[meteorite-list] Warning About Libyan Desert Glass Artifacts

From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jun 8 10:09:26 2004
Message-ID: <40C5C890.7010201_at_fascination.com>

Dear Keith,
I have a question....are you calling Libyan desert glass "specimens" as
we all know them, (melted fused glassy sand).....are you calling these
"artifact"?
 I have not seen these Libyan desert glass artifacts......just the
specimens. I have never heard them addressed as "artifacts" in the past.
 Could you provide us an example of the terminology of which
you/authorities speak?
Confused and fused,
Dave Freeman

kaolinite_at_smtp.vnet.net wrote:

>Last Saturday evening, I showed a professional
>archaeologist friend, who is a member of ROPA*;
>has worked in Egypt; and interested in meteorites,
>the June issue of "Meteorite Times". As an
>archaeologist, she was quite surprised and even
>shocked to see pictures of Egyptian artifacts
>made from Libyan Desert Glass displayed on the
>"Tektite of the Month"- "Libyan Desert Glass
>Artifacts"/ web page at:
>.
>http://www.meteoritetimes.com/current_links/Tektite_of_Month.htm
>.
>She was shocked because the buying, selling, and
>ownership of Egyptian artifacts, including those
>composed of Libyan Desert Glass, which have
>illegally exported from Egypt since 1970 is
>regarded by both the U.S. Customs Service and
>the Egyptian government as a crime. Should
>either the Egyptian government or the US Customs
>Service decide to go after a person, he or she
>can be prosecuted for either selling, buying,
>or even owning illicit artifacts.
>.
>In her opinion, it is quite possible that all of
>the Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) artifacts found in
>the United States in private ownership has been
>illegally exported from Egypt. She argues, that
>is because in 1970, Egypt passed a law making
>the export of any prehistoric artifact without
>an export license illegal. It was also in 1970
>that both the United States and Egypt signed the
>"1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting
>and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and
>Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property" Soon
>after that, enabling legislation, the "Convention
>on Cultural Property Implementation Act" was
>passed by the Congress and signed into law by the
>President. This made the 1970 UNESCO legally
>enforceable. As a result, any prehistoric artifact
>exported after 1970 without an official Egyptian
>export permit became either illegal to either sell,
>buy, or own in the United States.
>.
>>From her experience in Egypt, she is quite
>certain that was quite impossible for anyone to
>have legally obtained a permit from the Egyptian
>Department of Antiquities for the export of any
>LDG artifacts for either resale to others or their
>own personal collections. (She has sent some emails
>to friends in the Supreme Council of Antiquities
>to find out if any such permits had been issued by
>some chance.) Thus, according to her opinion, any
>LDG artifact exported from Egypt after 1970 was
>likely exported illegally. Given that the LDG
>strewn field wasn't revisited by even scientists
>until well after 1970, she believes that just about
>every LDG artifact currently in private collections
>in the United States was illegally exported. The
>practical aspect of this is that any person, who
>owns a LDG artifact, but lacks documentation
>verifying that the artifact was either exported
>legally or it was collected before 1970, might be,
>in addition to having their LDG artifacts seized,
>open to prosecution by the U.S. Customs Service for
>trafficking in or possession of illicit artifacts.
>.
>Her personal advice to me was not to buy any Libyan
>Desert Glass (LDG) artifact(s) that lacked the proper
>official documentation indicating that it was either
>legally exported or exported before 1970. Otherwise,
>if the Customs Service decided crack down on the
>illegal trafficking in Egyptian artifacts, it might
>be easy for them to make the case, as discussed
>above, that any LDG artifact is in the United States
>illegally unless I could prove otherwise. Also, it
>would cause me lots of grief if the person, who sold
>a LDG artifact to me, copped a plea by turning over
>to them a list of persons, whom he or she sold the
>artifacts to, along with the name of his supplier of
>LDG artifacts. This isn't an unheard of possibility
>given that the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities
>has created Dept. of Stolen Artifacts in order to
>seek out what they consider to be "stolen artifacts"
>and by whatever legal means possible force their
>owners to return them return them to Egypt. Examples
>of this is discussed in:
>.
>1. Egypt reclaims stolen antiquities
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2115607.stm
>.
>""No matter how significant or
>insignificant a relic is, we will
>have lawyers everywhere to return
>our antiquities," said Dr Hawass."
>.
>2. The Egyptian curse By Zahi Hawass
>http://www.guardians.net/hawass/articles/Egyptian_Curse.htm
>.
>(Note my friend has worked with and knows Dr.
>Hawass quite well. She should know what she is
>talking about.)
>.
>"I believe that men like Frederick
>Schultz, whom a New York judge
>convicted of stealing and dealing in
>stolen Egyptian antiquities and
>sentenced to imprisonment for a term
>of 33 months and a fine of $50,000,
>are the real "Egyptian curse". They
>destroy Egyptian monuments and erase
>segments of the historical record."
>.
>"More is the pity that there is no
>real "curse of the mummies" to cast
>its spell on the looters of Egyptian
>antiquities."
>.
>3. Repatriation, a New Ethos at the Egyptian Museum
>of Antiquities, Cairo
>http://www.e-c-h-o.org/Repatriation.htm
>.
>It is obvious from the complexity of antiquities
>laws that the above discussion is only a lay person's
>interpretation that he has been told. Therefore,
>it should not be used to make any judgments about
>the legal standing of or for specific situations.
>It is just a warning that people who own or trade
>in Egyptian artifacts composed of Libyan Desert
>Glass might want to talk with a lawyer about their
>legal standing. People, who buy artifacts composed
>of Libyan Desert Glass might insist on obtaining a
>valid legal document certifying that the artifact
>that they are buying was legally exported to cover
>themselves in terms of legal liabilities.
>.
>Maybe the International Meteorite Collectors Association
>might want to hire a lawyer to look into this matter and
>publish a report on the legal status of Egyptian
>artifacts composed of Libyan Desert Glass.
>.
>Yours,
>.
>Keith Littleton
>St. Tammany Parish, LA
>
>ROPA = Register of Professional Archaeologists
>
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Received on Tue 08 Jun 2004 10:09:20 AM PDT