US State Department Imposes Embargo on Algerian Cultural Artifacts-- Including Rope!

The U.S. State Department has approved a MOU and import restrictions on behalf of Algeria's authoritarian government. For more, see today's Federal Register notice.

Once again, the designated list is extremely broad. In what has to be a first, import restrictions have even been imposed on rope!

Both coin collectors and Jewish groups will once again be disappointed.  Import restrictions have been applied on virtually all coins that were made or circulated within Algeria down to 1750, including those made outside the confines of what is now Algeria by the Carthaginians, Byzantines, Ottomans and Spanish.  While there are no explicit restrictions on artifacts of Algeria's displaced Jewish population, certain categories like "manuscripts" may nonetheless encompass Jewish religious artifacts like Torahs.

Import restrictions are controversial to the trade and collectors because, as construed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they embargo all undocumented items of types on designated lists imported after the effective date of the regulations, not just items illegally exported from a UNESCO State party after the effective date of import restrictions as required under CPIA, 19 U.S.C. §§ 2601, 2604, 2606, 2610. Such regulatory actions have converted CPIA import restrictions into embargoes of all objects of restricted types rather  than targeted, prospective import restrictions that do not impact the purchase of artifacts from the legitimate marketplace abroad.

Import restrictions have been particularly hard on coin collectors and the small businesses of the numismatic trade because most collector's coins (which typically are of limited value) lack detailed provenance histories necessary for legal import. This has greatly damaged the legitimate trade in such items with fellow collectors, especially from within the EU.  Here, if anything, the problem will be exacerbated because Algeria was a French colony for such a long time. Many artifacts must have left Algeria for France during this period lawfully, but with little documentary proof.  Often such material does not have a solid provenance, and cannot be legally imported under U.S. Custom and Border Protection procedures.

Archaeologists for Assad?

UNESCO's Bulgarian Ex-Communist Director-General has praised Syria's Director-General for Antiquities and Museums in glowing terms.

“'When history books teach children about those who contributed to conserving Syrian heritage during the devastating conflict in Syria, Dr Maamoun Abdulkarim will be at the top of the list, along with all others who have been so dedicated and deserving of the world’s respect for their relentless, humanist commitment', said UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova."

What appears lost on UNESCO and members of the archaeological lobby who have also sung Abdukarim's praises is the fact that the Assad regime, which Abdulkarim serves, itself has been responsible not only for mass murder, but for the looting and the intentional destruction of Syrian cultural patrimony.  Indeed, Assad, like other Arab Strongmen, appears all too willing to use and abuse archaeology for his regime's own political purposes.  So, why should Abdulkarim be praised at all?

Just What One would Expect from a Military Dictatorship That Respects Neither Private Property Rights Nor Human Rights

Egyptian government officials have attacked an edict of a religious scholar approving of landowners keeping treasure found on their own land as long as part is given to charity.  Meanwhile, a member of the country's parliament seeks the death penalty for anyone caught with illicit antiquities.  Just what one would expect in a military dictatorship with a rump parliament that respects neither private property rights nor human rights.

Outgoing Obama Administration Gifts Egypt and Archaeological Lobby with a MOU

The outgoing Obama Administration has gifted Egypt's authoritarian government, its cultural bureaucracy and supportive archaeologists with a MOU that will likely ban import of undocumented Egyptian antiquities created before 1517.

In so doing, the Administration has ignored 91% of the public comment to CPAC which raised serious concerns with any MOU.  Moreover, the decision once again raises the question whether there was any "done deal" from the outset.

Implementing regulations are expected soon.

Egyptian Dictatorship Plays the Victim Once Again

As the Sisi dicatorship and  its apologists would have it, Egypt is a victim trying to reclaim its cultural heritage from rich, foreign collectors.  Yet, others suggest the real problems are endemic corruption, a Pharonic approach to cultural heritage management and extreme poverty.

Goldman Sachs Power and Influence Benefit Archaeology Lobby?

A front page article in Sunday's New York Times raises some important questions about how cultural heritage policy is made in the United States that deserve further investigation.   The article explores close ties between Hillary Clinton and Goldman Sachs including during the period Mrs. Clinton was Secretary of State.  That discussion highlights the Clinton State Department's partnership with Goldman Sachs' 10,000 women initiative.

While it is no doubt a good program, what is relevant for our purposes here is that this initiative is run by former Bush Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Dina Powell.  Powell and her State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are not popular with coin collectors for good reason.

In May 2007, Powell rejected the U.S. Cultural Property Advisory Committee's  recommendations against import restrictions on Cypriot coins.  Then, according to a declaration signed by Former CPAC Chair Jay Kislak, State Department officials went on to mislead Congress and the public about CPAC's true recommendations in official reports. That decision changed long-standing U.S. Government policy against import restrictions on coins, and provided the "precedent" for further restrictions on certain coin types from Iraq (2008), China (2009), Italy (2011), Greece (2011), Bulgaria (2014), and Syria (2016).

In CPO's view, Powell's 2007 decision at a minimum raises an appearance of conflict of interest. Critically, Powell made the decision after accepting her high level job with Goldman Sachs but before leaving the State Department.  At the time, Goldman was apparently heavily involved in arranging controversial credit swaps with Greece and likely had at least some business dealings with Cyprus too.  Of even more concern, it has since come to light that Powell was recruited by John F.W. Rogers, Goldman's powerful chief of staff, where she serves as part of his "lobbying team."   This is relevant to cultural heritage issues because Mr. Rogers is married to Deborah Lehr, an AIA Trustee and international business consultant, who also serves as President of the Antiquities Coalition, a well-funded archaeological lobbying group.

So, perhaps it's no surprise that the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has actively participated in Antiquities Coalition events, such as its recent "Culture Under Threat" conference in New York City.

Of course, the point of these conferences is to drum up support in Congress for measures sought by the archaeological lobby.  So, it also should be no surprise that the Antiquities Coalition has successfully lobbied Congress to clamp down on illicit antiquities (efforts which the trade and collectors see as grossly over-broad and hence damaging to the legitimate trade and collecting).

What's also interesting is that the Antiquities Coalition lobbying efforts are part of a partnership with the Middle East Institute and this work has been done to support repatriation efforts sought by authoritarian Middle Eastern governments like that of Egypt.

What's less clear is whether all this effort also directly or indirectly benefits the financial interests of those involved, i.e., is lobbying on cultural heritage issues of interest to countries like Greece, Cyprus and Egypt being "leveraged" to promote other business interests?

CPO commends all interested in expressing their views on cultural heritage issues, but given the amounts of money that the Antiquities Coalition must be spending on its efforts and all the contacts that are being worked,there should be far more transparency about the Antiquities Coalition's funding, its aims and details about its public-private partnerships with countries like Egypt.

Eakin Criticizes Establishment Approach

Hugh Eakin, writing for the New York Review of Books, criticizes the approach of the US and other governments to cultural destruction in Syria.  That approach has focused almost entirely on import restrictions, criminal sanctions and giving millions to archaeological groups to "study" the issue.  In contrast, efforts to protect objects on a local level (like an initiative of the University of Pennsylvania and Smithsonian) lack much needed funding.

Meanwhile, the Antiquities Coalition, a well-funded archaeological advocacy group that promotes "public-private partnerships" with authoritarian Middle Eastern governments, has held much ballyhooed  conferences in New York and Amman, Jordan, that have advocated just more repression. Should we be surprised?

Syrian Import Restrictions Imposed

US Customs has published a very extensive list of "Syrian" artifacts now restricted pursuant to the "Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act."  Coin collectors should special take note that that the "designated list" includes all coins minted and circulated in Syria through the Ottoman period.

Now that restrictions are in place, two important enforcement issues remain.  First, will Customs only detain, seize and seek the forfeiture of artifacts on the new designated list "unlawfully removed from Syria on or after March 15, 2011?"  Or, will Customs revert back to its current extralegal practice of detaining, seizing,  and seeking the forfeiture of anything that looks remotely like it appears on the designated list and then require the importer to "prove the negative?"  One can only hope that the explicit directions  of the measure's sponsor, Congressman Elliot Engel, emphasizing the limits on Customs' discretion will control.

Second, what will happen to any artifacts that are seized and forfeited under the regulations?   When the  "Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Implementation Act" was first introduced, there was a real hope the Assad regime would be replaced by a far more Democratic alternative.  No more.  So, will Customs and the State Department still follow current practice and repatriate the artifacts to the Syrian Government which means the Assad regime?  And, if so, what does that really say about the wisdom of the statute and the US Government's current emphasis on repatriation over preservation?

Germany's Controversial Cultural Heritage Law Passes Lower House

Germany's controversial cultural heritage law has passed  the lower house of the German Parliament, apparently with opposition parties abstaining from voting on the measure.

The German Government hopes the upper house will take up the measure before recess on July 8th.

While additional regulation was probably inevitable, the assumption that an artifact is "stolen" because a dealer or collector cannot produce an export permit from a postulated "country of origin" where an artifact was made hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago brings back bad memories of Germany's totalitarian past.

So, small wonder the law lacks popular support.  Rather, the restrictions against collecting appear to be a special interest measure being pushed by the the German Federal Foreign Office (which--like our own State Department-- views repatriation as a "soft power" opportunity, domestic interests be damned), the German Archaeological Institute (a Federal Foreign Office entity, whose members depend on excavation permits from source countries to excavate),  and a small group of  countries with cultural nationalist pretensions (mostly undemocratic or even dictatorial regimes that view anything "old" as state property).

Germany's coalition government is already deeply unpopular due to its mishandling of the economy, immigration, and the Greek bail-out. 

Hopefully, Brexit (which was voted on the same day) and what it says about the people's distrust of  government "experts" has scared the politicians enough that at even this late date, Germany's upper house will consider the due process rights of Germans before requiring such non-existent documentation. 

After all, Germany's ancient coin and antiquities trade is not only good for Germany's economy, but it helps encourage people to people contacts and appreciation of other cultures. 

Image:  Monika Grutters, Germany's Cultural Minister, pitching her "soft power" initiative

HR 1493: The View from Beirut; Propaganda vs. the Reality on the Ground

Franklin Lamb, a sympathizer of the Assad regime, states in an article he published in April that US Congressional sources told him that Palmyra's recapture by Syrian Government forces helped move HR 1493 forward.  Yet, while Palmyra is a rallying cry for Assad's propaganda machine, Syrian government forces shelled it when it was initially in rebel hands, looted it when it was previously in government hands, and with its recapture, have given over part of the site so that it can be turned into a Russian military camp.  This again begs the question whether repatriation contemplated under HR 1493 to Syria and its government is a good thing.

Assad to Be Ultimate Beneficiary of HR 1493?

The Senate has passed HR 1493, a bill which imposes import restrictions on cultural goods removed illegally from Syria. The measure is not yet law because there needs to be conference with the House and new votes before one bill is sent to the President.  

The major differences between the Senate and House versions are that the Senate substitute includes a stronger "safe harbor" measure for Syrian antiquities and deletes a proposed State Department "Cultural Property Czar."     

Probably not coincidentally, the vote came the same day the well-funded and politically connected Antiquities Coalition unveiled its own proposals for more repressive measures and regulation largely aimed at the antiquities trade, museums and collectors.   Proposals for source countries are promised, but not yet revealed.  There appears to be no need for proposals aimed at what archaeologists can do to preserve cultural heritage.   

CPO attended the event.  CPO commends two speakers, Professor Patty Gerstenblith, and Dr. Al-Azm, for their acknowledgement that the Assad regime is part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Indeed, Prof. Gerstenblith stated in no uncertain terms that the Assad regime has probably killed more people, destroyed more cultural heritage, and looted more artifacts than ISIS.   The only difference is that Assad's forces don't use social media to publicize their evil deeds.

So, CPO remains skeptical of Dr. Gerstenblith's efforts to pooh pooh the concern that antiquities seized under HR 1493 will ultimately be repatriated to the Assad regime.   The CPIA -- which HR 1493 does not change-- certainly requires seized artifacts to be offered to the source country.  And given the realities on the ground or in the air in this case-- what with Russian air power bolstering the regime-- it certainly looks like Assad will be the victor to whom these spoils ultimately will be returned.  

Reality or Just More Russian Propaganda?

Russia's UN Ambassador is pointing his finger at Turkey as the trans-shipment point for $150-$200 million in antiquities stolen by ISIS.  The material is then supposedly sold on Western (not Russian) Internet auction sites.  But the total value of all artifacts of possible Middle Eastern origin listed on those sites must be a very small fraction of this number (which itself appears greatly exaggerated).

Are the Russian UN Ambassador's claims based on reality or are they just more propaganda aimed at Assad's enemy, Turkey, and the West and its Internet-based economy?

Update (4/10/16):  It looks like Russia's UN Ambassador has mistaken the value of the legitimate trade for the value of antiquities looted by ISIS.   CPO will let its readers decide whether this was an honest mistake or not.

Assad No Friend of Palmyra and its People

French archaeologist Annie Sartre-Fauriat explains that Palmyra is just another pawn for Assad and his regime.  According to Sartre-Fauriat, Assad's military first bombarded the site and then looted it, before abandoning it to ISIS in the hopes that what ISIS would do to the site would help encourage Western intervention on Assad's behalf.  That didn't happen, but Assad's and Putin's propaganda machines have made the most out of Palmyra's recapture.   Of course, Palmyra and its modern population are best out of ISIS' hands, but Assad's record is far from ideal.

After the Fall

What was found at Palmyra after its recapture by Assad forces again questions the narrative that ISIS is looting classical antiquities for profit.    CPO has always thought ISIS serious about its iconoclastic religious beliefs and what was done at the museum in Palmyra supports that.   Valuable classical statuary was destroyed rather than sold.  And what of looting at the site?  According to one archaeo-blogger, the distinct lack of looter's holes on the recaptured site is also "embarrassing" for the State Department's "ISIS narrative."  

That is not to say that there is no looting in Syria, but rather that the extent of it has likely been exaggerated. Moreover, isn't it also at least possible that major sellers of classical (as opposed to "acceptable" Islamic antiquities) are associated with the Assad regime, the Free Syrian army and/or destitute refugees (who may be selling family heirlooms rather than recently looted objects) as opposed to the iconoclasts of ISIS?

State Department Expresses Qualms Over Liberation of Palmyra from ISIS

Russian propagandists are having a field day with our State Department's apparent indifference to the Assad regime's liberation of Palmyra and its scarred  UNESCO World Heritage Site from ISIS.

CPO is a bit puzzled by the State Department stance given all the emphasis that has been placed on "saving" Syrian cultural patrimony.   And, isn't the point of the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsored HR 1493 to repatriate undocumented Syrian cultural artifacts to the same Assad regime anyway?

CPO has serious qualms about repatriating any undocumented artifacts to the Assad regime because of its own part in destroying and looting Syrian cultural patrimony, but, even so, we should all be happy if ISIS is driven away from Palmyra given all the destruction it has caused to the ancient city and death it has visited on the city's modern inhabitants.

Update (3/28/16):  The State Department has issued a clarification.  The State Department now indicates despite its opposition to Assad, it welcomes Palmyra's liberation from ISIS.

Today's Unfortunate Coincidence

In what must be an unfortunate coincidence, the Italian Embassy's March 23rd party to mark the 15th anniversary of a MOU with the United States and its unpopular measures against collectors is taking place on the 96th birthday of Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist party.

Of course, Italy's cultural bureaucracy has never really broken from Il Duce's nationalistic views of archaeology as well as the assumptions in favor of state ownership and control found in Italy's 1939 cultural patrimony law that dates from the same era.

As CPO has already observed, perhaps there really is not that much to celebrate after all.

But Are They Discussing the Hard Issues?

The Antiquities Coalition and Middle East Institute have convened another confab for Middle Eastern Governments to talk about "culture in peril."

But was there any discussion of clamping down on corruption that has led to serious thefts in both Egypt and Jordan?

Or moderating confiscatory laws?

Or protecting private cultural property of individuals and minority ethnic and religious groups?

Or allowing legal antiquities sales to encourage commerce and public interest in the past as is allowed in Lebanon and which used to be allowed in Egypt and other countries?

Sadly, the Antiquities Coalition report suggests there was just more of the same talk of "victimization" and the need for ever more harsh repressive measures with which we have become accustomed. But given the authoritarian nature of the government participants, should that be a surprise?

Undocumented Artifacts to be Awarded to Assad?

When H.R. 1493 was first proposed, there was hope that the Assad regime would be replaced with a  government more representative of the wishes of the Syrian people.  Now, however, as H.R. 1493 has advanced in the legislative arena, so have the prospects of the Assad regime, courtesy of strong military support from its ally, Putin's Russia.

Of course, Russia was also the sponsor of the UN Security Council resolution that is the major justification for HR 1493's proposed Syrian import restrictions and Turkey has already come under criticism from the archaeological lobby for its failure to repatriate artifacts to Assad. 

So, how long before U.S. Customs and our State Department send undocumented "Syrian" artifacts back to the Assad regime, despite its involvement in looting in places like Apamea and bombing of places like the old City of Aleppo?

Addressing Looting at the Source by Remote Viewing

Archaeologist Sarah Parcak has decided to use her Ted Prize to fund crowdsourcing and remote satellite viewing to protect archaeological sites from looters.

CPO commends any effort to address looting at the source.   However, for the situations in places like Egypt to improve, issues of poverty and encroachment by development must also be addressed not by more dictatorial measures, but by engaging local people and encouraging an appreciation of past cultures.  

Climate of Fear

The Egyptian military dictatorship has charged museum employees involved in a botched restoration of the world famous Tut gold burial mask.  The criminal charges come after months of denials about severity of damage to the artifact.

It's likely the group tried to cover up their mistake because of fear of Egypt's military rulers.  In a less harsh system, the initial problem with the mask's beard would likely have been reported rather than covered up with a amateurish restoration job.  And no doubt those responsible would have been fired, but not be subjected to criminal punishment.

Is the death penalty out of the question in Sissi's Egypt?  Others who have done far less to insult the State have already received such a sentence.