Dear colleagues,
Greetings,
I have what I believe that it is an important subject not only from the professional point of view but also from the ethical point of view. So before telling you the story please allow me to ask some questions.
Do we have a real sort of power or a mechanism to fight against illegal ownership of objects within a museum?
Do we really have a real role more then speaking and discussion to keep the museum society clean and respectable as it suppose to be.
What is the museum is it a respectable place with a respectable role or it is a place for crime in another form? Do we have what we can call a criminal museum?
What is the role of a museum director and a museum board? Is it to turn his institution to a criminal place? What is the role of a museum board and a museum sponsors? And what we are going to teach our children through stolen objects? Do we have an active and effective ethical structure? Or Do we still have our ethical structure? What we like to become? Or what we became?
I apologize, if my questions shocked you and if the story below shocked you more, please continue and try to have an action as much as you can toward the main subject and if you saw that the subject is normal I apologize again as this message came to you by mistake.
Please read carefully the subject below and you can follow the web links to learn more.
Again you can have a look to the stolen musk in the St. Louis Art Museum's brochure in Egyptian art on its web site at:
http://www.stlouis.art.museum/files/teachersguide_egypt.pdf
They describe the stolen mask which is the brochure Cover Image as:
"Mummy Mask; Egyptian, Dynasty 19 (1307–1196 B.C.); plaster, linen, resin, glass, wood, gold, and pigment;
21 1/16 x 14 9/16 x 9 3/4 inches; Friends Fund and funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Christian B. Peper,
Mrs. Drew Philpott, the Longmire Fund of the Saint Louis Community Foundation, the Arthur and
Helen Baer Charitable Foundation, an anonymous donor, Gary Wolff, Mrs. Marjorie M. Getty,
By exchange, Florence Heiman in memory of her husband, Theodore Heiman, Ellen D. Thompson,
by exchange, Dr. and Mrs. G. R. Hansen, Malcolm W. Martin, Sid Goldstein in memory of Donna and
Earl Jacobs, Friends Fund, by exchange, and Museum Purchase 19:1998"
You can learn more also at:
http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/st-louis.htm
The main subject:
Dear colleges,
Greetings,
I received four e-mails and two international calls, concerning A mummy mask of Kai Nefer Nefer, published by Goneim in 1957, has been looted in the late 80s from the Saqqara Storeroom and sold in 1998 by Ali Aboutaam to the St. Louis Art Museum), and some other Egyptian objects.
The first e-mail and the first call came from Mr. Michel van Rijn
The second and the third e-mails came from Mr. Ton Cremers (Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection)
The forth e-mail and the second call came from Mr. Dirk Deklerck (Europol, Serious Crime Department, Cultural Property Crime)
I hope that you will be interested in this subject.
please find below the mentioned e-mails and would like to ask you (if you are interested) please to publish this open letter in your newsletters, website and any other available media and to send it across your milling lists and to forward it to our colleagues in your institution and to anybody who you think might be interested.
Finally, please accept my apologies in case of cross posting and hope to advice me in case of any wrong information could be slipped through this message
Thank you very much for your and best regards,
Dr. Hany Hanna
Elected Chair, ICOM-CC–Wood, Furniture and Lacquer
General Director, Department of conservation, Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), EGYPT.
Professor, Institute for Coptic Studies in Cairo.
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Fax. Nos.: +2-02-4251411 OR +2-02-4109687
Mobil No.: +2-012-4176742
The first e-mail
Date:
Wed, 18 Jan 2006 13:56:12 +0000
Subject:
Stolen mask Saqqara, now in St Art Louis Museum
From:
"Michel Van Rijn" <[log in to unmask]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
[log in to unmask]
Dear Dr. Hany Hanna,
It was a pleasure to talk to you today.
A very important mummy mask of Kai Nefer Nefer, found and published by Zakaria Goneim in 1957, has been looted in the late 80s, early 90s from the Saqqara Storeroom by Ali Farag and Co and sold by Ali Aboutaam to the St. Louis Art Museum. (Ali Aboutaam is already convicted by the Egyptian Courts to 15 years of hard labour in Al Suweissy trial)
http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/soufle3-6.htm
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2006/01/02/the-saqqara-mask/
So far Egypt has not taken action, may I kindly and respectfully ask you to look into this highly important criminal matter.
Faithfully yours,
Michel van Rijn
From: "Maarten Raven" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
Subject: Diefstal uit een museum in Saqqara, Egypte-Theft Saqqara
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 12:46:27 +0100
To whom it may concern
I hereby confirm that the mummy mask shown on the website of museum-security and allegedly purchased by the Saint Louis Museum has been excavated by Zakaria Goneim in the area of the unfinished step pyramid of Pharaoh Sekhemkhet at Saqqara in the years 1951-1955 (the illustration comes from Z.Goneim, Horus Sekhem-khet, Cairo 1957, plate 58). The finds of this excavation should be on storage in the so-called Sekhemkhet magazine to the south of the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. This storeroom, which also served as a repository for numerous finds from our own excavations (the Anglo-Dutch excavations at Saqqara, organized by the Egypt Exploration Society in London and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden), has been entered by force and plundered at the end of the '80s.
It is unknown to me whether the Egyptian authorities have communicated this theft at the time. I myself have seen an object from the said storeroom circulating on the Dutch art market in the '90s. I would not be surprised if various institutions or private collectors have purchased objects from this storeroom in that period.
In the meantime the storeroom has been completely (?) emptied of objects and partly dismantled by the local authorities; the remaining objects have been put together in a newly built storage facility at the valley edge in Saqqara.
Dr. Maarten J. Raven
curator, Egyptian department
joint field director, Dutch excavations at Saqqara
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
(National Museum of Antiquities)
P.O. Box 11114
2301 EC Leiden, The Netherlands
tel. 071-5163155
fax 071-5149941
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The second e-mail
Date:
Tue, 17 Jan 2006 23:13:17 +0100
From:
"leidennetwork" <[log in to unmask]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject:
Egyptian mask stolen from Saqqara depot now in Saint Louis Art Museum
To:
"'Dr. hany hanna'" <[log in to unmask]>
[input] [input] [input] [input]
Dear Dr. Hany Hanna,
The past month I have tried to reach the Egyptian authorities about an
Egyptian Mask that was stolen from a depository in Saqqara in the late
eighties. This mask was sold by the infamous Aboutaam from New York
(convicted in absentia by an Egypt court to 15 years for the illicit trade
in Egyptian antiquities) to the Saint Louis Art Museum. The FBI cannot do
anything about this as long as the Egyptian authorities do not file a theft
charge.
Below you can read an open letter sent by me to the director from the Saint
Louis Art Museum (SLAM). At the bottom of this message is a very important
witness declaration by an archaeologist who knew the mask in Egypt, who
knows about the theft from the depository in Saqqara, and who positively
recognizes the mask in the SLAM.
Would you please be so kind as to forward this information to the proper
Egyptian authorities? Again: when Egypt does not do anything this theft will
remain unpunished, and the mask in the SLAM.
An image of the mask is available at: http://www.museum-security.org/
Thank you very much in advance for your help,
Yours,
Ton Cremers
http://www.museum-security.org/
Open letter to director of Saint Louis Art Museum
The mask most likely was acquired by the SLAM together with six other items stolen from the same storage in Saqqara.
Dear Mr. Brent Benjamin,
The past month I did send you three e-mails directly, and some ten CC mails mails to Interpol, Europol, FBI, requesting information about the provenance of an Egyptian Mask in your museum.
I was informed that this mask was possibly stolen from a museum storage in Saqqara, Egypt.
None of my requests for information was answered by you other than that the museum pursued a thorough investigation when bying this mask.
My specific questions about the date when this mask was bought, the dealer from whom you bought it, previous owners, export permits all remained unanswered.
Below you can read information I received from an archaeologist closely involved in Saqqara projects. I do not think that his e-mail about the mask in your museum needs any explanation.
Your museum bought the mask AFTER your country ratified the UNESCO 1970 convention.
It is quite obvious that this acquisition was against the law, against the ICOM code, and against basic moral principles.
It is totally flabbergasting that while several USA museums find themselves in a very difficult situation due to Italian investigations concerning illicit acquisitions of cultural property reasonable requests for information about the provenance of a very valuable, and rare, AND stolen Egyptian mask are ignored.
Again, again I do ask you to give the informtion requested. Besides I urge you to make public which steps you will take to correct this acquisition of seven looted Egyptian objects.
Yours,
Ton Cremers
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Maarten Raven" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
subject: FW: Diefstal uit een museum in Saqqara, Egypte
Date sent: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 12:46:27 +0100
To whom it may concern
I hereby confirm that the mummy mask shown on the website of museum-security and allegedly purchased by the Saint Louis Museum has been excavated by Zakaria Goneim in the area of the unfinished step pyramid of Pharaoh Sekhemkhet at Saqqara in the years 1951-1955 (the illustration comes from Z. Goneim, Horus Sekhem-khet, Cairo 1957, plate 58). The finds of this excavation should be on storage in the so-called Sekhemkhet magazine to the south of the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. This storeroom, which also served as a repository for numerous finds from our own excavations (the Anglo-Dutch excavations at Saqqara, organized by the Egypt Exploration Society in London and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden), has been entered by force
and plundered at the end of the '80s. It is unknown to me whether the Egyptian authorities have communicated this theft at the time. I myself have seen an object from the said storeroom circulating on the Dutch art market in the '90s. I would not be surprised if various institutions or private collectors have purchased objects from this storeroom in that period. In the meantime the storeroom has been completely (?) emptied of objects and partly dismantled by the local authorities; the remaining objects have been put together in a newly built storage facility at the valley edge in Saqqara.
Dr. Maarten J. Raven
curator, Egyptian department
joint field director, Dutch excavations at Saqqara
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
(National Museum of Antiquities)
P.O. Box 11114
2301 EC Leiden, The Netherlands
tel. 071-5163155
fax 071-5149941
------- End of forwarded message -------
_________________________
Leiden Network Mailinglist
http://www.leidennetwork.net
Address for sending mail to all subscribers:
[log in to unmask]
archive:
http://leidennetwork.te.verweg.com
The tired e-mail
Date:
Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:23:06 +0100
From:
"Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection (Ton Cremers)" <[log in to unmask]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject:
FW: [Leidennetwork] Leidennetworkers, I need your help with the Egyptian Mask matter, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.
To:
"'Dr. hany hanna'" <[log in to unmask]>
Dear Dr. Hany Hanna,
Below you can read some thoughts about the stolen Egyptian mask in the possession of the Saint Louis Art Museum in Saint Louis. We do try and get the Americans to act. However, this will be a LOT easier if there is a claim from the Egyptian authorities.
Yours
Ton Cremers
_________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection (Ton Cremers)
[mailto: <[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: 18 January 2006 05:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: [Leidennetwork] Leidennetworkers, I need your help with the Egyptian Mask matter, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.
Dear Lyndel,
Thank you very much for yours. The third option most unfortunately does not work at the moment because the Egyptians do not react. One of my sources told me that they might not react out of shame that this theft was never reported internationally.
I will forward your suggestions to my contacts in the USA.
Cheers
Ton
_________________________
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lyndel Prott [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 18 January 2006 02:13
> To: Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection (Ton Cremers)
> Subject: Re: [Leidennetwork] Leidennetworkers, I need your help with the Egyptian Mask matter, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.
Dear Leiden networkers,
There are at least 3 ways that action could be taken.
One is through the U.S. National Stolen Cultural Property Act, which makes it a crimes to transport stolen property across State or international frontiers. This applies to material stolen in a foreign country. As this is an offence agains US federal legislation, no request from Egypt would be necessary.
The second is for Customs to check how the mask was declared.
A number of objects have been seized for misdeclaration on entry e.g a Peruvian mummy bundle as "personal effects" or a vastly undervalued cultural objects (several examples exist of this practice). This applies wheter the object was stolen or illegally exported.
Thirdly, if it clearly is stolen, the Egyptian police may ask, through INTERPOL, (or perhaps even directly, depending what arrangements are in place between the FBI and Egypt) for the FBI to seize and return the object.
Hope this helps.
Lyndel
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Museum Security and Cultural Property Protection (Ton Cremers)"
> <<[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 7:58 AM
> Subject: [Leidennetwork] Leidennetworkers, I need your help with the Egyptian Mask matter, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.
Leidennetworkers, I need your help with the Egyptian Mask matter, and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.
Dear Leiden Networkers,
> > Thanks to my continuous search for information about the Egyptian mask in the Saint Louis Art Museum, it has become 99% clear that the mask in the SLAM is the same as the one stolen some 15 years ago in Saqqara, Egypt.
> > FBI, Interpol, Unesco, Icom, Hawass in Egypt, the Egyptian Embassy in the USA, (of course) the Saint Louis Art Museum, and numerous private specialists have been informed.
> > While in Los Angeles last week I met a dealer who confirmed that the SLAM bought the mask from the infamous Aboutaam. Not exactly the kind of source to base one's due diligence on. Aboutaam has been convicted in absentia to 15 years imprisonment in Egypt because of his role in the illicit trade in Egyptian cultural heritage.
> > I also had a long telephone conversation with the FBI. I was told they cannot do anything without an official Egyptian claim.
> > So, anybody of the Leidennetwork able to get the Egyptian authorities moving: please assist in this.
> > I am not a lawyer, and really do not know which possibilities the American authorities have to take any action. Maybe the theft in Saqqara is not something they can work on without the help of the Egyptians.
> > However, there is something else. Does American law allow the import of an Egyptian Mask? Should the one importing this mask have reported this to American customs? If the answer to the first question is NO, and to the second question is YES, than there should be possibilities for the American authorities to take action without an Egyptian claim.
> > Is there someone on the Leidennetwork with enough knowledge about American law to help me with these questions?
> > If you prefer you can reach me off list at [log in to unmask] (I do not mind if answers will be given on list, for this may be very nformative for all of us).
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Cheers
> > Ton Cremers
> > _________________________
> > Museum Security Network
> > http://www.museum-security.org/
> > http://cpprot.te.verweg.com/
> > http://msn-list.te.verweg.com/
> > Leiden Network Mailinglist
> > http://www.leidennetwork.net/
> > Address for sending mail to all subscribers: [log in to unmask]
> > archive: http://leidennetwork.te.verweg.com/
> > __________________________
The forth e-mail
Subject:
Contact Details
Date:
Thu, 19 Jan 2006 16:25:37 +0100
From:
"Deklerck, D." <[log in to unmask]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To:
[log in to unmask]
Dear Dr Hany Hanna,
As promised, I hereby send you my contact details.
I would be very grateful if you could update me on the topic of our conversation.
Thank you very much.
Best regards
Dirk Deklerck
Europol
Serious Crime Department
Cultural Property Crime
Raamweg 47
PO BOX 90850
NL-2509 LW The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel.: + 31 70 353 1368
Fax: + 31 70 318 0836
Mob.: + 31 6 2482 3214
@: [log in to unmask]
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