[MSN] ACCG Queries Cypriot Director of Antiquities

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

I am resending this as I did not receive an acknowledgement on my home
email account. 

Please consider this item for your listserve.  The accompanying letter
to Dr. Flourentzos may be found at:
http://accg.us/issues/news/accg-queries-director-of-antiquities-of-cypru
s-about-decision-to-impose-import-restrictions-on-ancient-coins-of-cypri
ot-types

 

Recently, "Saving Antiquities for Everyone" or "SAFE" posted an
interview with Dr. Pavlos Flourentzos, Director of the Department of
Antiquities of Cyprus on its website.  In that interview, Jessica
Dietzler, a student who has participated in an archaeological dig in
Cyprus presumably approved by Flourentzos' Department, posed several
scripted questions to the Director.  SAFE has posted the interview on
its website at:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/feature_cyprusinterview.php
<http://www.savingantiquities.org/feature_cyprusinterview.php>
Florentzos' responses have been trumpeted by SAFE and its members like
David Gill (see:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2007/12/coins-and-cyprus-response-fro
m.html
<http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2007/12/coins-and-cyprus-response-fr
om.html> ) as providing justification for the U.S. State Department's
recent unprecedented extension of import restrictions on ancient coins
of Cypriot type.  

 

Far from encouraging "constructive dialogue" with coin collectors , an
objective recently proposed on the "SAFE Corner Blog," Florentzos goes
out of his way to denigrate the efforts of ancient coin collectors (both
in the United States and Cyprus) to preserve, study and display the
thousands upon thousands of ancient coins of Cypriot type extant.
Instead, Florentzos apparently believes that chronically under-funded
State institutions under his tutelage are the best repositories even for
common items like ancient coins-this despite the haphazard approach to
archaeology on the Island chronicled by the Cyprus Mail in an article
entitled, "Too Much Digging is Damaging our Heritage."  See:
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=23075&archive=1
<http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=23075&archive=1>   In this
regard, it is indeed telling that the best known museum within Cyprus
holding ancient coins of Cypriot type is not a state entity at all, but
rather the privately financed Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation
collection.  See:  http://www.boccf.org/main/default.aspx?tabid=46
<http://www.boccf.org/main/default.aspx?tabid=46> 

 

In light of Dr. Flourentzos' decision to grant SAFE an interview, ACCG
has also requested in a lettter from David Welsh, Chairman of the
guild's International Affairs Committee, that he respond to some
additional related questions.  The letter was transmitted via email
(pflourentzos at da.mcw.gov.cy).  

It will be interesting to see if Dr. Flourentzos grants ACCG the
courtesy of a response, in light of the prior failures of Cypriot
authorities to respond to other requests for information both before and
after Cyprus made its request for import restrictions on ancient coins
of Cypriot types. 





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