Editors’ Page: Ransom Them!

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Archaeologists are principled people—sometimes to the point of disaster. The world stands aghast at the Taliban’s destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, as movingly described by John Huntington in “The Buddhas of Bamiyan.” Huntington also mentions other images that the Taliban are collecting and destroying. These objects, displaying all aspects of Afghan culture, are simply taken from Afghan museums.

Despite the universal uproar, the Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed. There was nothing anyone could do to prevent it or stop it. But that was not the situation regarding the artifacts that that were taken from the museums. They could have been saved—but for the principles of the archaeologists.

In the last 20 years—even during Soviet occupation—Afghan officials repeatedly requested that some of its treasures be removed from the country for safekeeping. In recent years, even members of the Taliban asked that artifacts be taken out of the country.

Paul Bucherer, director of the Biblioteca Afghanica in Switzerland, is quoted in the New York Times (March 31, 2001) as saying that on a visit to Afghanistan a year ago he was “pressed very hard by Afghani officials to take things from the Kabul Museum” to protect them from harm or illegal export.

All of these requests were denied, despite the fact that all sides, including the Taliban, “were imploring outsiders to help protect the country’s cultural heritage,” according to the Times.

Why were these requests denied? Because Western archaeologists and international cultural organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) “blocked their removal out of a long-standing concern for keeping artifacts in their historical setting.”

A UNESCO official stated, “We are bound to the 1970 convention,” which forbids cultural property from being transferred from one country to another without official authorization from the host country.

Museums in the West are reluctant to take items for safekeeping because of criticism from archaeological bodies. Several museums have been targets of campaigns to return artifacts already in their collections.

So what is the result? Not what you might suppose. Only a few of the movable artifacts have actually been destroyed. Most are sold on the antiquities market and are now in the hands of collectors, who keep them private. This is better than having them in a public museum? Should we castigate private collectors for buying these illegally exported items; should we put in jail the dealers from whom the collectors bought these objects? Is it our aim to vindicate principle or to save the artifacts for public display and study?

These questions are worth thinking about, especially because Afghanistan is not the only country whose cultural heritage is being lost. Think about Iraq for a moment. Artifacts are pouring out of that country illegally. Should we stick to principle and have these objects end up in the hands of collectors who keep them private? Or should we sometimes jettison principle and house the ancient artifacts in a public museum?

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The only bright light on the horizon, a fallout of the dreadful experience in Afghanistan, is that Western archaeologists and others are rethinking their positions.

The director of the galleries of the Asia Society in New York, Avishakha Desai, is quoted in the Times article as saying, “Simplistic questions about cultural patrimony do not work … A lot of collectors are now saying that what the archaeologists have insisted—that you never can remove anything from a country—has just been thrown out the window.”

Even UNESCO is rethinking its position, if only in this particular case. UNESCO now wants the endangered art of Afghanistan removed for safekeeping—but only from Afghanistan, not from other countries.

Meanwhile, official associations of archaeologists have remained silent, even about the situation in Afghanistan. Isn’t it about time for them to do a little rethinking, too? We should save the artifacts, even at the expense of principles enshrined in the archives of archaeological associations.

Archaeologists are principled people—sometimes to the point of disaster. The world stands aghast at the Taliban’s destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, as movingly described by John Huntington in “The Buddhas of Bamiyan.” Huntington also mentions other images that the Taliban are collecting and destroying. These objects, displaying all aspects of Afghan culture, are simply taken from Afghan museums. Despite the universal uproar, the Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed. There was nothing anyone could do to prevent it or stop it. But that was not the situation regarding the artifacts that that were taken from the museums. They […]