The International Trade in Antiquities - Essay Example

The International Trade in Antiquities Introduction Antiquities refer to ancient works of art. Trading in antiquities is one f the most lucrative international businesses. Many countries across the globe have imposed restrictions on this trade, especially exporting and importing. Some of the traders involved in this trade of antiquities, for example art dealers, collectors, and some museum curators, would like to see restrictions on the flow of antiquities removed or relaxed, generally envisioning a free exchange of ancient art around the world. Others, including many archaeologists and historians, advocate instead for strengthening and enforcing existing laws, restricting the movement of antiquities out of their source countries as a means to save endangered cultural heritage. Antiquities have turned out to be one of the biggest illegal businesses worldwide. This trade cuts across local thieves to larger international looting networks. These include auction houses in the US, Asia, Middle East and Europe. It is difficult to quantify this trade but it is estimated at four billion dollars annually. Looted antiquities are illegally moved across many borders, changing hands many times before reaching their final destination. This makes their origins very difficult to trace. These antiques end up with museums and privare collectors. Ownership history is then fictitiously given to the antiques. False documents are also made to prove authenticity of the antiquities, to give assurance that that the antiquity's origin is legitimate. Despite numerous attempts to tighten control from law enforcers worldwide, this trade continues. It is boosted by the developing technology and the advanced market. For example, the online auction sites have made controlling this trade very difficult. Exploiting sites by the use of high-tech methods is booming especially in Asia and Africa. This paper examines the two positions. The proponents include traders and middlemen while the opponents are archaeologists, conservationists, law enforcement agencies and historians. It then evaluates the strong points in both arguments against weak ones. Proponents' position Proponents argue that trading in antiquities is economically beneficial to the local communities that are economically surviving. They further argue that placing restrictions or illegalizing this trade will not change this situation but only place it underground. Israel's case study Israel has a rich heritage in archaeology. It is however facing constant erosion by illegal excavators to meet a rising demand for these items. The antiquities authority in this country has an electronic database of more than 14,000 sites. Thousands of these sites have been eroded. The destruction has sparked a controversy in Israel between the government agencies and the traders. The authority demands a change of the law since it currently allows trading in antiquities. It has a strong belief that by outlawing this trading, the traders will be unable to operate within Israel and thefts within the archaeological sites will be stopped (Blum, 2008). The traders on the other hand maintain that by passing the law, this trade will continue but now underground as is the case in Jordan, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus and Greece. The IAA established a Theft Prevention Unit in 1985 with a mandate to prevent theft from these sites and monitor the trading in these antiquities. It was granted the power to search arrest and carry out investigations for any commercial operations in the field. According to Ya'akovi, 144 people were caught illegally excavating on ancient sites in the year 1995. The IAA is also authorized to make decisions on who gets and who does not get the license to engage in this trade. Currently there are authorized dealers and their turnover adds to approximately five million dollars yearly. The Antiquities law of 1978 was very effective in nationalizing antiquities for their protection. Article 2(c) asserts that if an antiquity is found after the enforcement of this law, it will be nationalized. But there is a paradox. Trading in these items is legal with no restriction. However, all the antiquities found in the country since 1978 belong to the state. This makes it impossible for traders to access these sites and are forced to buy their antiquities from illegal excavations. This has caused the IAA to declare that dealers are promoting theft of antiquities and the trade should be banned. Another paradox is the Ministry's allowance of its approval seal to be fitted on windows of licensed antiquities outlets in spite of the IAA claiming that most of these antiquities come from illicit excavations (Ilan et al, 1989). The IAA, together with the museums is looking for ways of reducing plunder of archaeological sites. The IAA revealed that most of the small antiquities like coins and oil lamps are purchase by tourists. According to a survey, this represents most of the objects plundered out of these sites. Outlawing this trade would make it difficult to sell their antiquities to the tourism market, which is a very essential market. They argue that the traders will barely make any profits thus decrease plundering. The illegality of the trade will only serve to raise prices that will also increase profits for the traders. Also opponents of outlawing argue that that this will lead to the trade going underground, thereby smuggling the items across the borders. In countries where the trade is prohibited, the concerned enforcement agencies are finding it hard to control the looting. A counterproposal by trade proponents suggests that only antiquities that have undergone a study and documentation and are not in public exhibitions should be sold. This suggestion has however been strongly objected. IAA argues that currently the sales of these artifacts are so high that if this is maintained, the antiquities store rooms would have nothing within one year. Currently, the small supply of these legitimate items can not meet the increased demand for them. Many uncertainties have arisen due to it being legal to trade in antiquities from illegal excavations. The law that nationalizes all antiquities should be relaxed (Reich, 1998). Alaska's Case Study In Alaska, legalization of this trade has ended up being very beneficial to the local community. Here, two native corporations own the archeological resources on St. Lawrence Island that are mined for the legal market. The excavated items they sell are an important source of money for the natives, who are mainly food-gathers. Since these items are legally obtained, the natives find it easy to control the antiquities' circulation. They therefore do not lose much money to the middlemen. They are also able to get value for their natural resources. Opponents' position Opponents argue that this trade does not bring any economic benefits to the communities of origin. For instance, a fossil turtle was purchased from the owner in Brazil for ten dollars and later sold for sixteen thousand dollars in Europe. Such objects continue circulating for years and generating money for every transaction. The original finders and the local communities do not get any of this money. According to law enforcement agencies, terrorists have taken to this trade as a way of raising cash. The methods the traders exchange money are becoming very complex. A relationship between terrorism and illicit arms has been well documented by these agencies. There has been a development in business models as well. A report by The New York Times reported how a trader benefited financially when she gave the Judas Gospel manuscript to a foundation. This foundation gives her a huge compensation. Opponents further refer to the antiquities trade as looting that threatens to confront the world of archaeology today. They hate it when auction houses and museums participate in this looting. They have linked it to the erosion of the cultural heritage of the country of origin of these antiquities. They argue further that the theft of antiquities, whether from public or private stores is an international crime. They propose investigation and prosecution of all the case of looted antiquities. Archaeologists and historians argue that trading in antiquities should not be allowed. Serious preservation laws should be enacted and strictly followed and all loopholes should be closed. They insist that it is unethical and unfashionable for museums and other collectors to engage in illegal collection and excavation of antiquities. Iraq's case study There has been a proposal to ban trading in Iraqi antiquities worldwide. According to the proposal, this is the way to end this illicit trade that has left Iraqi excavation sites in bad form with numerous trenches and holes. Archaeologists argue that the ban would strip the trade of its commercial value, thereby reducing the financial incentives to excavate the antiquities (Kennedy, 2008). Archaeologists in Iraq and world over have estimated this problem to be of large scale. About fifteen per cent of Iraq's archaeological landscape is believed to be illegally excavated. The items extracted are approximated to over 500 per cent of national museum's collections in Baghdad. There is therefore urgent need to stop this trade. Conclusion Opponents and proponents have both presented valid arguments regarding trading in antiquities. One thing is clear though. That banning this trade will not stop it. It should therefore be legalized to prevent looting but be regulated to ensure it is properly done to benefit all the parties involved. References Blum, O.(2008)The illicit antiquities trade-an analysis of current antiquities looting in Israel, retrieved from www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk, on November 10, 2008. Golan,Y.(2000):The Intifada and the antiquities looters.Ma'ariv newspaper, 14 December, 4-5. Kennedy, M. (May 1, 2008)Ban proposed on Iraqi antiquities trade.The Guardian. Reich, R.(1998)The states of the arts-archaeology in Israel,retrieved from www.mfa.gov.il, on July 5, 2001). Saving Antiquities for Everyone(2008)The illicit antiquities trade, retrieved from http://www.savingantiquities.org/heritagetrade.php, on November 8, 2008. Tubb, K. W. (1995)Antiquities: Legal, Ethical and Conservation Issues. UK Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Ya'akovi, Z.(1999)The IAA policy regarding antiquities trade in Israel.Derby's University extension.Orly BlumHerzeliya PituachIsrael Read More