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Category: antiquities
Senate Votes to Ban Art and Antiquities Imports From Syria
New York Times / April 14th, 2016
After months of delay and debate, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the import of all art and antiquities originating from Syria, reports the New York Times. A resolution of the United Nations Security Council will be upheld with the new law, which will possibly close a ...
Iraq to Transform Saddam Hussein's Palace Into Museum
National Geographic / April 13th, 2016
A former palace in Basra, Iraq, that belonged to Saddam Hussein will reportedly be remade into a museum this fall. The project is estimated to cost about $3.5 million and represents the first museum to open in the country for decades, according to an article in National Geographic. ...
Tomb of Jesus to Undergo Restoration
Times of Israel / March 24th, 2016
The site in Jerusalem where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected will be fully restored, church officials announced on Wednesday. Renovations of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre will begin around May 1. A team of Greek restorers will complete the project by ...
The Nefertiti 3D Scan Scandal Highlights Museum Data Security
Cosmo Wenman / March 10th, 2016
Museums around the world have increasingly opened up their digital archives to share collections with the public. Art images can be downloaded, and browsed on Google Art Project or museums' websites. Yet, 3D scans of sculpture, objects and painting are largely safe-guarded. Last week ...
Dozens of Looted Antiquities Tied to U.K. Art Dealer Returned to Italy
Independent / February 2nd, 2016
Two "priceless" Etruscan earthenware sarcophaguses and 45 boxes of “exceptional pieces of ancient Etruscan art” were taken from a Geneva freeport and returned to Rome on January 14. “The antiquities had been brought to Geneva by a former high-profile British art dealer, whose name ...
Man Goes Missing In Search of Art Dealer's Hidden Treasure
Outside / February 2nd, 2016
Santa Fe art and antiques dealer Forrest Fenn, 85, wrote a memoir in 2010 with a mysterious poem containing clues about where he hid a $3 million treasure trove. An estimated 65,000 people have gone searching in the Rocky Mountains for Fenn's 12th-century bronze chest supposedly filled with gold ...
Italy to Put Over $300 Million into Cultural Projects
New York Times / January 6th, 2016
Italy's museums and cultural sites are set to receive a 300 million euro ($322 million) investment from the government over the next three years, reports the New York Times. In the wake of the recent theft of 17 artworks from Castelvecchio Museum, a 14th-century fortress in Verona, museum ...
Egypt Plans Ambitious Underwater Museum
Smithsonian / December 30th, 2015
A new museum proposed for Egypt’s City of Alexandria aims to bring visitors to sunken treasures not seen by the public in over 1,400 years, reports Smithsonian. Lighthouse of Pharos aims to safeguard sunken relics. “This area was one of the most important areas in the world for around 1,000 ...
British Museum Becomes World's Largest Google Street View of an Interior Space
National Geographic / December 29th, 2015
The British Museum recently unveiled the results of its partnership with the Google Cultural Institute (GCI): the world’s largest Google Street View of an interior space, covering nine floors and 85 permanent galleries of the museum. Its public database of more than 3.5 million objects ...
2015 in Review: Art Crime
The Creators Project / December 26th, 2015
Sensational stories of art crimes were plenteous in 2015. The Creators Project has put together a list of some of the biggest headlines, ranging from ISIS destroying the ancient buildings and artifacts of Palmyra to the brazen Ukranian ultranationalists who seek an exorbitant "finder's fee" for ...
Scholar Finds 1,700-Year-Old Gospel Fragment on eBay, Starting at $99
Verge / November 27th, 2015
Geoffrey Smith, an assistant professor of early Christianity at the University of Texas, was searching eBay when he discovered a 1,700-year-old papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John offered with a starting bid of $99. Recognizing it as a rare scroll in Greek with a fragment of text from John ...
French President Hollande Offers 'Asylum' to Artworks Threatened by Islamic State
AFP / November 18th, 2015
In a speech to the UN cultural body on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said he would introduce "Right to asylum" for artworks and cultural objects threatened by destruction or illegal sale by Islamic State (IS) miltants. The measure is to stem the activity of militants ...
Ancient Treasure-Laden Tomb Discovered in Greece
MSN / October 26th, 2015
An unknown soldier whose treasure-laden tomb lay undisturbed for some 3,500 years was unearthed by US archaeologists in Greece. Gold, silver and ivory objects and jewelry were among the finds recovered from the site of the Mycenaean-era Palace of Nestor on Greece's Peloponnese peninsula. ...
Islamic State Blows Up Arch of Triumph, a Roman-Era 'Jewel' of Palmyra
Reuters / October 4th, 2015
Islamic militants have blown up the Arch of Triumph, one of the jewels in the architectural crown of Roman-era buildings in Palmyra. Syrian antiquities officials confirmed the destruction on Sunday. The arch follows ISIS-led attacks on 2,000-year-old temples and other ...
Egypt Confirms Theory That Hidden Chambers Could Lie Behind King Tut's Tomb
National Geographic / September 29th, 2015
On Monday, U.S. researcher Nicholas Reeves joined a group of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists to examine the famed tomb of Tutankhamun, an 18th-Dynasty pharaoh who died around 1323 B.C. Egypt’s antiquities minister confirmed Reeves's new theory that evidence suggests the ...
German Art Historian Tapped to Head the British Museum
Guardian / September 27th, 2015
A German art historian has been named to lead the British Museum, which ranks as the UK's most popular tourist attraction. Vast collections spanning human history and cultures from the Parthenon marbles to Navajo silver will be overseen by Hartwig Fischer, 53, the first ...
Old is New Again in New York Pop-Up Exhibition
T, The New York Times Style Magazine / September 23rd, 2015
Four renowned European antiques dealers are betting that American collectors are ready for fresh objects of desire. With eye-catching displays, they are looking to cultivate an interest in historical objects and centuries-old art with a new generation of American collectors ...
Egypt Approves Radar Search for Queen Nefertiti's Tomb
DailyMail / September 23rd, 2015
A non-invasive radar scan of an area adjacent to King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old tomb in the Valley of the Kings was given preliminary approval by the Egyptian Cultural Ministry. New research by Dr. Nicholas Reeves of the University of Arizona claims that Nefertiti, who is thought to be ...
Museum Mishaps: Kids Accidentally Break Baroque Painting, 2,000-Year-Old Vase in Separate Incidents
Haaretz / August 25th, 2015
Two kids had their worst museum visits ever this week. A 12-year-old boy on a school field trip to Taipei's Huashan 1914 Creative Park tripped and accidentally punched a hole through a Paolo Porpora floral still-life valued at $1.5 million. The work was a casualty on the group's ...
ISIS Beheads Antiquities Scholar Who Protected Location of Artifacts
Guardian / August 19th, 2015
Islamic State militants publicly beheaded a leading scholar of antiquities in the Syrian city of Palmyra on Tuesday. Khaled al-Asaad, 82, refused to tell the militants the whereabouts of ancient artifacts moved for safekeeping. After a month-long detainment, he was murdered and his body hung ...