The Standoff is Over: France Returns Stolen Relics to Egypt

PARIS — If  Zawi Hawass, the current head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, made a "to do" list, it would read something like this:

• Naos artifact from the Met - check.  
• Steele relics from the Louvre - check. 
• Rosetta stone from the British Museum and bust of Queen Nefertiti from the Neues museum - in process.

Since taking office in 2002, Hawass has been on an international campaign to recover Egyptian artifacts for his country. On Monday, Hawass achieved another victory when France's President Nicolas Sarkozy presented his visiting Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, with the last of five in a series of what Egypt characterized as "stolen" ancient relics. "Thank you very much," Mubarak said to Sarkozy as the exchange was made.

The items at issue are 3,000-years-old and were taken from a wall painting of an ancient Egyptian tomb in the 1980s. The SCA argued that the pieces were stolen from Egypt, while French officials maintained that the Louvre took them from the country in good faith. Initially, Egypt's demands for the artifacts went ignored. Egypt then cut ties with the Louvre in October, causing the standoff that has now ended peacefully.

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Read More - France Returns Stolen Louvre Relics to Egypt | Agence France Presse

[Photo: French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (right) on Monday. Courtesy: AFP]

The Standoff is Over: France Returns Stolen Relics to Egypt

Unsolved Mysteries: The Death of Caravaggio

PORTO ERCOLE, ITALY — What killed Italian Baroque master Caravaggio? Nobody knows for sure, but new DNA research may soon solve this real life unsolved mystery. 

Popular theories speculated that Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) was assassinated for religious reasons or collapsed from malaria on a deserted Tuscan beach. But in 2001, an Italian researcher found the artist's death certificate indicating that he actually died in a hospital. Working with the latter theory, a team of Italian anthropologists hopes to determine the true cause of death - if they can locate the painter's remains.

Assuming Caravaggio died in the hospital, his body was most likely buried in the San Sebastiano cemetery. In 1956, the San Sebastiano bodies were moved to a nearby town of Porto Ercole, where scientists will have to exhume the remains of up to 40 people to find Caravaggio. Since the artist died childless, "We will check the DNA extracted from the bones and teeth of possible matches against that of the painter's male descendents," explained Professor Giorgio Gruppioni, who will head the excavation team.

Caravaggio will be the toast of Rome next year, as a major exhibition of his paintings is being organized to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death.

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Read More - DNA Tests Could Solve Mystery of Caravaggio Death | Reuters
[Image: Chalk portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni (ca. 1621). Courtesy: Wikipedia.]

Unsolved Mysteries: The Death of Caravaggio

Intrigued Art Collector Discovers Galileo's Relics

ROME — Relics taken from the "Father of Modern Science," Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), have been rediscovered and will go on display sometime next spring.  Experts have examined the provenance of three items - two fingers and a tooth - found inside an 18th-century container and determined the specimens indeed belonged to Galileo.

Three fingers, a tooth and vertebra were removed from Galileo's corpse in 1737, as his remains were being moved to their final resting place in Florence's Santa Croce Basilica. While the vertebra and one finger were recovered and moved to the University of Padua and the Museum of the History of Science in Florence, respectively, the other two fingers and tooth were thought to be lost forever.

An Italian marquis was initially in possession of the three relics and passed them down to subsequent generations of his family. But after 1905, all traces of the items had disappeared. That is, until an intrigued art collector recently purchased a mysterious wooden case at auction and had the contents examined.

The wooden container was topped with Galileo's bust and held an 18th-century glass-blown vase inside of it. The tooth, thumb and middle finger from the scientist's right hand were inside the vase.

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Read More - Galileo's Fingers, Tooth Are Found | AP

[Photo: Finger attributed to Galileo Galilei, courtesy AP Photo/Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza di Firenze/ho]

Intrigued Art Collector Discovers Galileo's Relics

Met Museum Repatriates the Naos Egyptian Artifact

CAIRO -- Egypt's Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, is continuing his scavenger hunt through the world's most prestigious museums. Since taking office in 2002, Hawass has been on an archaeological quest for so-called stolen Egyptian antiquities. Earlier this month, there was a dispute between Hawass and the Louvre Museum in Paris, ending only after the museum agreed to return 5 fresco fragments. On Monday, New York's Metropolitan Museum confirmed it will be the next institution to send an artifact back to Egypt.

The Met acquired its Egyptian relic from a private collector about a year ago, making this the first time a museum has purchased an item solely to repatriate it. The object is a red granite fragment belonging to the ancient "Naos," a pharoanic shrine honoring the 12th Dynasty King Amenemhat I, who ruled 4,000 years ago.

Hawass claims to have recovered 5,000 Egyptian artifacts thus far, however not all of his campaigns have been successful. Berlin's Neues Museum is refusing to hand over its bust of Queen Nefertiti, and the Rosetta Stone is still housed in London's British Museum.

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[Read More - The Met Returns Egyptian Artifact | AP]

Met Museum Repatriates the Naos Egyptian Artifact

Nefertiti Remains In Berlin's Neues Museum, Despite Egyptian Demands

BERLIN -- For the first time in decades, Berlin's Neues Museum opened to the public on Saturday, following a $298 million reconstruction led by British architect David Chipperfield. A WWII bombing left much of the building in ruins and most of its treasured fine art and artifacts spent years tucked away in storage. "70 years after it was closed, this building can be handed over to the public again," said Hermann Parzinger, head of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

The Neues Museum's "complete reconstruction" has drawn its share of criticism from some traditionalists, who petitioned for a redesign more faithful to architect Friedrich August Stueler's original building. Most Berliners, though, are pleased with the new museum, so much so that over 35,000 people lined up for over three days in March for a sneak preview.

The centerpiece of the museum is a limestone and stucco bust of Queen Nefertiti, circa 1340 B.C. Egyptian antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, recently alleged that the bust left his country illegally and demanded its return. But German officials are adamant that documents exist showing the artifact belongs where it is, as the Neues Museum's most famous resident. The Nefertiti relic was discovered on the banks of the Nile in 1912 by German archaeologist, Ludwig Borchardt, who wrote: "Words cannot describe it; you just have to look at it."

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Read more -
Queen Nefertiti's Home, a Ruin for 70 Years, Opens in Berlin | Bloomberg
Egypt Demans Return of Nefertiti Statue | New York Times

Nefertiti Remains In Berlin's Neues Museum, Despite Egyptian Demands

British Museum Has Two Months to Return Artifact to Iran, Or Else

TEHRAN -- A clay artifact dating from the 6th century BC is the center of a dispute between Iran and London's British Museum. The Cyrus Cylinder, currently in the British Museum's possession, is an object relating to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus of Persia, who Iranians consider a great historical hero. Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization has given the British Museum a deadline of two months within which to return the cultural relic to Iran.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi explained, "There was an agreement between Iran and the London museum to the effect that the...cylinder would be lent to Iran for display." Qashqavi believes the controversy over Iran's spring election caused the museum to reconsider the arrangement.

A spokeswoman for the British Museum said they intend to send the item to Iran citing "a number of practicalities" as reason for the delay. But Iran is sticking to its two month deadline. "If within this period this pledge is not honored then all agreements in archaeological research, trade fairs and so on with Britain might be harmed," Qashqavi threatened.

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[Read More - Iran Says Museum Broke Pledge on Artifact | Reuters]

British Museum Has Two Months to Return Artifact to Iran, Or Else

Egypt and the Louvre End Their Rift Over Relics

The argument over artifacts between France and Egypt may finally be over. The countries have been in a standoff as the Louvre Museum debated whether to return antiques that Egypt says were stolen - or else, the country threatened,  Egypt would cut all ties with the French museum indefinitely.

PARIS /Bloomberg/ -- France said it is returning to Egypt five fresco fragments acquired by the Louvre Museum, saying there were “serious doubts” about their provenance, and responding to Egyptian demands for their return. The 35-member commission overseeing France’s national museum collections unanimously agreed that the fresco fragments from the wall of a prince’s tomb must be given back. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand has decided to return them.

The mural fragments, from the tomb of a prince of the XVIIIth dynasty, “were acquired in good faith by the Louvre in 2000 and 2003,” the ministry said. “In November 2008, following the rediscovery by archaeologists of the tomb from which the frescoes seemed to originate, serious doubts emerged as to the legality of their exit from Egyptian territory.”

Earlier this week, Egypt suspended co-operation with the Louvre, saying the Paris museum was not returning the mural paintings removed from Luxor in the 1980s. The Supreme Council of Antiquities said the Louvre was refusing to honor an agreement to give back all stolen and smuggled Egyptian antiquities to the Arab country.

Zahi Hawass, the head of the antiquities council, has been on a campaign since 2002 to recover Egyptian antiquities located abroad, including the bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin’s Neues Museum, which opens next week, and the Rosetta stone at the British Museum in London.

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[Read More - France to Give Back to Egypt Five Artifacts Bought by Louvre | Bloomberg]

Egypt and the Louvre End Their Rift Over Relics