06-28-2009, 11:23 PM
My rock can fell a giant. If you climb the beanstalk...it might be useful...don't forget your sling. We've drawn this entirely off topic. My fault.
It's really hard to know what is the right thing to do with antiquities in other nations' museums. If all were returned to their place of origin, who's to say what might really happen? Likely the same thing that happened to the smooth outer coating of the pyramids, or the bulk of the missing stones and bricks in the Colosseum. Stolen and used for building materials elsewhere, or just stolen and sold anyway to private collectors.
Most of the Egyptian tombs (and perhaps others) were emptied by tomb raiders, and probably some of them not that long after they were sealed. Those artifacts were probably melted or otherwise turned into marketable products. Gold was valuable in ancient times, too, so golden objects and jewelry were quickly turned into something else, sold at a fraction of their original worth, and have long since disappeared. For the most part, the things we know and have seen from ancient times are from artifacts that are on display in some other country's museums. Should they be returned? Well, maybe. If an exact copy can be on display behind glass, who's to say if it's the original? Could it be that the objects on display in some museum displays are not the originals anyway, but facsimiles put there to give us a glimpse at the Old Things without risking the Real Thing? I wouldn't be surprised.
It's really hard to know what is the right thing to do with antiquities in other nations' museums. If all were returned to their place of origin, who's to say what might really happen? Likely the same thing that happened to the smooth outer coating of the pyramids, or the bulk of the missing stones and bricks in the Colosseum. Stolen and used for building materials elsewhere, or just stolen and sold anyway to private collectors.
Most of the Egyptian tombs (and perhaps others) were emptied by tomb raiders, and probably some of them not that long after they were sealed. Those artifacts were probably melted or otherwise turned into marketable products. Gold was valuable in ancient times, too, so golden objects and jewelry were quickly turned into something else, sold at a fraction of their original worth, and have long since disappeared. For the most part, the things we know and have seen from ancient times are from artifacts that are on display in some other country's museums. Should they be returned? Well, maybe. If an exact copy can be on display behind glass, who's to say if it's the original? Could it be that the objects on display in some museum displays are not the originals anyway, but facsimiles put there to give us a glimpse at the Old Things without risking the Real Thing? I wouldn't be surprised.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
