Smugglers loot Libya’s Roman ruins across Egypt
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Image via WikipediaInternational antiquities-smuggling gangs are pilfering Libya’s Roman ruins, which are some of the most pristine in the world.
This trade, which first began in 1987 with the opening of the Egyptian border, has accelerated since 2003 with an unprecedented gutting of Libya’s ancient heritage sites underway since.
Ancient ports, villas and entire Roman cities have been uncovered by western archaeologists after being buried under the Saharan sand for centuries.
Farther inland, preserved Roman farming communities or semi-fortified towers wait to be discovered. The structures are inlaid with elaborate mosaics and covered with inscriptions, providing valuable insights into the everyday life of what was one of the Roman Empire’s wealthiest provinces.
Often, digging out the ancient artefacts does not even require particular effort: rain storms wash away the topsoil, dislodging the ample treasures lying beneath. At other times, industrious badgers tunnelling underground eject them as they dig.
An artefact’s journey from the Libyan sands to the gleaming auction rooms of Zurich and New York is like a trip up the human food chain which starts with the dirt-poor sand-scavengers in the south, such as Mr Ismail, and then on to the Egyptian gangs that smuggle the goods to Cairo and Alexandria, ending with the ultimate recipients – the wealthy and cultured in western Europe and North America who have a taste for collecting human heritage.
Foreign experts and art collectors who spoke to The National indicated that most antiquities are smuggled out of Libya across the porous land border with Egypt. Once in Cairo, much of the time they are spirited out by foreign diplomats who have access to their embassy’s diplomatic pouch. Alternatively, boats smuggle them across the Mediterranean to Europe.
Excerpted from an article by Iason Athanasiadis for The National
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