Antiquities and Ancient Art

Important 2nd Century Roman Mosaic Found in Egyptian Desert

Late breaking report from Cairo today states that a 27-foot-long Roman mosaic dating from the 2nd Century has been unearthed by an Egyptian-Polish archaeological team in northern Sinai.  Click for brief news article.

VERY IMPORTANT: FOR ALL COLLECTORS OF ANTIQUITIES, ANCIENT COINS, AND OTHER ART

The US State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Committee is in the process of renewing the import restrictions on cultural property with Italy from several years ago.  While it aims to stop illicit objects from Italy, there reality is these restrictions are excessively broad and make it very difficult for legitimately owned classical antiquities of any type to be be imported into the USA.   

Further, while coins are currently excluded, it appears that there is an effort underway to have them slipped in as part of the renewal.

We have less than two weeks to make our voices heard since CPAC will only hear comments through August 24th. If you live in the US, you can help. Simply go to www.vcoins.com/fax and use the ACCG-sponsored fax wizard to let CPAC hear from you. It's fast, easy, and most of all, it's critically important. We need 100% participation from you, so please take 5 minutes from your schedule to help protect our hobby. 

While the focus is the addition of coins to the MOU, I encourage you to urge the DEFEAT of the entire MOU on grounds that is anti-American as it shifts excessive burdens of proof on legitimate American collectors and dealers, rather that pushing back on Italy to improve enforcement against archaeological looting within its borders which would surely end the problem.

If you want to see the effort progress, you can visit this link to get up-to-the minute stats: www.vcoins.com/fax/stats.asp

We would like to personally thank Bill Peutz of vcoins and the ACCG for their efforts.

Egyptian Child Mummy in San Jose Museum Undergoes Most Extensive 3D Modeling Ever

Two thousand years ago in the sands of Egypt, grieving parents put their tiny child to rest in a way that was customary even during the time of Christ. They removed all of the youth's organs except for the heart, packed the remains in salt to cure them, and wrapped them in linen coated with perfumed resin. Like all Egyptians of the age, they were certain that their careful efforts would prepare their loved one to someday come back to life.

Today in Silicon Valley, a team of world-renowned experts proved those parents right - although the mummy's high-tech resurrection may not quite be what ancient Egyptians had in mind.

In a press conference at the headquarters of Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI), researchers allowed attendees to literally come face to face with the rare mummified remains of the ancient Egyptian child. Equipped with the most detailed 3D models ever created of a mummy, the team of experts showed how 60,000 exceptionally high-resolution 2D scans helped them give life to the mummy without disturbing its delicate form.

The result is the highest quality interactive visualization of a mummy ever seen - one that allowed specialists in various fields from Stanford University School of Medicine and the Stanford-NASA National Biocomputation Center to arrive at several conclusions about the child who lived and died 2,000 years ago.

Curators at San Jose's Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and Planetarium, which has housed the mummy since about 1930, have named the child Sherit, an ancient Egyptian name that means "little one."

Press conference attendees also had a unique chance to peer across 2,000 years of history to see the girl's face as real as life itself. After digitally modeling her skull from CT data, a team of scientists led by reconstructive surgeon Stephen Schendel, MD, DDS, professor of surgery at Stanford, displayed a physical replica precisely constructed to match the girl's actual skull. Using that physical model, which was created by Medical Modeling Inc. of Golden, Colo., along with clues derived from studying one of her still-intact ears and knowledge of facial characteristics common to Egyptian children, the team created a clay bust of the little girl's face.

"The bust brings to life the story of this little girl who lived at a time when Egyptians, Romans, Jews and Christians all lived side by side," said Schwappach-Shirriff. "This mummy is no longer just a fascinating artifact, but a lively young child who lived many ages ago."