[meteorite-list] Warning About Libyan Desert Glass Artifacts

[kaolinite at smtp.vnet.net]

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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