Dealers Eyeing Syrian Antiquities

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A “Le Patrimoine Archéologique Syrien en Danger [الآثار السورية في خطر]” Facebook page has been set up and has leaked a copy of a letter sent from Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar to the ministers of culture and finance and the governor of the central bank indicating that “professional international gangs” are setting up shop inside Syria to mass loot the country’s antiquities. The memo confirms reports that these groups

had brought “equipment and satellite communication devices for stealing manuscripts and robbing museums, safes, and banks” into the country. Safar said that similar networks had operated in Iraq and Libya and requested the tightening of security measures around such places for fear that these gangs had already entered into Syria. [...] This letter does not say anything new about the thriving trade in stolen antiquities in Syria. Gangs have long been involved in the smuggling of artifacts through Lebanon or other overland border crossings and on to markets in Europe and the US. The Syrian authorities deal firmly with offenders, who can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. But as the letter makes clear, the ongoing civil conflict makes Syria’s museums, archaeological sites, and stores of ancient artifacts acutely vulnerable, both to outright theft and corrupt insider dealings.

The Al-Akhbar journalist points out that the growth of the illicit trade in Syrian antiquities is an unintentional by-product of the country's strenuous efforts to promote foreign tourism, marketing itself as a land of civilizations with a rich archaeological heritage. Tourist numbers reached 9 million in 2010.

Particularly vulnerable are Syria’s 25 antiquities museums. Over the past decade, museums were built all over the country so that artefacts could be displayed near to where they were found. This means that the objects are scattered in museum dotted around the country whose priceless exhibits could be robbed at any time (it is believed that some of them have taken precautionary measures such as putting items in safe storage). The policy was a success in terms of bringing the country’s ancient heritage closer to the people and encouraging tourists to travel to different parts of Syria.

But the tourism boom had a downside, as antiquities dealers took advantage of the surge in the number of tourists to create a new market for themselves. The current unrest is a dream come true for them, as the experience of armed conflict in other countries has shown. The gangs do not need much time to get started, as they have networks and contacts in place and know which doors to knock on when the opportunity arises. First, dealers appear who offer large sums for unspecified antiquities. They often pay on delivery, in order to lure their local providers. Then the amounts of money paid diminish, and the special requests begin. For items such as statues with inscriptions, glassware, or coins, or even specific museum pieces. Extortion is employed, a technique perfected by gangs dealing in antiquities in previous Middle East conflicts. That was the experience of Iraq, where the looting and sale of antiquities began even as the battles were still raging in the 2003 US-led invasion. [...] The situation in Syria is very critical. Unlike the Iraqi case, the black market in antiquities in Lebanon and elsewhere has not been saturated with Syrian pieces. But that does not mean the threat is not there, or even that thefts have not already taken place on the ground. Conditions are impossible to verify due to the inaccessibility of archaeological and other sites in Syria at present. But experts at Western universities [have begun] to monitor websites that offer antiquities for sale to check for items that may have been taken out of Syria.

Joanne Bajjaly, 'Gangs Eyeing Syrian Antiquities', Al-Akhbar March 11, 2012

AIA Calls for Protection of Syrian Cultural Heritage , March 12, 2012