Wednesday 19 December 2007

eBay and the cuneiform tablet

The BBC has reported that the sale of a cuneiform tablet "thought to have been smuggled from Iraq" has been stopped ("eBay Iraq relic auction stopped", December 18, 2007). Apparently "Police confiscated the tablet at a storage facility in Zurich".

The seller has not been named, but does "a storage facility" hint at more than a private address?

To what extent does eBay continue to serve as a conduit of newly surfaced antiquities?

For further comments - though six years old - on this means of selling see C. Chippindale and D.W.J. Gill, "On-line auctions: a new venue for the antiquities market", Culture Without Context 9 (Autumn 2001).

2 comments:

archaeologist in anger said...

Hi,
In french, cuneiform tablets on a treasure hunting forum.

http://www.la-detection.com/dp/message-27545.htm
and
http://www.la-detection.com/dp/message-61356.htm

looting!

"Elles ont été trouvées, sur les lieux de Babylone, par l’un de mes proches" traduction: "They were found, on the spot of Babylon, by one of my close relations"

I congratulate you for your excellent blog.

Happy New Year!

David Gill said...

The discussion links are:

http://www.la-detection.com/dp/message-27545.htm
and
http://www.la-detection.com/dp/message-61356.htm

Thank you for sharing this discussion.

And Happy New Year!

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