Finders, Givers.

Another reason to be proud of the U. S. of A.

Whaddya mean "Finders, Givers"? More like thieves returners. It's astonishing how our museums (and, doubtless private colletions) are stuffed with items of dubious provenance. Letter from Egypt to whom it may concern: 'Can we have our Mummy back?'

Museums are beset with the same afflictions of other corporations. Their boards of directors feel pressure to remain competitive with others by acquiring the best and most prestigious of artifacts, so that attendance be high & reputation will assure bragging rights among competitors. There is temptation to not ask the hard questions of sellers, since they are sure that if they don't acquire an object of suspicious pedigree then it will wwind up in the hands of their biggest rivals. What amazes me is how much money is being paid for essentially looted, stolen, or smuggled contraband. When I was a kid in Chicago, everybody knew that if you bought "hot" merchandise (something that "fell off the truck") the carrot was that you would only be paying a small fraction of full retail.....

And private collectors? Rich enough to collect fine art and precious artifacts, they are rich enough not to worry about provenance (except in terms of monetary value). We will never know the extent of privately collected pirated art. We all know about the Nazis and their relentless pursuit of fine art, and much of that has never been restored to proper owners (or heirs, if in fact any exist), but the same practice, one way or the either, exists wherever there is $.

But all that aside, nice gesture to give Peru what is theirs.

Hazel~ I hope this is a sign you are feeling better!!!

The first thing to come to mind was the private collections and the nazis. However. As you say ChefDeb, it was a nice gesture.

After over a decade of arduous excavating in extremely difficult conditions and the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars, the international team of renowned archeologists entered, at long last, what was believed to be the burial chamber of Fourth Dynasty ruler, Nut-nin-Khamen, only to find that it had been looted by thieves.
Loot, in this case, being national treasures and artifacts.
Thieves, in this case, being people a lot better at this than we are.

That's the kind of long, slow, ironic humor it is hard not to appreciate.

A kid in our neighborhood, said: "It ain't theft until they know it's missing and want it back. You ain't a thief until they catch you and can prove you took it."
Unluckily for him, they had noticed, they wanted it back, they found him with it and proved he had taken it.

Removing the mummified remains of a human from a chosen resting place for display around the world is creepy.

The striking exhibit as you enter the revered British Museum in London, England is called The Elgin Marbles. A few years back the Greeks said "Ahem, we think Lord Elgin stole them and we want them back!" The negotiations rumble on ..... PS Do not buy Hot dogs, cans of Coke etc in the vicinity, they are a rip-off.
Stoney~ I agree what you said about removing and exhibiting human remains - even the mummified remains of cats. It's a desecration of a grave.
 

Guess my parents taught me right.  I can quickly get over the "I want" for something I'm not susposed to have.  Could be because there never was enough money to buy the museum quality, stolen stuff anyway.  I do remember the "fall off the back of the ruck" bit, though, Bert.

That's a truck.

So many items that are currently in museums and, I daresay, private collections would have been totally lost or destroyed had they not caught the eye of collectors.  I'm not saying that justifies keeping them or holding on to them, but in many cases their stay in museums meant that they would be kept intact.   Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes so is value.  Because we get used to things around us they often lose their value to us.....we see a pile of rubble, a collector sees an anitque statue.  We see a cracked jar and think it a leaky old thing fit for the rubbish--it won't hold water or wine or oil--a collector sees a piece of history.  Looters despoiled the pyramids for centuries until their value as tools to understand history became evident and collectors used finds to learn things.  No, they didn't keep them "in situ" but quite probably if they had the finds would've been lost forever or irrevocably ruined.   Even today I would wager most Egyptians--the farmers, the fishermen, the everyday people--don't understand or know the significance of what is in their own backyards.  And more than likely their first call if they found something would be to a dealer to see how much they could get.********Baghdad's museum looting is a modern lesson in how a great majority value historical artifacts and pieces.   Many pieces lost forever (yes, sadly a lot to less than honorable private collectors) and probably many more ruined by cutting out jewels to sell separately, or melt down precious medals or otherwise alter.   

A young 'scout-like' youth helped me cross a street,undoubtedly thinking he was also returning antiquities to there resting place.....

thEir

(their, being the possesive tense of my bones, I posit)

In ancient times- At one of my old haunts as I sat there surrounded by peanut shells, empty mugs, & sporting my Darth Vader watch pretending I was @ Moe Eisley's Cantina from Star Wars, the only pre-Columbian I knew about was the time it took to fill a bong. Anyway as Indy found- What a fitting end to your life's pursuits. You're about to become a permanent addition to this archaeological find. Who knows? In a thousand years, even you may be worth something.

I was in the Alps, in the 70's, way above the permafrost line (at THAT time!!) and put my name into the snow,as we young men are want to do, knowing that at least that way, my name will live in perpetuity.....

Awww~ RY~ Now I have penis envy - girls can't do that.

RY~Reminds me of the funny old classic book Pissin' in the Snow and Other Ozark Folktales by Vance Randolph...its worth looking up...especially the title story.

 
Hazel ~
John Jacob Jingleheimerschmidt is snown as: JJ. 

Hazel~ According to the above referenced book, a girl can with the help of a cooperating guy.Just trying help getting the word out...

well, that, is certainly a departure from our usual tangential;food

Says the man who started it...

for pennance, I will program the coin operated mirror to reflect a smile for everyone that cares to observe themselves tonight in the clubcar....

RY~As further penance could we suspend the "coin-operated" function for a few seconds just to show good faith, ya unerstan.

DONE!!!

I think all of this hub bub about returning the objects is important because they should be where they are SUPPOSED to be. We are just humans attempting to find out who we are and this is part of how we do it historically. Some of the previous posts are making me laugh out loud, how dare you make me laugh hahahahahaha thanks. ps people don't really know who they are, find a photo of yourself when you were a teen or so, did you really know who you were? No but you were trying all kind of things to find out. Look in the mirror, into your own eyes and SEE your Divinity.

HAZE - you are definitely feeling better and I am so pleased. 
Stay well!!

Malfunction! I tried a free look in the mirror and got an image of the hairy mutt Floyd drooling back at me.

O, treat!!! Hello Giraffe.!

How did he get to Wales, that mutt?  Or, maybe he's always been in Wales, and merely visits this side of the waters....what's on Floyd's passport, for nationality?  (glad you're feeling better, Hazel)...

I think Floyd has special powers and turns up where he's needed as a comfort dog. This does not prevent him turning up in my kitchen at random times- I am dog-less, which is a real bore when trimming meat - a hopeful drooling dog is a great asset to any kitchen, great when you are preparing food and great at preparing all the pots, pans and dishes to go into the dishwasher.
This house/cottage is about 400 years old and there are "things" around, so now when I see something out of the corner of my eye, I tell myself it's just Floyd visiting.  

Theft is theft.  Good will is good will.  That said, has anyone ever visited the Cairo Museum?  It is underfunded and understaffed.  They display mummies, as do many indigenous cultures, under the poorest of conditions.  Where does the cycle end?  WHERE and HOW do we protect, both safely and correctly, the antiquities and great pieces of art of our world for ourselves, as well as future generations.  Who is to make those decisions?  I know I'M not qualified to answer these questions.  I, too, am proud of the US for returning the items...I just hope they find a safe and respectable home.
 
That said...I read further to another headline that caught my eye and "EEEEEUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!"  A ball python caught in the act of eating a baby in its crib!!!!  What ever happened to responsible pet owners?????

Given the financial pickle Greece has got itself into, you would think they might be more interested in a boatload of cash than the return of the Elgin marbles.

Creeping into crypts in the name of science is different to but not better than doing it for the loot.
Anything we didn't know before doing so, we were not meant to know and would have been no worse off not knowing.
King or pauper, our final resting places ought to be inviolate.

If you doubt it, imagine the auto mechanic and medical specialist stiffed out of thousands by the death of your grandmother, going in after the three carat rock on her left hand.
You'd be outraged and horrified but that deed would have had, at least, a purpose.

RY ~
Any way you can dial back that mirror to 1963? I think it was my last good one.

Park4, rings90, imarjorie, PeterLake ~
Is it just me or is this really hot weather made a lot more manageable by nighttime temps in the low seventies or upper sixties?
I'm not complainin'.

Stoney~ find a 1963 penney, put a polish on it, and stand straight when you insert it into the coin slot....you may be pleasantly surprised at how well you'll look.

Temps at night in the 70's????  Oh! If only......But, then you all in WI probably don't have AC in your houses, do you?  Maybe only a room unit or two?  It's been hellish here in KS, but we do have whole house AC which enables us to breath during the day and sleep during the night.  My heartiest  congratulations go out to those pioneers with such fortitude to blaze through the prairies hoping for fortune and better lives.  To slog through day after day of interminable heat barely relieved at nightfall takes more fortitude than I think I'm capable of.  However............I realize that the temps they had were not reflected off of asphalt, concrete, metal cars, bricks, etc..............so, in a sense, I'm thinking they could find some relief, rather than inferno that we feel with all the reflected heat.

How do you think it earned the name DEATH VALLEY

AHH 1963, a wonderful year with blessed memories of high school years. Stoney, sure let your 1963 mirror bring a smile to your face :)

I, again, am in awe of any who even attempted, much less survived!, travel in Death Valley.   Most of those unfortunate travelers didn't have much choice having entered there uninformed and uninitiated....hope springs eternal and thinking that it seriously couldn't be that long before a break in conditions occurred.      Those were intrepid valiant folks who traversed territority unkonwn and I admire as I am astonished by their intrepidity!!    We have been spoiled by our modern conveniences that make life livable-----electric fans, air conditioning, refrigerators and freezers, freezers that produce ice to cool not only our drinks, but our pulse spots and our temps (!)  clothing that doesn't swamp us in layers of unforgiving cloth, but is made of fabrics that breathe and wick away our heat and perspiration.

I asked for extra spicy Yakni Chicken tonight and Cafe Rakka fulfilled my wish sans Genie in my little burb of Hendersonville. Guy Fieri stopped in and gave this place his thumbs up not long ago but don't get in a hurry 'cause it's small but in the end everything will be all right. Yep home for a while & still feeling the good burn. There's just hot and them there's hot w/flavors galore. The real treasures of cultures are not buried in the ground but are on your plate. If we would all break bread together there perhaps would not be time for war. To fresh homemade Pita!!'

Carol ~
Probably most homes built in the last forty years have had central air or added it.
Our one hundred and fourteen year old place has pipes not ducts so we have big window units.
Most years, we get very few ninety degree days but this year has been different… way different.
For my money, the hottest place is Manhattan (NY, not yours) and for that reason, we go in Spring and Fall but never Summer.

Stoney--those big old window fans do help--thank goodness you have them....soldier on, soldier on......at 10:12 p.m. it's 85 outside here...........we are very grateful to have AC.  I remember many many hot humid nights as a kid in St. Louis when we didn't have AC and just tossing/turning on sheets that never felt cool and welcome  and refreshing like sheets are supposed to when they recieve your dreams...........

re frige er a toire....translated from the original Latin: ice-a box-a