Police in Baden-Württemberg (SW Germany)
are investigating a man in the city of Heilbronn over a suspicious collection of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts some of which were probably stolen from a Syrian museum (
German man with ancient Syrian artifacts under investigation Deutsche Welle 21.02.2024)
Investigators [...] believe that the tablet [...] may have been stolen from a museum in Idlib, Syria. The man claimed to have acquired the tablet from an old Bavarian collection as an investment and for possible resale, but investigators found this claim to be false. "Investigations revealed that the artifact had, in fact, probably been illegally imported into Germany ... after being stolen from the museum in Idlib in Syria in 2015," investigators said. Also in the man's collection [...] were a collection of "ushabti" figurines [...] and a second cuneiform tablet, all of which have been seized by police.
The presence of the shabtis suggest he was a collector or dealer. The german polic e press release says the tablets were from 1975 excavations at Ebla, possibly this means they have been identified from photos in the excavation archive. No mention is made of the owner having any paperwork - as now required by German law. Were these artefacts purchased from ISIS?
Finding the first available space on Mr. Barfords full-time blog page, I note that he has a trowel for sale, unused, and in pristine condition, as good as the day it was purchased. I also note that he is advertising for a computer keyboard to replace the one he has worn out through parking his sweaty ass on a chair and doing nothing but rile against metal detectorists, Incidentally, Barford is also a Catholic, a member of the most evil organization the world has ever witnessed. Why should we believe anything he has to say???
ReplyDeleteThere are no trowels or computer hardware adverts on here. This comment has NOTHING to do with Syrian antiquities, neither is there anything here about "metal detectorists".
ReplyDeleteI do not know where this mentally-disturbed person has the idea that I am a Catholic. Or indeed what the relevance of that ad hominam comment would be if I were.
The fact that De. William Shephard is a metal detectorist however goes a long way to explaining why he is unable to manage to string two sentences together to make a relevant comment. Yet another one that highlights the general rule that a lot of them are in reality as thick as planks.