BARlines

Israeli Archaeologists Support Sale of Artifacts

A new organization of nearly 200 professional Israeli archaeologists, the Association of Archaeologists in Israel (AAI), has asked the director of the Israel Department of Antiquities, Avi Eitan, to consider selling antiquities. According to an AAI newsletter, the storerooms of the department are “overflowing.” No response has yet been received from Director Eitan.

The purpose of such a sale, according to the AAI resolution, would be to reduce illegal excavations by providing the market with genuine antiquities that are fully authenticated but unneeded for scientific purposes. There would then be less economic incentive to the illegal diggers. The money from the sale by the Department of Antiquities would be used to support excavations and to restore sites already excavated, according to the AAI resolution.

The AAI position is almost identical to the position being urged by BAR (see “BARview: A Radical Proposal: Archaeologists Should Sell Ancient Artifacts,” BAR 11:01, and “BARview: Dubitante No More—BAR to Accept Ads for Near Eastern Antiquities,” in this issue).