An unusual book review appeared recently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR),1 the scholarly journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). ASOR is the preeminent organization of American Near Eastern archaeologists. The book, Messages from the Past: Hebrew Bullae from the Time of Isaiah through the Destruction of the First Temple, is by Robert Deutsch.2 Bullae are lumps of clay that have been impressed with a seal; the bullae that are the subject of the book are owned by the well-known collector Shlomo Moussaieff of London, Monaco and Herzliyya, Israel. The review is by Professor Larry G. Herr of Canadian Union College, a leading Near Eastern paleographer.
Author Deutsch is a Tel Aviv antiquities dealer who also holds a master’s degree from Tel Aviv University’s Institute of Archaeology. He has some of the sharpest eyes in the Holy Land for reading difficult ancient inscriptions. Moussaieff has one of the world’s great collections of inscriptions relating to the world of the Bible.
This book would never have been reviewed in a publication of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), such as the scholarly American Journal of Archaeology (AJA), because it includes previously unpublished materials from a private collection. No one knows precisely where these bullae came from. They have no archaeological context. It is quite possible that some or all of them were looted from one or more archaeological sites.
The AIA’s code of ethics states that members should “refuse to participate in the trade of undocumented antiquities and refrain from activities that enhance the commercial value of such objects.” (Undocumented antiquities are defined as items whose provenance cannot be established by written documents, unless they can be shown to have been in a collection before 1971). The AJA, then, “will not serve for the announcement or initial scholarly presentation of any object in a private or public collection acquired after 30 December 1973 [unless the item can be shown to have been legally exported from the country of origin].” Over a hundred bullae in Deutsch’s book receive their first scholarly presentation there.
Strangely enough, BASOR, where the review of the Deutsch book appeared, has the same editorial policy as the AIA’s AJA. BASOR’s instruction to authors states, “Authors are reminded [that] BASOR will not serve as the initial place of publication or announcement of any object acquired by an individual or institution after 30 December 1973 [again, unless it can be shown to have been legally exported from the country of origin].”
Yet this review was nevertheless accepted for publication by the BASOR editors. What is even more surprising, however, is what the review actually said.
“It is too bad,” Herr wisely notes, “that these bullae were not preserved 059for us in the context of their original location … A tremendous amount of information has been lost by the looting of ancient sites.”
With this we can all agree. We all condemn looting and would like steps taken that will stop or at least significantly reduce it. The profession is divided, however, on the best way to do this. Part of the AIA’s (and ASOR’s) program is to avert scholarly eyes from any artifact that has no provenance, to simply pretend that such artifacts do not exist.
Our position is different. I have written that while looted artifacts are worth less because they have no context, they are not, as some who favor the AIA’s position claim, worthless.3
Professor Herr obviously disagrees with the view that such artifacts are worthless. The BASOR editors not only allowed Herr to review the book, but even to thank Deutsch and Moussaieff: “This is a very welcome publication,” Herr writes. “We are much indebted to Deutsch for his hard work, and to Moussaieff for his willingness to share with us this great number of bullae … It is a marvelous group and we are fortunate to have it even if it is the product of violence to scholarship.”
Once artifacts reach the market, we must ask whether there is still valuable information to be gleaned from them. When they are important, we should ransom them and make them available to scholars, who should then make them available to the public. That is what Moussaieff and Deutsch have done.
Steps must be taken to stopn looting at the source. Much more can and should be on that score. But once something reaches the market, we must decide whether it is better to make it avaible to scholars and the public, even though this may reward the looters (kidnappers, in my view.) Realistic steps should be taken to reduce looting, probably by utilizing market forces, including governmental sale of duplicates. But claims to knowledge and scholarship must also be part of the equation. These considerations may often tip the balance and lead to the wise ransoming of looted artifacts. the vast majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, were purchased from antiquities dealers representing the looters who illegally excavated them. Should scholars simply have ignored these ancient texts?
We congratulate the editors of BASOR for publishing Professor Herr’s review and Professor Herr for saying what he did.
An unusual book review appeared recently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR),1 the scholarly journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). ASOR is the preeminent organization of American Near Eastern archaeologists. The book, Messages from the Past: Hebrew Bullae from the Time of Isaiah through the Destruction of the First Temple, is by Robert Deutsch.2 Bullae are lumps of clay that have been impressed with a seal; the bullae that are the subject of the book are owned by the well-known collector Shlomo Moussaieff of London, Monaco and Herzliyya, Israel. The review […]
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