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The Forgery, Illicit Trade and Looting of Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts and Antiquities

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The Forgery, Illicit Trade and Looting of Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts and Antiquities UNKNOWN PROVENANCE: THE FORGERY, ILLICIT TRADE AND LOOTING OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ARTEFACTS AND ANTIQUITIES By DIRK PHILIPPUS CONRADIE Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject of BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR WILLEM S. BOSHOFF MAY 2016 ii DECLARATION I declare that “Unknown provenance: the forgery, illicit trade and looting of Ancient Near Eastern artefacts and antiquities” is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references, and that this work has not been submitted before for any other degree, at any other institution. Dirk Philippus Conradie Date: 21 May 2016 Student no: 49343165 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank the following persons for their respective contributions to this dissertation: Careen Conradie, for her unwavering motivation during the research and writing of this paper. Also for her recognition of my passion for archaeology and ancient studies, and supporting me in this. Vincent and Quinton for the interest they have shown in my progress. Professor Willem S. Boshoff, my supervisor, for the valuable knowledge and recommendations that he imparted while researching and writing this dissertation. Also for his support and advice given during the past few years of my studies in Biblical Archaeology at the University of South Africa. Chrisna Nel, for proofreading and editing this manuscript. James van Vuuren “Van”, for all his informative conversations. Mark Backhouse, for a basic crash course in formatting MS word documents. Gina and Jackson, my two canine companions of “questionable provenance”, who kept me company during the many long nights of research and writing. Rina van Buitenen, in memory of her. 21 May 2016 iv ABSTRACT The archaeology of the region, referred to in scholarly lexicon as the Ancient Near East, is richly endowed with artefacts and monumental architecture of ancient cultures. Such artefacts, as a non- renewable resource are, therefore considered to be a scarce commodity. So also is the context and the provenance of these objects. Once an object’s provenance has been disturbed, it is of no further significant use for academic research, except for aesthetic value. Historically, as well as in the present, we see that humans have exploited this resource for various reasons, with very little regard given to provenance. The impact of forgery, illicit trade and looting are the greatest threat to the value of provenance. Contrary to some arguments, collectors, curators, buyers, looters and certain scholars play a significant role in its destruction. This research reveals to what extent unknown provenance has become a disturbing problem in the study of archaeological artefacts. KEYWORDS Provenance, Forgery, Illicit trade, Looting, Artefacts, Antiquities, Museums, Repatriation, Ancient Near East v Table of Contents DECLARATION .......................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. iv KEYWORDS ............................................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................................... 8 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 10 1.3 AIM OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................ 11 1.4 METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................... 12 1.5 HYPOTHESIS ............................................................................................................................ 12 1.6 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 14 1.7 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS ........................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 20 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES ........................................ 20 2.1 ARCHAEOLOGY VERSUS TREASURE HUNTING .............................................................. 20 2.2 STRATIGRAPHIC EXCAVATION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVENANCE ........... 25 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 28 FORGERY .................................................................................................................................................. 28 3.1 WHAT IS FORGERY? ............................................................................................................... 28 3.2 DEBATES AROUND FORGERY AND AUTHENTICITY ..................................................... 38 3.2.1 The James Ossuary ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.2 The Masada skeletons .................................................................................................................. 43 3.2.3 The Talpiot tomb ......................................................................................................................... 46 3.2.4 The Ivory pomegranate ................................................................................................................ 47 3.2.5 The Memphis stela ...................................................................................................................... 49 3.2.6 Ashurbanipal’s beaker ................................................................................................................. 51 vi 3.2.7 The Moussaieff ostraca ................................................................................................................ 53 3.2.8 The Jehoash inscription ............................................................................................................... 55 3.2.9 The Moabite Stone ...................................................................................................................... 57 3.2.10 “The Queen of the Night” ............................................................................................................ 59 3.2.11 The case of Ziwiye and the forgery of provenance ..................................................................... 61 3.3 THE NON-PUBLICATION OF FIELD RESULTS ................................................................... 62 3.4 THE DETECTION OF FORGERIES ......................................................................................... 67 3.5 THE TRADING ON THE INTERNET IN THE FORGERIES MARKET ................................ 71 3.6 THE IMPACT OF FORGERY ON PROVENANCE ................................................................ 74 3.7 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 76 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 79 ILLICIT TRADE ........................................................................................................................................ 79 4.1 BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF ILLICIT TRADE ......................................................... 79 4.2 WHAT DO ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND COLLECTORS THINK? .......................................... 83 4.3 ORGANISED CRIME NETWORKS AND ILLICIT TRADE .................................................. 87 4.3.1 Archaeologically rich markets ..................................................................................................... 89 4.3.2 Transit markets ............................................................................................................................ 90 4.3.3 Destination markets ..................................................................................................................... 90 4.4 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ILLICIT TRADE .............................................................................. 93 4.5 THE ECONOMICS OF ILLICIT TRADE AND PROVENANCE ............................................ 96 4.6 A WELL-KNOWN CASE OF ILLICIT TRADE – LYDIA IN WESTERN TURKEY ............ 98 4.7 MUSEUMS AND ILLICIT TRADE ........................................................................................ 101 4.8 CONNOISSEURSHIP AND COLLECTORS .......................................................................... 105 4.9 PREVENTION MEASURES
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