The footage, shot by German traveler Dr. Lothar Carlowitz, show the Nemrut ruins and excavations at the ancient city of Arsemia in the eastern province of Adıyaman. It is seen in the footage when the sculpture of Antiochus was discovered underground for the first time. The sculpture was cleaned and covered with a piece of cloth.

After the footage was publicly seen, Archaeology and Arts magazine editor Nezih Başgelen said he had used the sculpted head in a book that he had prepared. The footage shows the airfoil of a Turkish Airlines plane. The plane was included in the fleet on Nov. 18, 1946, and was out of the fleet by 1966, implying that the footage was shot sometime before 1966.

German professor Karl Dörner was the first one who went to Arsemia, where the sculpture was found, in 1953, and the footage shows his excavations, so it is definite that the footage dates back to between 1953 and 1966. He worked there until 1986 and released a book about these excavations in 1987, but the head is not mentioned in his book.

File of the sculpture lost in the museum

Under the light of this information, we followed the traces of the sculpture to the Gaziantep Zeugma Museum. Museum officials told us they did not know how the sculpture had come to the museum and it was first registered in their inventory in 1995. The file on the sculpture was lost and could not be found in the museum archive.

Former directors of the museum said the sculpture’s head was seized in 1980s in the Gaziantep airport while being smuggled abroad by a German citizen and delivered to the museum by the police. But no one knows about this German citizen or the court process because the file is lost.

Now there are many questions to be answered: Where had this sculpture been kept for all these years? Who was this German in the Gaziantep airport? Was he in relations with the excavation team? Was it just a coincidence that German professor Dörner left Turkey after the sculpture was found? Was it normal that he did not mention such a significant piece of artwork in his book? Who destroyed or lost the file in the museum? Is there any connection between Carlowitz, who shot the footage, and those who seized the sculpture?

Author: Ömer Erbil | Source: Hurriyet Daily News [March 04, 2015]

The "unique" four foot marble statue is said to have been illegally dug up in Cyrene, a UNESCO world heritage site, before being smuggled to the UK in 2011, via Dubai.

It was uncovered in a west London warehouse by customs officials two years later and handed to the British Museum pending a court's decision over ownership.

District Judge John Zani, who is overseeing the case at Westminster Magistrates Court, was given a detailed analysis of the sculpture during a two hour viewing at the museum.

Accompanied by barristers, solicitors and his legal adviser, the judge carefully examined the statue as he was told stains and other evidence demonstrated that it was “definitely” excavated illegally from the ancient Greek colony of Cyrene.

The statue, which depicts a Greek woman wearing a hood and flowing gown, is said to be unparalleled besides a single comparable example in the Louvre. The woman wears two snake-like bracelets and carries a doll.

It hails from the third centuries BC, when it served as a grave marker.

Authorities in Tripoli have already launched a bid to repatriate the work of art.

A British Museum spokesperson said that as far as they were aware it was the first time a court had convened on the premises.

Jordanian, Riad Al Qassas, who does not reside in the UK, is accused of falsifying paperwork after telling customs that the sculpture came from Turkey, rather than Libya, and was worth £60,000, rather than between £1.5m to £2m.

He denies one count of knowingly or recklessly delivering a false document to HMRC on November 1 last year.

Dr Peter Higgs, curator of Greek sculpture at the British Museum, told District Judge Zani the statue looked “fresh” and had been excavated “fairly recently”.

Highlighting earth stains and marks from vegetation, he pointed to “small pickaxe” marks as the judge circled the statue, studying it closely in a tiny store-room.

A video of the viewing was later played in court.

Dr Higgs said: “The statue is a three-quarter length figure. It is a funerary statue that I believe comes from the region of Cyrenaica, in Libya, which was a Greek colony.

“The statue is thought to represent either Persephone, the goddess of the underworld...or it is meant to be someone who is dedicated to the goddess. I believe it is very unlikely to come from Turkey.”

Dr Higgs said the statue was one of a kind, adding that it was in “the top ten” of its class.

“I believe that the statue was definitely made in Libya, in Cyrenaica,” he added.

“I believe, as I said, it is one of the best examples of its type and is extremely rare.”

Andrew Bird, for HMRC, has told the court that documents suggest Al Qassas had only a marginal role in the export.

He claimed Hassan Fazeli, a Dubai businessman who has claimed the sculpture has belonged to his family collection since 1977, was behind the crime.

Mr Bird said the false documents were submitted by Hassan Fazeli Trading Company LLC, which is based in Dubai, and which was last year accused by New York prosecutors of illegally bringing five ancient Egypt artefacts into the USA.

Ben Watson, representing Al Qassas, indicated his client would be happy to hand over the sculpture to Libya if it was shown to originate from there.

Libya has been plagued by looting and cultural vandalism since the fall of Colonel Gadaffi in 2011, with the resulting power vacuum effectively ending the state-sponsored preservation of Libya's multiple Greek and Roman sites.

The expansion of Islamic State fanatics into North Africa has stoked fears that unique sites will be destroyed, mirroring shocking images from the IS-controlled city of Mosul in Iraq.

A British Museum spokesperson said that as far as they were aware it was the first time a court had convened on its premises.

Author: Victoria Ward | Source: The Telegraph [March 31, 2015]

Green sculpture in Sydney

VIA «In the supermarket centre there was a green emptiness»

Expressing outrage at the damage to the precious artefacts dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century BC, the ASI warned the Ministry that the Museum would cease to exist “in the near future” if such a callous attitude continued.

While the damage to the right foot of the 2nd century BC figure of a Yakshi was noticed a few weeks ago, chips on the chest and belly of the “Lion Capital of Rampurva”, a unique specimen of Mauryan sculpture, were discovered last year. Two inspection reports, accessed by The Hindu, suspect the damage was caused by mishandling. “There is a definite damage above the right foot of the sculpture near the ankle. Though the museum staff are of the opinion it was caused by flaking, we did not feel so,” says the report on the Yakshi statue. “The dent is quite deep and abrasive as per standard norms of flaking.” A thorough investigation, it says, “is justifiable under the circumstances.”

The damage to the “Lion Capital of Rampurva”, unearthed by archaeologist Dayaram Sahni in 1907-08, was definitely due to faulty shifting, the report says. The experts who prepared the report were told that the authorities decided to shift this heavy sculpture in two pieces as was done earlier.

Sources said copies of the reports had been sent to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. The damage came to public notice at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a petition by the family of Sunil Kumar Upadhyay, preservation officer at the museum, who mysteriously disappeared from his rented apartment in the city on July 3, 2014, and been has remained untraced since.

Author: Shiv Sahay Singh | Source: The Hindu [March 26, 2015]

A site in the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat’s Sorgun district, which the ancient Hittites had used as a sculpture workshop, will be reorganized as an open-air museum by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.

As part of the project, the Karakız, Kazankaya, Armutlu and Hapis Boğazı neighborhoods will be declared as first degree archaeological areas, according to local Mayor Osman Yılmaz.

The region was home to a large number of Hittite-era sculptures, some of which were unfinished, indicating that this may be why an atelier may have been located on the site, Yılmaz said.

“The first examination in this historical area was made in 1982 and it was taken under protection in 1987 as the Hapis Boğazı ruins. But no detailed work was conducted at the ruins until 2009, when the Yozgat Museum Directorate and Hittite University initiated joint works,” he added.

The mayor said there was a granite layer on a wide space in the region. “There are carved lion sculptures and pieces of various architectural structures in this area. We can see them over an area of 1.5 kilometers. We will preserve these artifacts in their original place and open them up to tourism,” Yılmaz said.

He added that the project, titled the “Open-Air History and Culture Park Museum,” would reorganize the area dating back to 1,200 B.C.

Following joint work with the Kayseri and Sivas Council of Monuments, the Culture and Tourism Ministry approved the project, Yılmaz said.  “The most important feature of this settlement is that it is close to Hattusha, the capital of Hittite in the center of Anatolia. There are relief sculptures in front of the big gates in the entrances of significant cities in Hattusha and its vicinity. There is a sculpture atelier here. The Hittites used granite materials in making massive sculptures. This place has historical importance,” he added.

Sculptures will be moved

Yılmaz said archaeological reports indicated that the area, where unfinished lion sculptures exist, served as an atelier in the Hittite era and many of the sculptures unearthed at Hittite settlements were made there.

As part of the project’s plans, the team made a change in the architectural plan of an area in the Karakız neighborhood and allocated it as an open-air museum.

“The sculptures in Kazankaya and Hapis Boğazı will be moved to a place in the Open Air History and Culture Park Museum. When the weather conditions is suitable, we will start moving the sculptures in spring, which is the first stage of the project,” Yılmaz said.

He also complained that treasure hunters had caused much damage to historical artifacts in previous year.

“Those who saw these sculptures made their own excavations in the region and damaged many of them. But with this latest project, these artifacts will be rescued from treasure hunters. This region is estimated to be the first sculpture atelier of the Hittites, and now it will be opened up to tourism,” Yılmaz said.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [January 07, 2015]

The bronze sculpture, dated from 350 BC, once graced the halls of the Renaissance-era Palazzo Medici Riccardi in central Florence, and has been described as a masterpiece of Greek classical art.

But after it slipped from the grasp of the Medici clan it began to deteriorate as it found its way into the archaeological museum in 1881 where it is now said to be in serious need to restoration.

Researchers at Florence's National Research Council have been investigating problems of conservation and restoration related to such ancient materials as the alloys and gilding used in the bronze horse head.

The work is to be carried out inside the museum and can be viewed by the public during the museum's opening hours until March 8.

After that, it is scheduled to be included in an exhibition titled Power and Pathos at Florence's Palazzo Strozzi, along with other bronzes from the Hellenistic style.

Power and Pathos continues until June 21 before travelling to an exhibition in Los Angeles at the J. Paul Getty Museum and later in the year, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Source: ANSA [February 19, 2015]

The British Museum is considering three further overseas loans from the Elgin Marbles – but a reluctance to entertain the sculptures’ return to Greece is set to provoke renewed anger in Athens.

Last year the British Museum allowed part of the Marbles to leave the country for the first time when it lent the headless statue of Ilissos, a Greek river god, to the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

Greece, which is seeking to reclaim ownership of the 2,500-year-old sculptures removed from the Parthenon in Athens in the 19th century by Lord Elgin, described the Russia loan as “provocative”.

A current request from the British Museum for a key antiquity from the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens for a forthcoming exhibition on classical sculpture has been delayed, in what is being seen as retaliatory move by the Greek authorities.

The work has been requested for the show, “Defining Beauty: the Body in ancient Greek Art”, which opens in March.

The delay is ascribed to “tensions” with the Greek government, despite friendly curatorial relations between the two institutions – the British Museum currently has 24 items on loan to the Cycladic museum.

However the chances of securing the loan in time for the exhibition may be harmed by the news that the British Museum is seriously entertaining bids for further Elgin Marbles loans to museums outside of Greece.

“Three serious bids are being considered,” The Art Newspaper reports, including one informal loan request made before the Hermitage deal was revealed.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Berlin’s museums and the Louvre in Paris are the kind of institutions which “stand the best chance of success” when formal loan requests are submitted, the art title suggested.

The British Museum would expect any museum to which it lends the Parthenon sculptures to “be generous in responding to loan requests” made in return by the London body. Requests for single sculptures will be more favourably received, it is suggested. Bids are also expected from the UK’s regional museums which could expect huge interest in displaying items from the famous collection.

The Museum confirmed that further loans from the Elgin sculptures are being considered. A spokesman said: “Museums around the world have shown interest in requesting to loan from our set of Parthenon sculptures, and we always welcome these conversations. The Trustees will consider any request for any part of the collection to be borrowed and then returned, subject to the usual considerations of condition and fitness to travel and this has always been made clear to the world.”

Further Marbles loans will inflame tensions with Athens. Antonis Samaras, the Greek prime minister, described the loan of the Parthenon sculpture to the Hermitage as “an affront to the Greek people”.

Some of the Marbles will be moved from their permanent display to the temporary exhibition gallery for the British Museum’s March show, including the pediment sculptures of Ilissos, which will be returning from Russia, Iris and Dionysos.

However time is running out to strike an agreement with the Museum of Cycladic Art for the work that the London museum is seeking. The British Museum spokesman said: “We have requested to borrow one object from Greece and await the official response. The Museum has very positive working relationships with colleagues in Greece and lends extensively to museums in Greece including 24 objects on loan to two temporary exhibitions at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.”

The Athens museum declined a request to comment. A source said: “The museum is happy in principle to lend the work but the Greek government is stalling on the paperwork.”

Greece refuses to recognise the British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures, which make up about 30 per cent of the surviving decoration from the Parthenon.

Author: Adam Sherwin | Source: The Independent [January 06, 2015]

Australia has informed Indian authorities that it will soon return the sculpture, dating back to second century BC, realizing that it had been stolen from an archaeological site in India. Abbott has on several occasions stated that improving relations with India was high on his priority list and one of the ways he has reached out to the Modi government is by returning stolen artifacts illegally taken out of India.

During his summit meet with Modi last year in September, Abbott returned statues of 11th century Shiva Nataraja and Ardhanariswara to India. According to a report in The Australian earlier this year, the artifact was purchased by billionaire philanthropist Ros Packer for NGA. After Indian authorities took up the issue with Australia, NGA launched a probe into how the statue was bought from a New York antiquities dealer and found that the dealer had tricked Australian authorities into believing that the red sandstone marvel had been purchased from a British collector in Hong Kong. The investigations revealed that the New York based dealer had travelled to India and acquired two Kushan Buddhas from a trafficker.

"The Department of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India are working with the National Museum in Delhi to affect the handover. The Buddha statue of the Kushan period dating back to 2nd century BC is made of red sandstone and is from the Mathura region of Uttar Pradesh," said a senior government official.

Government sources here claimed there was a growing personal bonhomie between Modi and Abbott following their bilateral meetings last year. Modi last year became the first Indian PM to visit Australia after Rajiv Gandhi in 1985.

Author: Sachin Parashar | Source: Times of India [January 01, 2015]

Monday's accident happened when workmen were using the crane to move large blocks of stone to a site in the town of Aswan where an international exhibition for sculpture is being held.

"The crane carrying heavy blocks of stone crashed into the dome and severely damaged it," Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement.

He said the authorities have now asked German conservators who work on maintaining such structures in Aswan to help restore the mausoleum that dates back to the Shiite Fatimid dynasty which ruled Egypt between 969 and 1171.

There are more than 50 such mausoleums in Aswan.

Source: AFP [February 10, 2015]

The move follows investigations led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York, Baltimore, Austin, Texas, and New Haven, Connecticut, the department said in a statement.

One of the most significant items that was returned is a limestone statue depicting the head of the Assyrian King Sargon II, an eighth century B.C. ruler.

Immigration and Customs agents seized the looted artifact in August 2008 after an antiquities dealer based in Dubai shipped it to New York. The investigation led to the identification of an international network dealing in illicit cultural artifacts, the statement said.

Other artifacts repatriated to Iraq include gold-plated items, such as a soap dish, looted from the private airport and palace of executed former President Saddam Hussein.

Bronze objects, including a Luristan ax from early Sumeria, and clay reliefs and glass objects were also returned.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit has returned more than 1,200 items to Iraq in four repatriations since 2008, the statement said.

Source: Reuters [March 16, 2015]

“You can see green grass just 50 meters away from it,” Gamal said, explaining that the limestone of which the sphinx is made has a high percentage of calcium in it.

“Add to that the sewage problem that officials are not addressing."

Gamal said birds enjoy calcium, which is why many of them are seen perched on the sphinx. “Their waste eats away at the body of the sphinx,” he said. “It will be a serious problem when the perforations [on the body of the sphinx caused by the acidic waste] widen with time.”

Source: Egypt Indepedent [February 03, 2015]

The handover marked the latest case of U.S. authorities helping Italy and other countries reclaim what they see as cultural patrimony.

"For decades, two significant pieces of Italian heritage have been on the run," FBI Assistant Director Diego Rodriguez said as he and Manhattan Deputy U.S. Attorney Richard Zabel gave the artworks to Warrant Officer Angelo Ragusa of the Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, an art-crimes police force.

The painting, called "The Holy Trinity Appearing to Saint Clement," is attributed to the renowned artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, also called Giambattista Tiepolo. It was taken from a house in Turin in 1982, prosecutors said.

The Etruscan bronze statuette of the Greek mythological hero Herakles - also known as Heracles or, to the Romans, Hercules - dates to the sixth or fifth century B.C. It vanished from the Oliveriano Archaeological Museum in Pesaro in 1964.

The works eventually ended up with an art dealer and an art-investment firm, which consigned them for sale in recent years. They relinquished the items after learning of the thefts and aren't accused of involvement.

Italy has campaigned in the last decade to get back cultural items including ancient Roman, Greek and Etruscan artifacts the government says were looted or stolen.

New York prosecutors have been involved in the effort before. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced in 2011 that a Renaissance painting and a Roman sculpture from about the first century were being returned to Italy after popping up at New York auction houses.

And the Manhattan district attorney's office prosecuted a prominent coin collector who pleaded guilty in 2012 to trying to sell what he believed were ancient coins found in Italy after 1909, when it became illegal to remove antiquities from the country. Some of the coins proved to be forgeries, but five authentic coins from his collection were returned to the Greek government this summer.

Other countries also have taken action in recent years to reclaim antiquities, sometimes with help from U.S. authorities. In one example, fossilized remains of more than 18 dinosaurs were turned over to Mongolia's government last year after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents discovered that mislabeled dinosaur bones were illegally being shipped into the U.S.

Author: Jennifer Peliz | Source: Associated Press [February 28, 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]

Today I also have Kristin Tracy vising the blog. She is the author of Sharks and Boys, which I reviewed a short time ago (click to read review). I gave her a list of 15 pairings and asked her,

This or That

Spring or Fall Fall: I like leaves. But I’m allergic to leaf mold. When I visit New England, this is a real problem.

Past or Future: I can smell a trick question a mile away. PRESENT.

Paperback or Hardcover: If I’m mobile, I want paperback. If I’m adding it to my library or having an author sign it, I want hardback.

Pen or Pencil Pen: I am a permanent kind of person.

Hot Dogs or Hamburgers: Neither. I like fruit salad. And falafel.

Marvel or DC Comics: I cannot choose.

Black or Brown: Brown boots. Black dress. But not together.

Tweety Bird or Woodstock: I like real-life falcons. They are my new favorite. I now consider cartoon birds inadequate.

Legos or Lincoln Logs: Legos.

Detailed planning or spontaneous decisions: BOTH. Because my detailed planning usually leads me right into bizarre conditions that require spontaneous decisions.

A one room library or Books in every room in the house: One central place. But smaller bookcases throughout house.

Ocean or Mountains: Both. It’s called Maine. Or Ireland. Or Big Sur.

Painting or Sculpture: I only buy paintings at this point. But this could all change. Because I really want to buy a totem pole.

Gum or Breath Mints: I chew gum. And sometimes I add a breath mint to it.

Snow White's Evil Queen or Sleeping Beauty's Malificent: Ooh. I don’t like evil, robed women. They terrify me.

Thank you so much Kristin! I loved your answers! Robed women are definitely terrifying!

The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Preservation Centre and the Vietnam Archaeology Institute started excavating the Kinh Thien Palace site in February, 2014.

In recent years researchers have suggested restoring the palace, but they did not have enough information on the building's original architecture and measurements. Most of it was destroyed by the French in 1886. They left behind only the floor and a staircase bordered by two stone dragons.

Scientists said that if they received enough support from concerned agencies, the rebuilding could be started within five years, once enough information on the palace's architecture was gathered. Under the recently approved project, scientists will do more research, design a 3D building plan and submit it to the authority by 2016.

According to Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu (Complete Annals of Dai Viet), construction on Kinh Thien Palace began in 1428 under the reign of King Le Thai To and was completed under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong.

The palace is among the most important buildings in the citadel complex and was often used for Le kings' big diplomatic or political events.

After Oct 10, 1954, when anti-French resistance troops took over the city, the site was used as an office for the Ministry of Defence. In 2014 the Ministry gave part of the site to the city's administration.

The Kinh Thien Palace relic is an essential part of the citadel. Doan Mon (South Gate) and Hanoi Flag Pole are positioned in front of the palace. Behind the palace is the Hau Lau Building and Cua Bac (North Gate). The eastern and western sides of the palace are also bordered with walls and smaller gates.

The stone dragons at the palace's staircase are considered a special piece of architectural heritage, representing sculpture art of the Early Le period.

Source: Bernama [March 16, 2015]