Antiquities
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2008-07-15T01:01:56Z
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[[Image:Elgin Marbles London.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Metope]] from the [[Elgin Marbles]].]]
'''Antiquities''', nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from [[ancient history|Antiquity]], especially the civilizations of the [[Mediterranean]]: the [[Classical antiquity]] of Greece and Rome, [[Ancient Egypt]] and the other [[Ancient Near East]]ern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the [[Mesolithic]], and other civilizations from Asia and elsewhere may also be covered by the term.
==Definition==
[[Image:Human headed winged bull facing.jpg|thumb|220px|right|An [[Assyria]]n winged bull, or ''[[Shedu|lamassu]]'', [[Louvre]].]]
The definition of the term is not always precise, and institutional definitions such as [[museum]] "Departments of Antiquities" often cover later periods, but in normal usage [[Gothic art|Gothic]] objects, for example, would not now be described as antiquities, though in 1700 they might well have been, as the cut-off date for antiquities has tended to retreat since the word was first found in English in 1513.<ref>[[OED]]</ref> Non-artistic [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] are now less likely to be called antiquities than in earlier periods. [[Francis Bacon]] wrote in 1605: "Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time".<ref>OED</ref>
The art trade reflects modern usage of the term; [[Christie's]] "Department of Antiquities" covers objects "from the dawn of civilization to the [[Dark Ages]], ranging from Western Europe to the Caspian Sea, embracing the cultures of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East."
[http://www.christies.com/departments/ant/overview.asp]. [[Bonhams]] use a similar definition: "...4000 B.C to the 12th Century A.D. Geographically they originate from Egypt, the Near East and Europe ..." [http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=usa&Screen=antiquities] Official cut-off dates are often later, being unconcerned with precise divisions of [[art history]], and using the term for all historical periods they wish to protect: in [[Jordan]] it is 1750,<ref>[http://conference.legadoandalusi.es/en/doa1.htm "Department of Antiquities of Jordan" website]</ref> in [[Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance|Hong Kong]] 1800, and so on.
The term is no longer much used in formal academic discussion, because of this imprecision. Most, but not all, antiquities have been recovered by [[archaeology]]. There is little or no overlap with [[antiques]], which covers objects, not generally discovered as a result of archaeology, at most about three hundred years old, and usually far less.
==Illegal trade==
[[Image:Euphronios krater side B MET L.2006.10.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Euphronios krater]] will now be returned to Italy by the [[Metropolitan Museum]]]]
The export of native antiquities is now heavily controlled by law in almost all countries, and by a 1970 [[UNESCO]] convention,<ref> [http://www.savingantiquities.org/heritagetreaties.php#Unesco1970 "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property"]</ref> but a large trade in [[Illicit antiquities]] has resulted. The [[Sevso Treasure]] and the [[Euphronios krater]] are apparent examples that have come to light, and [[Getty Museum]] Director of Antiquities [[Marion True]] was convicted by an Italian court in 2004 for trading illegally in them. [[Archaeological forgery|Forgers]] have long been active in the field, as the [[Etruscan terracotta warriors]], the [[Persian Princess]] and the [[Art_forger#Problems_with_authentication|Getty Kouros]] show.
==Antiquary==
An [[antiquary]] was originally someone concerned with antiquities, and [[John Leland]] was appointed the "King's Antiquary" by [[Henry VIII]], but in modern usage the term is mostly associated with [[Antiquarian book trade in the United States|antiquarian books]] - a category even less precisely defined than antiquities.
==See also==
*[[Ancient art]]
*[[Japanese cultural artifacts controversy]]
*[[Antiquities Act]] of 1906 - US
*[[Israel Antiquities Authority]]
*[[Supreme Council of Antiquities]] - Egypt
*[[:Category:Antiquities of the Louvre]]
*[[:Category:Archaeological forgery]]
*[[Antiquities (Magic: The Gathering)]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ancient art]]
[[Category:Art genres]]
[[Category:Archaeological artefacts]]
[[Category:Art and cultural repatriation]]
[[el:Αρχαιότητες]]