herdrich -the digital library of the middle east (dlme)
TRANSCRIPT
CULTURAL RACKETEERING
Cultural racketeering is the systematic looting and trafficking of art and antiquities by organized crime.
• Top five black market crime - a multi-billion dollar criminal industry. • Wide group of criminal participants• Terrorism funding • No reliable statistics exist on the extent of this crime.
The Antiquities Coalition
These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.
Cultural Racketeering: Damage and DestructionArchaeologist Surveys Looters’ Pits Across Landscape
These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.
Looter Pits in Abusir, EgyptMay 2011
Dura-Europos, Syria2012
These materials are property of The Antiquities Coalition and Can Not be Used Without Authorization.
Dura-Europos, Syria2014
Credit: Egypt’s Heritage Task Force
Cultural Racketeering: Damage and DestructionLooters’ use of heavy machinery destroyed ancient sites and the important historical material they contain
Daesh Fighters in Mosul
Mosul MuseumMosul, Iraq - March 2015