Dear list, This is a fascinating discussion, the outcome of which defines many museum positions towards history. Writing from the hotly contested cultural grounds of New York, its obvious that museum collections, history, and, missions hinge on a few questions: Where did the Met, Museum of Natural History, The National Gallery, in DC, any large collation of Ancient Art get its collection. The Egyptian (and Mesopotamian) excavations took place during a period of British occupation or Egypt, and Iraq, (as part of a larger war with the Muslim Ottoman Empire). Following Britain's rule, the excavated artifacts were actively collected by British collectors which found their way into public collections. (While many collections are not publicly owned, they have. almost all w/o fail, a mission describing bringing art to a general public). A question we should be asking ourselves is, where are these looted artifacts going? If Iraqis are selling these cultural artifacts who is buying them? Why do they have value in a broader market? If they are the "cradle of civilization" aren't the Iraqi artifacts part of everyone's cultural history, giving everyone equal clam to their ownership? Any thoughts or responses would be greatly appreciated, CW ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).