The past cannot be undone: The schemes behind historical artifact smuggling!

STONE IS HEAVY IN ITS PLACE - 136. LET US NOT FORGET, LET US NOT LET BE FORGOTTEN

German Imperialism, which stole the Pergamon Altar and took it to Berlin with dubious permits, did not keep its word even though it committed to making and providing copies of the artifacts 140 years ago.

What schemes they concocted to take Pergamon and other Anatolian artifacts abroad!

Historical artifact smuggling stories are flawed no matter how you look at them!

It is reported that museum studies regarding historical artifacts in the Ottoman Empire began in the years 1846-47.

The first official museum in the capital, Istanbul, is accepted to be the Müze-i Hümayun (Imperial Museum), which opened in 1869 during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz.

In the same year, the Ottoman Empire issued its first Asar-ı Atika Nizamnamesi (Regulation on Antiquities), strictly prohibiting the removal of historical artifacts from the country.

The first two directorships of this museum, which was affiliated with the Ottoman Ministry of Education, were held for a short time by the Englishman Edward Goold and the Italian Pio Francesco Carlo Terenzio.

Immediately afterward, in 1872, the German Philipp Anton Dethier was appointed as the Ottoman Museum Director.

Could this appointment have been a demand of German Imperialism, which had its way in every field in the Ottoman Empire, to create a cover for the artifacts that had been and would be stolen?

Although P.A. Dethier, who was brought to the head of the Ottoman Museums, engaged in positive work such as establishing a modern museum in Istanbul and providing training in this direction, it is clear that the Pergamon Altar and some of its sculptures were taken abroad while he was in office.

The absurd 2nd Asar-ı Atika Nizamnamesi (Regulation) issued in 1874 is his work.

This law, which was forced upon the Ottoman State by the German State—specifically through pressure exerted by German Prince Frederick III—to legitimize the smuggling of Pergamon artifacts by German engineer Carl Humann and his gang and to pave the way for those to be taken after this date, is completely irrational.

According to this law, 1/3 of the artifacts found in excavations were to be given to the excavator (the Germans), 1/3 to the landowner, and 1/3 to the Ottoman State.

How could a statue unearthed from the ground be divided into three?

Sultan Abdülaziz and patriotic Ottoman officials did not implement this ridiculous law, which they were forced into by the pressure of the supposedly allied German State and which was issued by the hand of Museum Director P.A. Dethier.

It seems the German State was determined to strip Pergamon bare.

Abdülaziz, an interesting administrator who appeared to have very conservative values but possessed innovative initiatives toward modernization and who prevented the removal of historical artifacts from the country, was deposed and murdered in a conspiracy in 1876.

Abdülaziz was the last sultan to be murdered.

When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War and the Russian Army reached the gates of Istanbul, coming as far as Yeşilköy/Ayastafanos, the absurd 1874 law began to be implemented under German pressure in the environment of the agreement made in Berlin through the mediation of the German State.

The way was paved for the remainder of those not previously smuggled to be taken to Germany with dubious permits.

When the German P.A. Dethier died in 1881, Osman Hamdi Bey was appointed as the director of the Müze-i Hümayun. Osman Hamdi Bey, who was also a good painter, found a great mess before him when he took office.

With the 3rd Asar-ı Atika Nizamnamesi (Regulation) prepared by a committee including Osman Hamdi Bey in 1884, the Ottoman Empire prohibited the removal of historical artifacts from the country.

However, even in this environment, the Germans conducted excavations in Pergamon and other parts of the country with dubious permits and by turning a blind eye.

They took historical artifacts unearthed from archaeological sites such as Gaziantep Zincirli Höyük and Magnesia ad Maeandrum in Aydın-Germencik to Germany by the hand of Carl Humann.

Regarding the Pergamon artifacts, Osman Hamdi Bey reported to the Ottoman Ministry of Education on October 18, 1886; "After taking charge of the Müze-i Hümayun, only the pieces related to the artifacts they had already taken were given to the Germans, and the others were acquired by the Müze-i Hümayun."

For this, it was made a condition that they provide plaster copies (moulages) of the pieces belonging to the Zeus Altar to the Ottomans.

These developments, which resemble a crime movie, were accompanied not only by smuggling, theft, and suspicion but also by lying and failure to comply with the so-called agreement made.

German Imperialism did not stop at stealing, embezzling, and seizing the Pergamon artifacts through dubious means; it was too lazy to even produce and provide the copies.

Such ingratitude has never been seen.

The human value of someone known as a friend misleading, deceiving, and attempting to use their friend for their own interests is very low.

It is immoral!

Removing a huge piece of a city from its country, without informing its true owner of what they mean and how important they are for human history, is unacceptable regardless of the justification.

THE ZEUS ALTAR AND PERGAMON SCULPTURES DO NOT BELONG IN COLD AND FOGGY BERLIN, BUT TO BEAUTIFUL PERGAMON. THEY MUST DEFINITELY COME BACK, THEY MUST RETURN HOME!

(Source: Ali Sönmez, Yitik Miras Zeus Sunağı, pp. 216-221//Yaşar Yılmaz, Anadolu’nun Gözyaşları// https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/belgi/issue/60128/812826// Image: In the Berlin Museum/Prison: Zeus Altar Telephos Friezes, Telephos and baby Orestes, Panel-42,Antikensammlung T.I.71 and 7)