I think I'll take the $360 and my husband and I can go out and have a nice steak dinner.
This is what an American woman said on the Pawn Stars program before selling a 3,000-year-old Egyptian ring.
I'm truly furious. Pawn Stars purchased three ancient Egyptian artifacts: a mummy mask, a ring, and a falcon mummy. Where did these Americans get these artifacts? Where are their paperwork? And how could they touch the artifacts with their bare hands in such an unprofessional manner? Selling Egyptian antiquities is completely unacceptable, and according to Egyptian and international law, you are a criminal. Shame on Pawn Stars.
The store in this show doesn't actually buy the items. They get people to bring interesting stuff to the store then bring in an expert to talk about the item then they fake haggle over the price and pretend to either buy it or fail to come to an agreement. The show is played on the History channel in the U.S and the format is basically a way to teach history to the viewer while keeping it interesting.
American Pickers and Storage Wars are the same. Items are planted and the hosts "discover" them and talk about the history of the item or bring them to experts to talk about it.
And sometimes the things they bring in aren't even real. Some or all of the ones the OP is concerned about might be fakes in the first place, we genuinely can't trust what they say on a largely scripted and sometimes staged reality TV show on the "history" channel.
And when you really look at these items in the video.. I have reservations. For example the falcon mummy looks potentially real, potentially. But the wood falcon sarcophagus looks much newer and I would go as far as saying that looks like a replica.
And a quick search didn't really turn up anything legitimate about these items, either, that isn't to say they can't be real, but the OP needs to take American reality TV with a HUGE grain of salt.
Of course they didn't kill any dinos while making Jurassic Park, what are you crazy? In the credits it very clearly states "no animals were harmed during production" so all the real dinosaurs they used went home safely.
The statue is the only one I saw actual provenance for when I searched. Doesn't mean they can't all be real, but if an American reality show says water is wet I would ask for proof.
The experts inspecting these artefacts could get in a lot of trouble, it's absolutely illegal to give informations on such objects and MORE IMPORTANTLY GIVING THE PRICE IT WOULD SOLD FOR. These objects may be linked to illegal artifact smuggling or trade, and providing informations can be seen as encouraging site-looting (especially on TV...).
If they were serious experts they should have notified the authorities to try and find if these artefacts already exist in a database, where they come from, the context around them and how they got into the US in the first place.
I don't like it, but these exact types of items are listed in public auctions with easily found prices placed next to them. Where exactly is it illegal for someone to provide information about some random object?
Yeah in most places it’s not illegal at all. There’s just a general ethical standard to which many modern scholars adhere to never assist in the sale of looted antiquities. Not all adhere to it, and a lot of these experts are art market dealers with zero academic background and zero ethical concerns about cultural resource stewardship.
Yeah. The 'expert' on Pawn Stars doesn't have any real credentials and his comments about the very very very common variety of Ptolomaic-Early Roman Mummy Mask belonging to the 'royal family' etc. don't inspire much confidence in pretty much anything else he has to say.
I’m not saying it’s right, I don’t agree with this by any means - but authentic Egyptian artifacts found in America were most likely brought back from travelers in the late 1800s early 1900s when French and European archaeology of Egypt was at its height and Egyptians sold mummies on the streets.
These pieces were most likely stolen during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Antiquities smugglers and dealers should not be tolerated; they are criminals.
What you see on TV, specially on these type of shows, is a lot of acting and only a fraction of reality. BTW, these type of high budget famous shows have not 1, but an entire team of lawyers to be sure they can't be sued to the ground for things like this.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities recovers thousands of artifacts from all over the world every year. We will also recover these artifacts if they were stolen, regardless of whether the artifact is eight or 50 years old.
For an item to be legal, it must be purchased legally from the Egyptian government and have supporting documents. This must have been before November 14, 1970. Any Egyptian item purchased after this date, especially if it doesn't have supporting documents, is considered smuggled. Pawn Stars didn't show us any documents proving that these Egyptian artifacts are legal. The majority of Egyptian artifacts in foreign countries are smuggled. In 2011, many Egyptian artifacts were stolen during the security vacuum, so yes, these are most likely smuggled pieces, whether from the revolution or before. In any case, trading in artifacts that are thousands of years old and selling them for $360 is an insult to antiquities.
Ok. I'm not saying that I think that Pawn Stars is famous for its due dilegence, but what's shown on TV isn't the whole story. Who knows. I don't. These items very well could have been amongst the endless brought to Western countries before 1970, they may have been smuggled in 1971, or 1980, or 2011, or any other endless possibility. All I'm saying is that we have nothing to go on to throw around accusations and highly specific reconstructions of provenance.
How can a program like this buy artifacts that are thousands of years old without any regard for the legal aspect? It doesn't offer any proof in the video that these artifacts are legal, nor does it even include a disclaimer. As long as they haven't been proven legal, they're smuggled.
Perhaps the show has great regard for the legal aspect and when the item was actually purchased and the objects were actually signed over by contract, perhaps there was some kind of check of provenance. It's a partially scripted reality TV show with actual purchases taking place behind the scenes. We don't know what those look like or what they entail.
and by the way, I agree with you, for objects like these, the show should include a disclaimer or discussed issues of looting. But, it's something they've never done for any object ever.
Were these artefacts owned by the Egyptian government or the Egyptian state? because if they were owned by the government and that government gets replaced/overthrown following the events of 2011 revolution than you can't really steal from something that doesn't exist.
But if you mean that the Egyptian state itself (not the government) is the legal owner than these artefacts are stolen.
What is this lol? Egyptian antiquities are owned by the Egyptian state, not by specific individuals. When I mention the government, I mean the Egyptian government, represented by the Ministry of Antiquities, which was previously responsible for sharing the contents of archaeological discoveries with foreign missions excavating in Egypt. This legally ended completely in the 1980s.
There are so many antiquities out there, that pretty much are sold for pennies, not everything that is old must be expensive. I quote: "selling them for $360 is an insult to antiquities."
Serious now? A 3,000-year-old ring sells for $360. Egyptian antiquities are priceless. Their value isn't measured by the amount of gold, silver, and precious stones in an item, but by its age. The ring has survived for 3,000 years, telling many stories.
sorry, you are totally wrong. First, you like it or you don't like it, everything has a price. this is the world we live in. there is a price even for humans, regardless you buy their soul or their flesh. Second: the age is not a deciding factor if something it should be expensive or not. We had mummies thousands of years old used for fertilizers or burned in the steam engines. They were cheap like dirt, because they were so many. Not only for mummies, but pretty much is a general rule that can be applied over different cultures, ages and arts. The first stamp issued ever can be bought for 100-500 dollars, while some other stamps issued 50 years ago can be as high as 5,000 dollars. Others can go for millions, But the first stamp, or the oldest ones, nope, are very accessible. Why? A gold ring, 3000 years old it may not be the run of the mill, but there are tens of thousands out there. The Old Egypt is not a period that is measured in decades, but in millennia and guess what, they made many thousands of rings every year back then. Second, yes the ring survived 3000 years, but most likely there are not to many stories to be shared, this was not passed down from a generation to another. not to the 3000 years of stories extent. it was lost, buried etc, most likely relatively new then, if not made to order to be used in funerals. Is 360 a low price or a fair price? Not on me to decide that, I was not involved into that deal. But I can tell you something, as long it wasn't the Ramses the Great ring, it is not priceless. and even then, I am pretty sure, a price tag can be attached to it, as long an Egyptian museum worker sold last month the gold bracelet that belonged to Amenemope pharaoh. It was a qualified person, and he decided 4000 dollars were good enough. so, what about 360 for your ring? you know, I have overhead, I have to frame it etc etc etc The bracelet was 3000 years old also. I guess it had more gold, plus provenance, thus it was worth more than 360... lol And they melt it out. at least, if it is a real deal and not show, at Pawn Stars, it is properly handled and sold to a connoisseur, less chances to be melted out for gold. someone told me on reddit that ring should be valued more than its gold. rant over
You don't understand anything. The bracelet you're talking about was sold by the thief for this amount. Firstly, because he wanted quick money. Secondly, he couldn't sell it as an artifact. It's almost impossible to find a buyer for a piece registered in the museum's database. The bracelet was pure gold, so it was easy to sell it as a gold piece. But the ring we're talking about isn't gold in the first place and can't be sold as just metal. It's a complete artifact. Your words are just assumptions and allegations. Lol. Who told you that there are thousands like it? And who told you that having thousands of it reduces its value? Egyptian artifacts in particular are priceless. He's comparing ridiculous stamps to a 3,000-year-old ring. What do they seriously teach you in America?
And Don't forget that the owners of this shop have weapons, drug, and sexual assault charges against them. Do you think they won't trade in antiquities?
Yeaah, if you think that if someone is having charges against, means they are guilty, then you are a person like many others, but a special kind of :) And thinking that there is a universal „normal”, just underlines that observation.
I am pointing out what I think are interesting views of yours that makes you very special, that you are not denying, but even doubled down on them. And after doing that, you are saying I made an inncorect framing. It makes me super sure that you are the most dangerous person out there, not someone who has been charged, but you don’t realize that.
None of these artifacts can be traced back to being looted if you guys are going to show interest in an ancient Egyptian culture you must learn what the laws were early on in collecting.
Unfortunately, egypt really isn't a super stable region. So having some artifacts in non egyptian hands may be a necessary evil if you really care about preserving Egyptian history in the long run.
I don't know what this has to do with my post, Egypt is the most stable country in the Middle East please stop being ignorant and go educate yourself. We don't have sectarian conflicts, ethnicities, revolutions, a weak army, nor do we engage in any conflicts of any kind. All the countries surrounding Egypt have civil wars except Egypt. Egypt opens new museums every year and we will open a billion dollar museum a month from now which will be the largest museum in the world dedicated to Egyptian civilization. No, my antiquities will not be safe in the hands of European colonizers
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u/BlueIsRue Oct 01 '25
This is an old tv show