Thursday 16 July 2015

US "returns" Syrian lamp to ... Iraq

After seizing antiquities in a raid at Deir ez-Zor in Syria, it seems the US Government handed over ALL the items to Iraq in a well-publicised ceremony.

One problem with that ceremony is highlighted by a lamp displayed with other items on a triangular blue sheet in one of the photographs (see image). It appears to be authentic and is a Syro-Palestinian type of the 3rd - 4th centuries AD. In other words, the lamp which was seized in Syria is likely to have been made and found in Syria.

The bits and bobs handed over to Iraq are a strange assortment - including a tiny fake bust of Nefertiti, a modern metal-smelting crucible, a leather manuscript in Aramaic, pieces looted from Mosul Museum, Islamic coins, and so on. After a proper analysis of what the items really are, it is intended that any Syrian antiquities will eventually be transferred on to Syria.

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Paul Barford and Sam Hardy have covered this topic in admirable depth.

3 comments:

Michelle Newman said...

Hello - do you have an email address I can get hold of you on? Thanks

Michelle Newman said...

Hello - I'm really sorry if this has already been sent (I don't usually post so not sure if im doing it right!) I'm trying to get hold of David Knell - how do I do this? Thanks

David Knell said...

Michelle, please contact me through my Twitter account or simply put your contact details in a blog comment with a request for privacy (I won't publish that comment).

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