roman coliseum and its conservation hasn’t been compromised.”
Despite the outcry, the People’s party politician who heads Extremadura has held firm to the idea. On Monday, José Antonio Monago told journalists that if there had been any concerns about risk to the monument, city officials would have never allowed the proposal to go forward.
He pointed to Verona, home to one of the world’s largest Roman amphitheatres – which has at times been converted into an ice rink. Mérida itself stages a large theatre festival each year in the amphitheatre, he added. “At one time they put cranes and vehicles in the Roman theatre. Nobody gathered signatures or spoke out.”
Author: Ashifa Kassam | Source: The Guardian [March 27, 2015]
As BGNES news outlet reported on Tuesday, police have found 19 marble and stone slabs and sculptures as well as ancient coins and moulds for production of fake coins at the homes of the suspects.
A Turkish national permanently residing in Bulgaria has been detained after ancient coins and a fragment of a stone statue were found at his home. Police suspect the artefacts were being prepared for sale in EU countries.
The marble and stone slabs and parts of statues were discovered at the home of a 56-year old Bulgarian national in Shumen.
Some 9,000 ancient coins, presumably dating back to the times of the Roman Empire, and moulds for casting fake coins were found at the home of a a 52-year old Bulgarian national in the nearby town of Novi Pazar, some 30 km from Shumen.
Antique metal artefacts and some 80 coins were found at the home of a third Bulgarian national in the village of Ivanovo.
The three Bulgarians had been arrested on 11 March and charged with possession of unregistered cultural heritage items. They face prison terms of one to six years and fines in the range of BGN 1,000 to 20,000 if convicted.
Source: Novinite [March 24, 2015]
A court in the capital Skopje convicted another six people Friday, including two more former museum officials, over the theft of 160 artefacts that was reported in November 2013.
At the time, police had said that the antiquities, which date from the 4th century AD and include gold and silver jewelry, were believed to have been sold abroad by an organized crime ring. The artefacts have not been located.
The theft from the 'Museum of Macedonia' in central Skopje occurred between November 2011 and October 2013.
All seven defendants denied wrongdoing, and appealed their convictions.
Source: The Associated Press [March 20, 2015]
El Pais on Thursday reported that the Pre-History Department of Madrid's Complutense University had sent a letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) criticizing the cave management and saying that ''the new program of the Spanish culture ministry, a plan that entails the opening of the cave to visitors, raises important questions about conservation and puts fragile heritage that is enormously important for the understanding of Paleolithic society at risk.''
The letter, signed by 17 professors, was also backed by the History Institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which 70 researchers are part of. The letter, on the webpage of the Pre-History Department, stated that the ''actions undertaken by the culture ministry are a clear threat to conservation'' of heritage that should be preserved for future generations. It also urges UNESCO and other international organizations involved in heritage conservation to ''take note of the risks that political decisions entail'' for Altamira.
The site, closed to the public since 2002 after a report commissioned by the culture ministry and a team led by the French national Gael de Guichen, was reopened in 2012 to selected visits by small groups of five people and a guide. In one year, 250 people visited the caves, according to the program that ended in February. The next meeting of Altamira sponsors will have to decide whether to make the visits a regular occurrence. Experts say that this would lead to irreversible damage.
Source: ANSAmed [March 20, 2015]
The restoration was funded by the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Naples and Pompeii (SANP) and was conducted in lots so that parts of the Villa were still open to the public throughout the restoration process.
The Villa was first discovered in excavations in 1909 and was exceptionally well-preserved despite the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., which covered it in a layer of over 30 feet of volcanic ash.
The recent restoration work, which involved 70 rooms of the Villa, corrected some of the damage inflicted by previous restoration techniques that were found to be harmful to the Villa's frescoes over the years.
In work done during the 1930s, wax was applied to preserve the frescoes, but ultimately faded the colors, something that was corrected using techniques to first identify the nature of the chromatic alterations and other damage over time and then perform restorations.
In addition to work done to restore the Villa's frescoes, the most famous of which is the Dionysiac frieze portraying the mysteries of the Cult of Dionysus from which the Villa takes its name, work was also done to clean the intricate mosaic floor decorations.
Source: ANSA [March 13, 2015]
The Antiquities Ephorate of Lesvos announced that the wall fell onto a foot path and that visitor access to the castle has been suspended, as the castle’s static integrity has been burdened by the recent bout of adverse weather.
Recent restoration efforts have focused on the conservation of the castle’s main gate, however plans are being discussed to restore the walls with NSRF funds.
The medieval castle of Myrina, which is the largest fort in the Aegean, is built in a remote, rocky peninsula. The first Latin ruler of the island, Venetian megadux Filocalo Navigajoso, modified the castle in 1207. It was seriously damaged in 1770 during a siege by the Russian fleet.
Source: To Vima [March 12, 2015]
In an early day motion, Lib Dem MP Andrew George will urge the government to make moves towards "reuniting" them with those in the Acropolis Museum.
The marbles, once part of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple, but removed by Lord Elgin 200 years ago, are held in the British Museum.
Greece insists they were taken illegally and should be returned.
In his early day motion, Mr George will call for the government to "demonstrate that Britain is prepared to... reunite these British-held Parthenon sculptures with those now displayed in the purpose-built Acropolis Museum in the shadow of the monument to which they belong, the Parthenon in Athens".
Mr George chairs the Marbles Reunited organisation, a campaign group which lobbies for the sculptures to be sent back to Greece.
The group is calling on the UK government to respond to an invitation issued in 2013 by the United Nations cultural agency Unesco concerning mediation over the future of the marbles.
Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, became British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1799.
In 1801, he negotiated with the Ottoman Turks, who then controlled Athens, to remove statues from the Parthenon.
Elgin, an art lover, claimed the sculptures were better off in Britain than the perilous environment he found them in.
Neil Macgregor, director of the British Museum, told the Evening Standard: "Elgin rescued some of the greatest things ever made, so the world can enjoy them."
"The greatest things in the world should be... shared and enjoyed by as many people in as many countries as possible."
When questioned about it in 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "No, I certainly don't believe in 'returnism', as it were. I don't think that is sensible.
"I think the right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions in Britain is to do exactly what they do, which is link up with museums all over the world... to make sure that the things that we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.
In December the British Museum loaned one of the Elgin Marbles for the first time to Russia for a display in St Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum.
The Greek Prime Minister at the time, Antonis Samaras, said the British Museum's decision was "an affront" to the Greek people.
Greece maintains that Lord Elgin removed the marbles illegally between 1801 and 1812, while the country was under Turkish occupation as part of the Ottoman Empire.
The items have remained in the British Museum ever since.
George Clooney's wife, lawyer Amal Clooney, has previously held talks with the Greek government as part of the ongoing campaign to have the sculptures returned from Britain.
Source: BBC News Website [March 09, 2015]
The tourists from California, aged 21 and 25, were cited Saturday for carving their first names eight centimeters (three inches) high into an upper level of the Colosseum, said Carabinieri Capt. Lorenzo Iacobone.
The two were freed on their own recognizance but will face charges for aggravated damage to a monument. Their names or hometowns were not released by police.
Iacobone said the young women apologized for the vandalism, but he said such acts "are extremely serious. No one considers the damage they are creating."
"They have carved their names into ancient stone. It is not like writing with a pen, and then afterward it can be cleaned up," he said.
A Russian tourist who carved his initials into the Colosseum in November was handed a four-month suspended sentence and a fine of 20,000 euros ($21,270) after opting for a speedy trial. It was the fifth such act of vandalism by tourists last year, including a Canadian tourist who tried to steal a piece of stone from the Colosseum hidden in his backpack.
Union leaders have complained about the lack of personnel to properly monitor Rome's archaeological treasures — with increasing numbers of visitors seeking to leave their trace on antiquity, causing irreparable damage.
With thousands of tourists visiting the monument each day and many hidden corners, Iacobone said it was impossible to monitor everyone's actions.
Source: Associated Press ]March 09, 2015]
