Antiquity sites are an irreplaceable resource and every illegal excavation destroys historic and cultural evidence. Every year hundreds of sites are damaged by robbers searching for valuable artifacts for commerce and personal collection, thereby erasing entire pages of human and cultural history.
While scholars and the general public regard antiquities as a valuable cultural resource for all to enjoy, others trade them for financial gain.
Antiquities' Robbery
A well-established system of antiquities' trade operates in Israel: At the bottom of the ladder are the "diggers", organized teams of workers who leave their villages (mainly in the Judean Plain) and work through the night. The teams infiltrate into the archaeological sites with excavation tools and metal detectors, and carry out their illegal excavations, breaking into, destroying and plundering mainly Second Temple period towns and Jewish burials, where they find rare coins minted during the Jewish revolts against the Romans. The coins are very highly valued in the international antiquities' markets.
Middlemen, Merchants and Collectors
The next link in the chain is the local middleman who usually finances the diggers' operations and supplies them with equipment. He purchases the stolen goods and resells them to merchants and collectors for a nice profit.
Antiquities' dealers are respectable shop owners who make their living from commerce in antiquities. Every now and then they have to renew their stock, and the source of their supply is clear to all... The shop owners obey the Law of Antiquities and the conditions of their license while taking full advantage of the many loopholes in the law.
Collectors and tourists are their customers who thus promote and encourage the demand for antiquities, especially for unique items. A great deal of money is spent on purchasing artifacts, and more than once ancient objects of national and historic value are buried in private homes, far from researchers and the public and sometimes smuggled into other countries. Commerce and collectors generate demand for antiquities, in turn encouraging the suppliers to more robbery and plunder.
Robbery of Graves
In ancient times, the deceased were usually buried together with personal goods in the belief that they would be useful during the deceased's journey to the next world. Jewish graves from Second Temple Period times yield coffins and an abundance of ancient artifacts, mainly glass, decorated oil lamps, cooking utensils and jewelry. Artifacts from this period in the Holy Land, the time of Jesus, are in great demand. Stone burial coffins, some with ornamentation or inscriptions are one of the robbers' favorite items, scattering bones in all directions and stealing the ornamented coffins. Unornamented coffins are left, shattered in the burial cave.
Finding and entering a burial cave doesn't require much physical work. Upon discovery, the circular entry stone is pushed aside; robbers burst inside and systematically collect the burial site's contents. Some of the bone boxes in Jewish burials were decorated in geometric and floral patterns, many inscribed with the deceased's name, family ancestry and livelihood. Unornamented coffins are today used as flowerpots in private homes and by collectors. The ornamented coffins are stolen and sold for a high price.
Robbery of Roman and Byzantine Graves Roman and Byzantine period graves are rich in glass objects and attractive jewelry, as well as a variety of ceramic wares. Systematic destruction of the graves of Muslim sheikhs has recently become the latest fashion by bands of robbers searching for treasure. The entire gravesite is completely dug up from below in a search for gold treasure from the Ottoman period. Graves are desecrated and bones scattered over a large area.
Robbery of Ancient Coins
Ancient coins are the most common archaeological artifact found at antiquity sites and help the archaeologist to pinpoint the exact date of strata and periods. A coin removed from its archaeological context renders research and understanding of the complete picture impossible.
An antique coin can be purchased for as little as $2 and as high as $300,000 - the rarer the coin, the higher the price.
Robbers, dig out entire ancient structures, trying to reach the original floor level and locate coins, destroying all that stands in their way.
Silver Jewish coins of the Second Temple period and Bar Kokhba Revolt are another of the robbers' favorites. Most of the coin hoards were found in underground hidden passages used by Jewish fighters during the revolts against the Romans in the first and second centuries. The fighters hid their weapons, money and personal property, and sometimes, after death in battle, the items remained in place until their discovery and plunder.
Underwater Robbery
Israel's seacoast, 200 km long and 500 meters wide contains large chapters of Israel's history, as yet unexamined. Its seas and lakes are rich with remains left behind by ancient cultures - evidence of the thousands of years of human activity along the coast: sailing, commerce, fishing, invasions and battles.
The cultural underwater heritage is endangered, especially by contractors hauling away sand for the building industry, construction of wave breaks, ports and marinas. Many antiquities sites were discovered in this way. Interest in diving has grown with the development of modern equipment resulting in 100,000 divers in the country. The sea bottom has been combed by thousands of pairs of eyes, straining to locate antiquities and illegally remove them from their watery context. Some of the finds are sold to dealers and some are kept in collectors' homes.
