[meteorite-list] Warning About Libyan Desert Glass Artifacts

[David Freeman]

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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