[MSN] Jerome Eisenberg about Amsterdam antiquities dealer Mieke Zilverberg and the cuneiform tablet

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: ancientart at aol.com [mailto:ancientart at aol.com] 
Verzonden: woensdag 21 maart 2007 4:29
Aan: msn-list at te.verweg.com
Onderwerp: Re: Contents of MSN-list digest vol. 7, issue 62, 18 March


To: msn-list at te.verweg.com

Re: Contents of MSN-list digest vol. 7, issue 62, 18 March
“Amsterdam antiquities dealer Mieke Zilverberg”

Dear Mr. Cremers:

I am quite surprised at your attack upon the ethics of Ms. Mieke 
Zilverberg because of a misunderstanding about a Mesopotamian cuneiform 
tablet that she had brought to the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) at 
Maastricht.  The article by Mr. Schutten on 11 March on the front page 
of the Dutch newspaper ‘Het Parool’ with its scurrilous falsehoods was 
a perfect example of gonzo journalism.  The newspaper retracted the 
article the next day, but buried it in its back pages.  This article 
and your follow-up have brought about irreparable damage to the 
reputation of a highly ethical and distinguished antiquities dealer and 
graduate archaeologist…and as you state, a Knight in the order of 
Orange-Nassau, awarded for her work in bringing archaeology and ancient 
art to the public.

The object which you refer to as a ‘dubious cuneiform tablet’ was an 
inexpensive 6.5 x 4 cm. artefact which had been acquired by Ms. 
Zilberberg on consignment from a dealer in Brussels who had purchased 
it from an elderly collector in Belgium. He had it in his possession in 
the 1970s (a notarized document to this effect by the collector can be 
supplied to the proper authorities).  Your aspersions as to ‘a link 
 from Zilverberg to Nellie Drees, Asfar and Medici. Really a most 
trustworthy combination.’ is nothing short of slanderous.

Also, you state that ‘Rumour has it that Ms Zilverberg was warned by 
Jerome Eisenberg… that she should not offer this clay tablet for sale 
at TEFAF’ is absolutely untrue.  I did not see it on exhibit at her 
stand either before or after the vetting procedures..

Your comment “that Pierre Talon (whoever that might be) translated the 
tablet…” is quite disrespectful.  Should you have only taken the time 
to ‘Google’ his name you would find that he is a distinguished Belgian 
professor and scholar who has specialized for many years in cuneiform 
studies.

You write that ‘Ms Zilverberg has been asked for her comments twice, 
both Friday and yesterday. Most unfortunately she has refrained from 
answering.’  You may be assured that it was beneath her dignity to do 
so and she assumed that the press release issued by TEFAF was 
sufficient to quell the unfounded rumours and to correct the article in 
the newspaper (which was apparently contacted by her lawyer).

While we are all aware that many thousands of cuneiform tablets have 
been smuggled out of Iraq since the 1st Gulf War, you should be aware 
that tens of thousands were brought out legally before the Directorate 
of Antiquities published a regulation that any objects excavated after 
1936 and subsequently removed from Iraq without permission of the 
government are considered ‘stolen property’.  In my paper on “The 
Mesopotamian Antiquities Trade and the Looting of Iraq” presented 
before the American Bar Association on 15 April 2004 (and published in 
Minerva, July/August 2004, pp. 33-35) I pointed out that in the United 
States alone, between about 1915 to the mid-1930s, over 10,000 tablets 
(and perhaps considerably more) were shipped to this country for sale 
by a professional archaeologist, who also sold them in Europe, 
especially in England.  It is almost impossible to determine whether 
any of the minor tablets in the market fit into this category as 
records and photographs were rarely kept by dealers and collectors of 
these inexpensive items, except in a few cases.  But as you well know, 
all ethical dealers are very careful about the provenance of 
antiquities from Iraq, and Ms. Zilverberg is certainly one of these 
dealers…and I am proud to be her colleague.

Your comment that ‘One must not forget that most money made with the 
illicit trade in antiquities ends up in the hands of terrorists eager 
to buy weapons’ is a statement bandied about by irresponsible 
journalists and even some archaeologists without one iota of proof.  
The same wild accusation can be made about any smuggled object from the 
Near East.

Your website serves a valuable purpose and this type of editorializing 
without proper investigation and based primarily upon a single 
newspaper article certainly does not add to its luster.  I do think 
that an apology to Ms. Zilberberg would be in order.

Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Minerva, the International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology
www.minervamagazine.com



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