tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post2575990795093846728..comments2024-03-27T04:46:33.198-07:00Comments on Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Testing the scrap seekers mythPaul Barfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-76819778000702904582009-04-16T00:40:00.000-07:002009-04-16T00:40:00.000-07:00Yes, but you miss the point. is it raw SCRAP METAL...Yes, but you miss the point. is it raw SCRAP METAL they are seeking, or saleable antiquities?Paul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-80890652178984844732009-04-16T00:17:00.000-07:002009-04-16T00:17:00.000-07:00To give you a picture of the magnitude of destruct...To give you a picture of the magnitude of destruction, I would like to refer you to a book called Architecture for Poor by Hassan Fathy, who built a small town in Aswan to relocate the farmers living in that area of Gourna (around 7000-8000 inhabitants)who were leaving in slums. The new city was modern, having clean water, and best of all free.<br />The inhabitants of that area were the first to do everything possible to sabotage that project and go back to their old slums because it turned out that they have an extensive network of tunnels dug under their slums for looting ancient Egyptian cemeteries.<br />I think it seems quite profitable for them to trade a brand new house for an old slum with a hole under it!<br />Kind regards,<br />Nafez QanadiloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-77101367436526525742009-04-16T00:05:00.000-07:002009-04-16T00:05:00.000-07:00Dear Mr. Barford,
Thank you for your reply, I trul...Dear Mr. Barford,<br />Thank you for your reply, I truly understand your feelings against the destruction of human culture and history, I also hope to be able to do something to preserve this heritage in anyway I can.<br />Collectors in the US and UK sometimes miss the feeling of what it is to devastate someone else's heritage.<br />I agree with you that it is hard to find 12 solidii per year and that the scrap metal theory sometimes is over stretched, but I know lots of people who believe that lottery is a real source of income, they even believe in superstition and witch craft where for a small amount of money a genie, elf, or a pixie can come to you in your sleep and guide you to hidden treasures and piles of ancient Roman and Islamic gold.<br />Those people are willing to break a dozen of ancient pottery jars and ravage miles of sites in the hope of finding one solidus. It is something like the gold rush of the US but with a middle eastern flavor.<br />Some conceal it under other hobbies like hiking and hunting, but the real aim is looting. It is not confined by a group or a class of people, it is wide spread, and nothing seems to deter it. Jordan, Syria, and even Lebanon has a very tough legal system compared the UK or US, but those people do not care about laws, and laws in order to be effective should be enforceable, and I am beginning to really doubt that such strict laws can be enforced in practice or have an effect on someone who is determined not to abide by laws.<br />I feel sorry to see the treasures of my home town becoming merchandise in the hands of greedy dealers, but sometimes life challenges us with peculiarities on the ground that defies any theoretical logic.<br />I appreciate your contact very highly and am personally very pleased to find some one who preserving culture and heritage is matter of principle to him and hope that I can be able to drink a little bit from the vast well of knowledge you have.<br />kind regards,<br />Nafez QanadiloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-20806138381445524682009-04-15T22:38:00.000-07:002009-04-15T22:38:00.000-07:00Thank you Mr Qanadilo.
What the US collectors a...Thank you Mr Qanadilo. <br /><br />What the US collectors are talking about are people they say dig over settlement sites and cemeteries for scrap metal in general. I challenged them to document this assertion - as you see they are keeping very quiet.<br /><br />So, how many solidi can one actually find a year digging the average tell or hunting in the caves in your country? To earn 1000dollars annually by these means you'd have to find 12 a year - I doubt there are many metal detectorists in the UK who can boast those sorts of finds rates of gold (or bullion-quality silver). How many gold coins are found <B>undermining the foundations of your own house</B> or stripping the plaster? <br /><br />So these devastated sites in Syria, are they hunting for antiquities or scrap bronze and iron to sell? <br /><br />Thank you for your interestPaul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-19098203367549719272009-04-15T15:39:00.000-07:002009-04-15T15:39:00.000-07:00if they find one gold solidus wont that satisfy th...if they find one gold solidus wont that satisfy them for a whole month 4 grams of gold for $80 in countries where per capita income is about $1000. If you are a farmer, in a remote village in the middle east, going to remote caves once every week can give a good boost to your income!<br />I compare sites in Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon has more relaxed laws than Syria, it's sites are more preserved than the sites in Syria.<br />In old Damascus lots of people buy homes in the old city for nothing but digging deep in the foundations or checking every hole or plaster filling in the walls.<br />I hate looting but I wonder what you think might be a good strategy or course of action to stop it or at least limit the damage caused by it.<br />Kind regards,<br />Nafez QanadiloPriapushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06269690743204068478noreply@blogger.com