Posted on 11/25/2017 6:10:05 AM PST by mairdie
...Ms Howard, otherwise known as 'Indiana Joan', volunteered on archeological digs for around 11 years with British and American archaeologists in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel from around 1967...
Her collection includes neolithic axe heads more than 40,000 years old, pottery and weapons from the Phoenicians and the Romans, coins and seals and jewellery from the time of the pharaohs, and a precious funerary mask from Egypt.
She said a favourite was a Roman dagger she found buried with the skeletal remains of its owner.
Another was the wrappings of a mummy's remains and a cat claw wound within it, indicating the deceased was buried with their pet.
While notably proud of her selection, she has come under fire from prominent archaeologist Monica Hanna who believes it is illegal for Ms Howard to have possession of the items.
Ms Hanna, who works closely with the Egyptian government, has called for all of the treasures to be returned to their rightful homelands.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Would you strip museums, like Chicago’s Oriental Institute, bare in order to return artifacts? I used to docent there.
Yes, actually. 3D holohgraphic reproductions are quite satisfactory.
“who cares? those animals have looted museums and destroyed antiquities across the middle East. “
How many cathedrals from the Middle Ages or museums filled with Renaissance paintings will exist in Europe 100 years from now?
They’re already turning churches into mosques. I never thought about the paintings being in danger, but you’re right.
She spent a lifetime working in the desert and has this paltry collection to show for it. Let the government puke spend ten years shoveling rock in the heat, oh wait. That form of hard labor is cruel and unusual punishment, unfit for murderers.
How about you offer to buy the precious artifacts?
Let me guess, suddenly not so precious?
Just think of the fun ISIS would have smashing those treasures to bits...
Think of the fun we’d have spoiling their fun!
LOL! :)
Indeed, my wife was a docent for a few years. My vitro was toward the naming of her finds as a stolen million dollars.
The finds are priceless, but not in money. And we well know that she worked a lifetime and handed over to the government of Egypt a thousand times more than the trinkets she kept.
Having worked on a dig in Israel, I know first hand the incredible labor archeology is. I also know that there are precious few that will do it. Certainly this government puke that accuses her has never gotten dirt under her fingernails.
If the paltry things she kept were a million dollars worth, Egypt owes her it’s GDP for a few decades.
Without her and people like her Egypt would have nothing of its past. A little gratitude is due.
I did understand your post. But how exciting that you were on digs! What did you get to do? And I’ll bet your wife had a ball at the museum. It’s awe-inspiring to spend hours among things so ancient.
Yes, for all she kept, she gave the major majority back to the country where she was digging. I believe they got first choice of everything and decided what was worth adding to their collection and what wasn’t. There’s only so many pot shards anybody wants.
Until the Sunnis and Shiites kiss and make up, the more stuff that is hauled out of the craphole that is the Middle East and tucked away safely in Western museums the better.
Got to do a dig just across from the caves the dead Sea scrolls were found in. We sifted tons of dirt, and used tooth brushes instead of shovels a lot of the time.
Fond memoties of exhausted but excited people sitting around after that nights dinner speculating on what that days finds mean. What fantastic ideas and stories we came up with.
To the person long ago that lost or threw out that object or trash it was everyday life. But for us it was an exotic glimpse into their lives, a tiny time warp with a window.
I remember a pot we found buried packed full of ashes and chicken bones. Was it garbage? Remains of a sacrifice? Why bury it in a perfectly serviceable sealed pot?
Will we ever know?
LOVE IT!
Most of my friend’s digs were in the States, though some in the ME. They worked on the outhouses in Philadelphia. Her stories were nowhere near as neat.
Kinda like retail. Location, location, location.
Me I was a volunteer grunt with a shovel. But I am sure the same excited exhaustion stories “around the campfire” is just as fun and intense in all digs.
And the finds no less important.
FTC
Ask the British government to give theirs back first
Thanks BenLurkin and Daffynition. She should keep everything, and it will all go into her estate when she passes over into that big archaeological dig in the sky. At that time, the artifacts should be distributed based on her last will and testament. The gubmint of Egypt has been, uh, activist, regarding Egyptian artifacts held in museum and private collections. I blame Hawass.
I think it's more accurate to say, 3D holographic reproductions are better than nothing. The very large advantage to them is they can be in as many museums simultaneously as there's interest to exhibit them. There's no worries about greasy paws smearing who knows what all over real artifacts. And the originals need not be displayed anywhere, which minimizes the impact of the passing years.
I she planning to be buried with these objects? This photo has a certain 'circle of life' aura to it. No worries. Somebody'll dig her up in 4000 years.
Good one!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
