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A 95-year-old woman has come under fire after an Australian newspaper
dubbed her a "real-life tomb raider" and "Indiana Joan" for her
collection of ancient Middle Eastern artifacts.
Joan Howard of Perth, Australia, shared some of the highlights of her
collection with The West Australian, a local news outlet, which reported
the collection could be valued at AUD $1 million. Now, some
archaeologists and officials are asking the Australian government to
investigate how Howard obtained the rare objects and are demanding that
she return any that were taken from their countries of origin illegally.
Monica Hanna, an archeologist and founder of Egypt’s Heritage Taskforce,
started an online petition calling for an investigation by the
Australian government into the origins of Howard's artifacts. So far,
the petition has received nearly 500 signatures. Hanna also wrote an
open letter to Neil Hawkins, the Australian ambassador to Egypt, on
Facebook.
Hanna has called for an investigation into the artifacts, which include
coins, pottery, jewelry and other objects, according to the West
Australian.
"I passionately dislike how Indiana Jones is viewed as a hero, rather
than a tomb raider. I think in the 21st century, this stereotype of
pillaging cultures should disappear and be reprehended rather than
praised," Hanna told ABC News via email.
Lara Lamb, the president of the Australian Archaeological Association,
shared a letter she said she sent the West Australian on Twitter
acknowledging Howard's "great passion for collecting relics and
artifacts" while calling her collecting "highly unethical, both by past
and present standards."
"Rather than celebrating Mrs. Howard's activities, we should be
condemning such behavior," Lamb wrote. "Make no mistake, tomb raiding is
not archeology."
Howard has not publicly spoken about the criticisms leveled against her,
and a family member speaking on her behalf declined to comment to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Howard told the West Australian that she traveled through Syria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel while her husband was working as a
United Nations diplomat in the region five decades ago.
Of her time volunteering on archeological dig sites led by British and
American experts, Howard told the West Australian: "It was all good fun.
Dirty work, of course. But as it turned out, very, very rewarding.”
Howard "used her diplomatic freedom to search for antiquities before
laws changed and it became legally difficult to do so," the paper
reported.
In 1970, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a convention
prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and trade in
cultural artifacts. Many individual countries adopted their own laws
about the sale and export of antiquities before that. Keith Howard was
posted to his role in 1967, according to the West Australian. It is not
clear whether any of the artifacts in Joan Howard's collection were
obtained illegally.
"Collectors need to realize that their expensive hobby sometimes funds
terrorist acts and destroys archaeological sites," Hanna said, adding
that children are sometimes used to help extract antiquities and have
died in the process.
Shaaban Abdel Gawad, the director-general of the Retrieved Antiquities Department at Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Egypt's foreign ministry had contacted Australian authorities to open an investigation.
The Herald also reported that the country's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was looking into the matter.
Neither the Australian Government Department of Communications and the
Arts nor the Australian embassy in Cairo have responded to ABC News'
request for comment.
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