A Brief History of Looting and Modern Efforts to Prevent Plunder

لمحة تاريخيّة موجزة عن النهب، ومساعٍ حديثة لمنعه

Keynote speaker: Leila A. Amineddoleh

As violence rages in Afghanistan, many experts believe it will lead to increased looting of cultural artifacts and destruction of historic sites. Since ancient times, conflict has been accompanied by the looting and destruction of cultural sites. Unfortunately, this trend has persisted through the centuries. During the first two decades of the 21st century, looting has raged across the Middle East, in part due to the US invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring, and other political unrest throughout the region.

The keynote speech will address looting throughout history (with an emphasis on the Middle East and Syria), as well as the long-term effects of looting and loss of historic record. The talk will then examine the development of legal tools used to prevent destruction and looting, and how those laws developed in concert with changing norms concerning both private and public ownership of heritage. Finally, the talk will address the current state of the law for heritage protection, dangers to archaeological sites, the market for looted artifacts, and difficult questions concerning the role of international institutions protecting objects and sites.