Lintel from Syria for sale in London

Reporter Simon Cox talked about one of the objects from Syria that he identified for sale in London on BBC Radio 4 Today (18 April 2016; 2:53).

Despite their stated aim of destroying ancient cultural heritage, the so-called Islamic State have been looting Syria and Northern Iraq and selling the antiquities they find to raise money for their activities. It has now becoming apparent that some of those artifacts may be ending up on the market in London. Simon Cox is the BBC’s investigative reporter and Dick Ellis is former head of the Metropolitan Police's Art and Antiques squad.

Cox reminds of the satellite images showing the amount of looting taking place in Syria. He talks about the offering of a lintel from Syria in a Mayfair gallery. He talks about the 'invoice' from 2007 but it does not give any details (and need not be associated with the lintel). He acknowledged the difficulty of identifying material that had been looted by IS.

Former police officer Dick Ellis is critical of the law enforcement agencies in the UK: "a perfect example of the laws not working", "not actively policed by the police in the country". He points out the legislation that could be used to enforce interception. He also reminds us that the Art and Antiques Squad only operate 'for London'.

Today quotes the Home Office statement that mentions the way that it consults museum officials.

Cox was the reporter for BBC Radio 4's File on 4 investigation in February 2015.

Palmyra, Temple of Baal Shamin

Temple of Baal Shamin (Wood 1753)

It is being widely reported that the temple of Baal Shamin at Palmyra has been deliberately destroyed. The temple featured in Robert Wood's Temples of Palmyra, otherwise Tadmor, in the desert (London 1753). The ruins had been observed in 1751 (with James Dawkins).

The temple carries an inscription, dated to AD 130/31, in the wake of the visit of the emperor Hadrian to the city. The temple was initiated by Malé son of Yarhai.

Parts of the sanctuary are dated epigraphically to AD 23.

I was asked to comment for the BBC with live interviews this morning for BBC 24 and BBC World, and prerecorded interviews for BBC World Service and BBC1.

Washington lobbyist with axe to grind

Paid Washington lobbyist Peter Tompa has decided to criticise investigative reporting of antiquities from Syria by the BBC. He conveniently overlooks the way that the BBC team met key people in the region, viewed material that had been seized coming out of Syria, talked to those handling the material, consulted with a range of non-academics and academics who are informed about the situation and the market, and trudged round galleries in London. The BBC File on 4 team uncovered some uncomfortable truths about the lack of rigour in the due diligence process for the antiquities market in Europe. For Tompa and Chris Maupin this is all 'sensationalist'.

Does Tompa have an 'axe to grind'? Does he receive payments for lobbying for clients who handle ancient material?

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A North American Dealer on Looting in Syria

North American dealer Chris M. Maupin has commented on Simon Cox's BBC report on antiquities from Syria ("Sensationalist Reporting and the Antiquities Trade: If it’s in Print it Must be True!", February 22, 2015). Maupin only cites the supporting BBC News story ("The men who smuggle the loot that funds IS") rather than the full documentary on BBC Radio 4.

Cox interviewed archaeologist Dr Assaad Seif in Lebanon. Seif noted that the Lebanese authorities had seized a number of antiquities coming out of Syria; among them were a dozen items each worth an estimated $1 million.

Yet Maupin seems to overlook this part of the report:

This despite the fact that in his investigation Cox only once sees any antiquities described as having been looted. These he views via a Skype meeting and are described as small figurines, glass vessels, bits of pottery and coins, acquired over a period of several months.

Maupin also suggests that the movement of antiquities from their find-spots to the market place is "imaginary".

Cox falls into the trap of reporting on an (imaginary) international criminal network, operating in a shadow world of diggers, smugglers, middlemen and dealers.

Cox, and producer Paul Grant, put together a carefully researched programme that explained how objects moved from Syria. Members of the programme team even attended a conference on Syria that was held at the British Academy so that they could hear the latest information.

Those of us in the UK value the professionalism of BBC journalists: rarely a day goes by at work without some discussion of a news piece on the BBC Today programme.

Maupin's post is itself 'sensationalist' and could be described as 'ill-informed'.

Is there another reason why Maupin want to discredit the BBC?  Is he wanting to ensure the continuing movement of archaeological material from the Middle East to potential buyers?

Looting in Syria

© David Gill

BBC's File on Four investigative team have made a detailed exploration of the movement of looted antiquities from Syria to the markets of western Europe. They look at material that is on offer for sale in Beirut, and other objects that have been seized in Lebanon. The journalist asked specifically about Roman mosaics.

One of those interviewed spoke about the shift in volume of material moving out of Syria since the start of the recent conflict.

The BBC emphasised the need to verify information especially about the amounts of money highlighted from captured UCB sticks.

One of the UNESCO officials spoke of the need to dampen down the market as she expected some objects could be stored for some years. A middleman in Turkey talked about one object that had sold for $1.1 million.

Some material apparently from the region was spotted on the London market.

There was a discussion of the lack of regulation ("unacceptable") in the antiquities market in London.

Trading antiquities from Syria

BBC Radio 4's journalists have been investigating the movement of archaeological material from Syria to the antiquities markets in the west (Simon Cox, "The men who smuggle the loot that funds IS", BBC News Magazine 17 February 2015). The results will be broadcast later today on Radio 4 ("Islamic State: Looting for Terror"). The programme has talked to an individual who moves objects across the border of Syria into Lebanon. He claims some of the items have sold for $1 million. They then talk to a middleman in southern Turkey who passes material onto the western dealers. Material includes a large Byzantine coin hoard. The team talked to a dealer in Beirut who offered to arrange the shipment of mosaics to London. Museum officials in the Lebanon raise the issue of fakes being produced to flood the market.

The programme also talks to Vernon Rapley who suggests that material from London is for sale in London.

Antiquities from Syria

BBC Radio 4's "File on Four" will be covering the topic of looted antiquities from Syria and Northern Iraq its programme next week (and also available on the BBC World Service). It will investigate claims about the value of the material surfacing on the market as well as the routes used to get items onto the western markets.

Programme details here.