Thursday, 7 April 2022

Pakistan MOU "Consultation"



                eBay.com
Again, the USA is treating applying the 1970 UNESCO Convention as a special favour:
"The Cultural Property Advisory Committee will meet April 26-27, 2022, to review a request for cultural property import restrictions from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. [...] The Government of Pakistan seeks import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material from the Lower Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Historic Pre-Muslim Period, Early Muslim Period, Mughal, Sikh, and Colonial periods through the creation of Pakistan. Requested archaeological material includes, but is not limited to, stone; ceramics; metal objects including coins; stucco/plaster; glassware; bone, ivory, shell, and horn; manuscripts, paintings, proclamations, deeds, books, and documents; textiles of silk, wool, leather; and wood, dating from the lower Paleolithic (2 million years before present) through the first half of the twentieth century A.D. Requested ethnological material includes, but is not limited to stone; ceramics; metal objects including coins; stucco/plaster; glassware; bone, ivory, shell, and horn; manuscripts, paintings, proclamations, deeds, books, and documents; textiles of silk, wool, leather, and wood objects both architectural and moveable objects; and wooden objects dating from the Pre-Muslim Historic period through the first half of the twentieth century A.D."
They want public comments. Since I see there the word "coins" there, I feel sure we are going to witness US coineys exhibiting their cut-and-paste abilities. Drinking game suggestions: one swig for "coins were made to be circulated [so I should be able to add add dugups to my collection]" and two for "these coins were made before Pakistan was even a country [so how dare they try to stop me buying them?]" and three for any text containing overt racism.

Meanwhile the rest of us are going to watch and see what happens to imports into the US of the ever-popular and widely-faked antiquities of Gandhara and Mehrgarh. This'll sort out the men from the boys.

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