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Comment by damnitbuilds | Hacker News Reader

The British Museum saved many artifacts which would have been destroyed by various nutty religious types ( a' la Greens ) over the centuries.

In doing so, I doubt that they broke any export regulations.

And entrance to the British Museum is free, for everyone.

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Not taking any sides other than that of conservation, do you think it's possible that the Greens have already saved many artifacts from nutty religious types like ISIS, and that their efforts will continue to do so in the future?

No they did not. They are just encouraging and creating an illegal market. The US also lacked proper laws against the importation of antiquities. For all we know it could have come into the states on a military plane and ISIS would have nothing to do with it. No museum worth its salt, with professional curators and staff would have accepted such a "loot" and as a matter of fact also reputable auctioneers. In any case it is important to study artifacts in the context where they were found, stratigraphy, nearby archaeological sites etc.

I mean I’m not a conservator of ancient artifacts, but the pictures [0] of them dunking mummy masks in dish water to decompose them so they could check whether they were made with scrap bible papyrus… those did make my stomach turn a little. Felt a little closer to desecration that preservation.

[0] TFA links to https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/dead-men-tell-tales/148...

It makes me sick also. The Greens are nutcases. As for the mummy mask, what they did is criminal.

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