One of the most interesting adventures in my life concerns tracking down a similar lost treasure in Israel. Being the world's expert on Medieval reliquaries, I was surprised and elated to find an unknown ivory reliquary for sale in an antique shop in Tel Aviv. The dealer gave me photos but did not know the provenance. So I aked a friend I had madew who had a business selling necklaces made of old beads Bedouins found in the deserts and he took me through a maze of back alleys to show my pictures to a huge tall Arab dressed all in black. He told me it had been smuggled out of a recent find in Sidon. Then we went our separate ways in the bustling old city, for trafficking in antiquities is illegal, don't you know?
fascinating!