Abstract
In the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, the large-scale looting of archaeological sites in Iraq started, and worsened around the time of the 2003 Coalition invasion, when the National Museum and other cultural institutions in Baghdad were also ransacked. These events were a source of public and political consternation, and prompted some legislative and law enforcement responses aimed at protecting Iraq’s archaeological heritage (Emberling and Hanson 2008; Rothfield 2008; Stone and Farchakh Bajjaly 2008). Since 1974, it had been illegal under Iraqi domestic law to export archaeological artefacts from Iraq.
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Notes
- 1.
Illustrated catalogues produced by the major auction houses are the only publicly accessible, long-term source of information about the antiquities market. The material appearing for auction can vary in quality, but is mainly middle to high range. Really expensive unprovenanced objects are traded outside the auction market in direct private transactions. Poorer quality material is nowadays traded mainly on the Internet.
- 2.
Cylinder seals are, as the name suggests, small cylinders engraved with a figurative or abstract design and sometimes with a short inscription. They were rolled on soft clay to create a reverse impression of their design which would function as a sign of ownership or authority. Cylinder seals were made from a variety of hard materials, and are usually in the range 2–4 cm long. Seal impressions were often made on clay tablets inscribed in the cuneiform script, which could be fired to produce a durable document. Cylinder seals and later cuneiform tablets underpinned the administrative systems of ancient Mesopotamia from about 3000 bc to 500 bc and today are found mainly, though not exclusively, in Iraq.
- 3.
For example, the following statement appeared in the London Christie’s catalogue of their December 12, 1990 Fine Antiquities sale: A recently imposed United Nations trade embargo prohibits us for accepting bids from any person in Iraq and/or Kuwait (including any body controlled by Iraq or Kuwait residents or companies, wherever carrying on business), or from any other person where we have reasonable cause to believe (a) that the Lots(s) will be supplied or delivered to or to the order of a person in either Iraq or Kuwait or (b) that the Lot(s) will be used for the purposes of any business carried on in or operated from Iraq or Kuwait.
Bonhams’ first ever “Antiquities” sale catalogue of April 1991 contained a similar statement, and so too did comparable Sotheby’s catalogues (for example, in the catalogue for the London December 1992 sale). These statements were aimed very much at potential buyers. There was no mention of potential consignors, and no overt prohibition on consignments originating in Iraq, even though Article 3(a) of UNSCR 661 stated specifically that States should prevent “The import into their territories of all commodities and products originating in Iraq or Kuwait exported there from after the date of the present resolution.”
- 4.
The search included Web sites selling ancient Mediterranean or “Classical” antiquities, either solely or in part, but excluded Web sites that specialise in, for example, Precolumbian or African artefacts.
- 5.
http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/Under2500/neeastcat2500.html. Accessed 23 September 2008.
- 6.
http://lmlk.blogspot.com/; posted July 8, 2006. Accessed 23 September 2008.
- 7.
http://www.collector-antiquities.com/314/. Accessed 5 August 2009.
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Brodie, N. (2011). The Market in Iraqi Antiquities 1980–2009 and Academic Involvement in the Marketing Process. In: Manacorda, S., Chappell, D. (eds) Crime in the Art and Antiquities World. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7946-9_7
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