#Antiquities

THREAD: Transnational criminal networks never move just one material – and antiquities trafficking networks are no different. We're going to highlight some of the other items we see trafficked in

Erin L. Thompson

Christie's is auctioning off antiquities from the collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf (https://www.christies.com/SaleLanding/index.aspx?intsaleid=28785&lid=1&saletitle=). Here are some of the more "...you bought that?" lots

Tracing the development of the link between cultural heritage and foreign policy objectives (often euphemized as "national security") is really important, but why do these discussions always have to treat

CounteringCrime

1/8 Social media has facilitated the explosive growth of the illegal antiquities trade by providing criminals an anonymous way to market stolen heritage and transact payments globally. Read @counteringcrime’s Fact

THREAD: Today Facebook’s PR team announces the efforts it’s making in content in Facebook groups.This would be big if it wasn’t coming *years* after Facebook was warned about the harmful

It's that time of the year again! Changing leaves, pumpkin spice, and another Christie's sale of Islamic objects with dubious provenance records! https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/a-kufic-quran-section-probably-k

Why? Christies failed to adhere to a non-legally binding, non- enforceable 50 year old UNESCO resolution ignored by almost all museums in the Middle East and Asia & often, for

Erin L. Thompson

Looks like it's time to do another thread on what passes for genuine in online antiquities auctions again. This claimedly Greek ram with "pronounced testicles," one of the lots currently

THREAD: As antiquities looting and trafficking activity continues unabated across #Facebook, we are taking a look into how much content can be generated by a large group and how quickly

Looks like the Antiquities Coalition is misrepresenting threats to Middle Eastern antiquities again -- this time for a GIS audience.https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/maps-take-aim-at-antiquities-looters/ One of the main points of this article

Erin L. Thompson

Reminder that Alan Dershowitz is an intense art collector. According to the @nytimes, he owns not one but two Egyptian sarcophagi! According to me, he owns two thingies that are

Tweeting Historians

It's been a fun week for me (@MichaelDPress) as #Tweetistorian, thanks again to @DrWorsTen and @sasanianshah & to everyone else for following.A thread of threads for the week:~mp 1. An

How did funerary reliefs and other ancient artifacts from Palmyra make their way around the world? And what, if anything, should be done about it today?A thread for #MuseumsUnlocked Left:

This is a Sabean plaque from Yemen, but the letter forms are more rigidly geometric than usually seen, and so at first glance I'd say this is likely a modern

Reading this, you'd never know:*several* groups looted Palmyra (despite the obligatory lead image);most looting in Syria was probably *not* done by ISIS;"blood antiquities" in Syria are a much bigger problem

Chasing Aphrodite

ChasingAphrodit

The DOJ seeks to forfeit the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a cuneiform tablet purchased by the Hobby Lobby for the Museum of the Bible. DOJ says tablet "originated in the area