Thieves Vandalize Ancient Roman Fresco

[Viggen]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Souvenir-hunting thieves have stolen part of an ancient fresco from the Israeli archaeological site of Masada, Israeli officials said on Sunday.

 

The thieves removed a 15 cm (6 inch) square section of a fresco that decorated the ancient Roman headquarters at Masada, located on a barren mountain overlooking the Dead Sea, the National Parks Authority said in a statement. Masada was originally a palace built by the Jewish King Herod on a desert mountain whose sheer sides served as a natural fortress. After the Romans conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Temple in AD 70, Jewish fighters took refuge there.

 

But, as the Roman scribe Josephus recorded, they were besieged by the Roman Tenth Legion, who enlisted thousands of slaves to build a giant ramp to breach the walls. Realizing they could not hold out for much longer, most of the fighters committed suicide rather than be taken captive. Israeli archaeologists restored Masada in the 1960s and it is now one of the country's most popular tourist attractions.

 

The fresco had recently been the object of a further costly restoration, but the thieves -- who the National Parks Authority said were probably souvenir hunters rather than professionals -- may have chosen the wrong target. Local legend has it that "those who took even a stone from Masada lived to regret it."

[jugurtha]

Mmm, a very touchy subject this, knowing the region.

 

As soon as an economy drops (through war or other atrocities) people get very creative in finding money.

 

Souvenir hunters is a doubtful term I think. Archeologically interesting places tend to suffer from ancestral looting in times of peril. We've seen it in Peru, Afghanistan and Iraq (to mention only a few). Problem is the western world is ready to send out a word of interest when these things happen. A black market is created by western investors, local criminals/businessmen/diplomats spread the word and before you know it people who hadn't even bothered about their cultural inheritence let alone know about the location suddenly start looting the sites and sell out for some measely dinaries.

 

Very sad, but understandable from the poor man's point of view.

 

Don't blame the looters, blame the political agressors!