Last week saw the return of an ancient Egyptian statue by Canadian officials to Egypt’s ambassador to Canada. The statue itself was illegally obtained, as are tends of thousands of stolen antiquities that have yet to be returned. As part of an interview with CTV News, Shawn Graham, a professor of digital humanities in the History Department of Carleton University in Ottawa, helped found a group working to end trafficking of items from pottery to human remains and antiquities. He says the internet and the rise of social media websites like Facebook and Instagram have “super-charged” efforts to sell and obtain stolen items.
“Private Facebook groups are a major marketplace for these items,” he told CTV News. “Facebook brings together the people doing the looting and the people doing the selling. It essentially eliminates the middle man.”
As far as the future of the cat, it will be shipped to Egypt sometime in the near future and hopefully put on display on the country’s new Grand Egyptian Museum.
This excerpt was taken from the CTV News article “Canada repatriates stolen Egyptian cat artifact” by Annie Bergeron-Oliver. The full article can be assessed online.
Professor Shawn Graham also spoke about the illegal trade in antiquities and artifacts on The Late Showgram with Jim Richards. The full episode, “A man’s arm is killing him, the exciting world of antiquity smuggling and jimbits!” can be assessed online.