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Apr. 8th, 2012 11:58 amExperts sound alarm over Syria archaeological treasures
Syria’s yearlong revolt has exposed to looting and destruction the country’s archaeological treasures, experts warn, including the ancient city of Palmyra and the Greco-Roman ruins of Apamea.
Most vulnerable are strife-torn areas that have fallen outside the full control of the regime, they say, where looters have already targeted museums, excavation sites and monuments.
“In the past three to four months there has been a lot of looting,” said Hiba al-Sakhel, director of museums in Syria. “In Apamea, we have a video showing looters removing mosaics with drills. And in Palmyra there is a lot of looting and clandestine digging.”
Sakhel said other historical sites across the country have fallen prey to looters who are taking advantage of the violence that has swept the country for more than a year to pilfer antiquities.
She said although the practice has been ongoing for years, the pace has increased as a result of the unrest, which has left many sites unprotected and inaccessible.
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Egypt's 'Indiana Jones' faces charges
Zahi Hawass, the former minister of state for antiquities faces charges of breaking Egypt's antiquities law when he agreed to display rare Egyptian objects in Australia and the US
General Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on Monday referred charges of wasting public money and stealing Egyptian antiquities against Zahi Hawass, former minister of state for antiquities to the Public Fund Prosecution office.
Nour El-Din Abdul-Samad, Director of Archeological Sites, had filed the accusations against Hawass, and requested that the objects in question be returned to the Egyptian Museum.
The Public Funds Prosecution office also received other charges accusing Hawass of wasting public money and exposing Egyptian antiquities to stealing in collaboration with former regime members.
Hawass is accused of sealing a deal with the American Geographical Society to display rare Egyptian antiquities in exhibitions across the United States and Australia, violating the law of protecting antiquities.
Hawass admitted in a television talk show that he had a 17 million dollar deal with the American Geographical Society with regard to a Tutankhamun exhibition to raise donations for Suzanne Mubarak's association, wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. Suzanne Mubarak's association was a private association not a state body, and as such Hawass was not legally allowed to use his position as a state minister to raise funds for it.
The charges relate to Hawass agreeing to transfer and display 143 objects from the Egyptian Museum to Washington DC in 2003. The antiquities have yet to be returned to the museum.
These exhibitions violate the antiquities law that prohibits renting Egypt's heritage.
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Martial Arts Celeb Recruited for Ancient Roman Army
The athlete excelled at a bloody sport called pankration.
Millennia before modern-day military recruiters talked up potential soldiers in shopping malls or put up posters, one Roman city took a rather different approach to recruiting soldiers for the emperor's army.
A newly translated inscription, dating back about 1,800 years, reveals that Oinoanda, a Roman city in southwest Turkey, turned to a mixed martial art champion to recruit for the Roman army and bring the new soldiers to a city named Hierapolis, located hundreds of miles to the east, in Syria.
His name was Lucius Septimius Flavianus Flavillianus and he was a champion at wrestling and pankration, the latter a bloody, and at times lethal, mixed martial art where contestants would try to pound each other unconscious or into submission.
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Gladiators Kicked Out Of Colosseum
A squad of 80 municipal policemen booted a small legion of costumed gladiators and centurions from Rome's Colosseum yesterday.
The policemen warned the 30 sword-swishing, faux gladiators that they will no longer be allowed to hang out at the 2,000-year-old monument.
A 2002 law prohibits anyone to pose in costume around the Colosseum.
Following the warning, those who pose near the arena dressed as ancient Romans will face up to one year in jail.
Visited by more than six million people a year, the Colosseum is Italy's most lucrative archaeological site. According to a report by the daily La Repubblica, in 2011 the monument sold at least $46 million worth of tickets.
Trying to benefit from the huge business, the breastplate-wearing, tunic-donning characters have long been known to hassle tourists.
"They’ll pose with you as you’re trying to take a picture of just you and the Colosseum and then they’ll hop in the picture and say that because they’re in costume, you owe them money," student Carol Foster told the National Geographic's Intelligent Travel.
Prices for a shot range from 10 to 20 euros ( $13-26), although having to pay 50 euros ($65) isn't uncommon for scared tourists.
"Every last one of the Colosseum’s gladiators and centurions are ex-convicts," La Repubblica said, citing policemen who regularly patrols the area.
Many have been posing for pictures for years and are not willing to give up.
"We cannot accept to lose our job. This will end badly. Rather than move from here, we’ll burn down the Colosseum," a kicked-out gladiator told the daily Corriere della Sera.
Syria’s yearlong revolt has exposed to looting and destruction the country’s archaeological treasures, experts warn, including the ancient city of Palmyra and the Greco-Roman ruins of Apamea.
Most vulnerable are strife-torn areas that have fallen outside the full control of the regime, they say, where looters have already targeted museums, excavation sites and monuments.
“In the past three to four months there has been a lot of looting,” said Hiba al-Sakhel, director of museums in Syria. “In Apamea, we have a video showing looters removing mosaics with drills. And in Palmyra there is a lot of looting and clandestine digging.”
Sakhel said other historical sites across the country have fallen prey to looters who are taking advantage of the violence that has swept the country for more than a year to pilfer antiquities.
She said although the practice has been ongoing for years, the pace has increased as a result of the unrest, which has left many sites unprotected and inaccessible.
*****
Egypt's 'Indiana Jones' faces charges
Zahi Hawass, the former minister of state for antiquities faces charges of breaking Egypt's antiquities law when he agreed to display rare Egyptian objects in Australia and the US
General Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud on Monday referred charges of wasting public money and stealing Egyptian antiquities against Zahi Hawass, former minister of state for antiquities to the Public Fund Prosecution office.Nour El-Din Abdul-Samad, Director of Archeological Sites, had filed the accusations against Hawass, and requested that the objects in question be returned to the Egyptian Museum.
The Public Funds Prosecution office also received other charges accusing Hawass of wasting public money and exposing Egyptian antiquities to stealing in collaboration with former regime members.
Hawass is accused of sealing a deal with the American Geographical Society to display rare Egyptian antiquities in exhibitions across the United States and Australia, violating the law of protecting antiquities.
Hawass admitted in a television talk show that he had a 17 million dollar deal with the American Geographical Society with regard to a Tutankhamun exhibition to raise donations for Suzanne Mubarak's association, wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. Suzanne Mubarak's association was a private association not a state body, and as such Hawass was not legally allowed to use his position as a state minister to raise funds for it.
The charges relate to Hawass agreeing to transfer and display 143 objects from the Egyptian Museum to Washington DC in 2003. The antiquities have yet to be returned to the museum.
These exhibitions violate the antiquities law that prohibits renting Egypt's heritage.
*****
Martial Arts Celeb Recruited for Ancient Roman Army
The athlete excelled at a bloody sport called pankration.
Millennia before modern-day military recruiters talked up potential soldiers in shopping malls or put up posters, one Roman city took a rather different approach to recruiting soldiers for the emperor's army.
A newly translated inscription, dating back about 1,800 years, reveals that Oinoanda, a Roman city in southwest Turkey, turned to a mixed martial art champion to recruit for the Roman army and bring the new soldiers to a city named Hierapolis, located hundreds of miles to the east, in Syria.
His name was Lucius Septimius Flavianus Flavillianus and he was a champion at wrestling and pankration, the latter a bloody, and at times lethal, mixed martial art where contestants would try to pound each other unconscious or into submission.
*****
Gladiators Kicked Out Of Colosseum
A squad of 80 municipal policemen booted a small legion of costumed gladiators and centurions from Rome's Colosseum yesterday.
The policemen warned the 30 sword-swishing, faux gladiators that they will no longer be allowed to hang out at the 2,000-year-old monument.
A 2002 law prohibits anyone to pose in costume around the Colosseum.
Following the warning, those who pose near the arena dressed as ancient Romans will face up to one year in jail.
Visited by more than six million people a year, the Colosseum is Italy's most lucrative archaeological site. According to a report by the daily La Repubblica, in 2011 the monument sold at least $46 million worth of tickets.
Trying to benefit from the huge business, the breastplate-wearing, tunic-donning characters have long been known to hassle tourists.
"They’ll pose with you as you’re trying to take a picture of just you and the Colosseum and then they’ll hop in the picture and say that because they’re in costume, you owe them money," student Carol Foster told the National Geographic's Intelligent Travel.
Prices for a shot range from 10 to 20 euros ( $13-26), although having to pay 50 euros ($65) isn't uncommon for scared tourists.
"Every last one of the Colosseum’s gladiators and centurions are ex-convicts," La Repubblica said, citing policemen who regularly patrols the area.
Many have been posing for pictures for years and are not willing to give up.
"We cannot accept to lose our job. This will end badly. Rather than move from here, we’ll burn down the Colosseum," a kicked-out gladiator told the daily Corriere della Sera.
