Quotes About Antiquities

You think looting is bad in Egypt, look at Peru, India, China. I've been told in China there are over a quarter-million archaeological sites, and most have been looted. This is a global problem of massive proportions, and we don't know the scale.

Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time.

We've found that patterns of site looting have increased between 500 and 1000 percent since the start of the Arab Spring. Now this is a problem as old as human beings. People were looting tombs 5,000 years ago in Egypt as soon as people were buried, but the problem is only getting worse and worse.

We could show them the most exquisite Ming vase, or a carved ivory screen from Persia, and they'd turn their backs and go straight for the human remains.

My favourite museum is the British Museum.

A library's ideal function is to be a little bit like a bouquiniste's stall, a place for trouvailles .

History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquities.

as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, 'Yes, wonderful things.

Knowing him, I thought his main feeling would have been gratification that the wing of Persian antiquities next door had escaped.

Collecting antiquities is to archeology as rape is to love.