Chasing the Golden Hoard: The Story of the Lydian Hoard

Grave robbery is arguably the world’s second oldest profession. A belief not only in an afterlife but also a belief that one’s second life could be filled with endless pleasures and luxuries saw the earliest of homo erectus filling the graves of their loved ones with artifacts, both utilitarian and opulent, which could be used or worn in the next world. As tribes of primitive man moved from one seasonal hunting ground to another, it was probably not long after any ritualistic burial that wild animals dug up the shallow graves in their constant search of food, thus exposing the grave site’s inedible but infinitely more valuable contents for other transient tribes of early man to discover later and claim as their own.. As tribal or group societies became larger, more organised and hierarchical, wealthier, more exalted, and subsequently “noble” classes of mankind began to emerge. It soon followed that in death the wealthy and noble classes should not only be provided with some forms of tangible wealth to comfort them during their life in the next world but the deceased should also be interred in a structure and manner truly befitting their position of power and wealth during their life on earth.

The conspicuous size of such structures as Hadrian’s tomb and the pyramids in Egypt became a virtual carte blanche invitation to grave robbers who had little regard for the sanctity of the soul, much less the body, of their recently deceased monarch. Being caught plundering a tomb or gravesite meant a slow tortuous death. To many the financial rewards, however, from grave robbery far outweighed the chances of capture and punishment.

Many antiquities have been discovered purely by accident, the discovery of many others assisted by nature and the elements. The story of a shepherd boy tossing rocks into nearby caves in the Israeli desert while searching for lost sheep in 1947 is well known, resulting in the discovery of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. Stories abound in Egypt and many other countries throughout the Mediterranean as well as Roman Britain, France, or Germany of animals or humans walking across what was perceived to be solid ground, only to have a leg or part of a plow crash through the weakened ceiling of a previously unknown grave site. Indeed, the spade of a plow, strong storms, shifting water currents, soil and sand erosion or even earthquakes have exposed many antiquities to an unsuspecting local farmer, casual passerby or beach comber. To the poor, not knowing where or how they would be able to feed and clothe their family, the act became an instant Godsend. To the less scrupulous, it was a chance at unimaginable riches.

Reacting to predatory looting, either sanctioned by local governments or not, which took place between the sixteenth through mid-twentieth century, nearly all countries affected have since instituted stiff laws which both declare any antique or ancient artifact discovered to automatically be property of the nation where it was found. Such laws also declare no artifact thus found can be sold or exported. While many statutes have been in effect for nearly five or six decades, the trade in illicit antiquities, seen by many as a victimless crime, has proceeded with its usual wink and a nod. Only within the past twenty years have countries like Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico and Peru seen public sentiment…and legal pressure…shift, albeit ever so slowly, in their favour.

As the head of his family in Turkey, Yilmaz Uzuner was the first to speak. “Now, if we have discovered a tomb and if it is one of the ten percent of tombs which were never plundered, we shall have to decide what to do with the contents, if any. For obvious reasons, anything we find will have to be taken out of the country…and I mean taken out illegally…and sold somewhere, most probably in Europe, to a third party dealer in Near Eastern antiquities. We can have no direct contact with any museum ourselves. No museum could display the pieces without first having to falsify their place of origin. I have heard some museums in the West, especially in the USA, are willing to do that but getting the pieces we discover into the USA, passed American customs, is highly improbable. Even then, if we were successful someone will almost certainly begin to ask serious questions. To be honest, our best hope would be to find a third party seller who has connexions with wealthy individuals wanting the artifacts in order to enhance their own private collection. Many of these collectors could care less how and where the antiquities have been found. Unfortunately, the less they are seen in public, the better. Until we determine exactly what we have sitting up on the hillside and have a chance to explore it, we can only speculate about our monetary gain. Seventy years ago, when my father was alive and before all these antiquities laws were passed, the discovery would have belonged to him, clear and simple. Now the laws of the Republic have made our daily lives so complicated."

Uzuner’s wife, who sat patiently listening with her arms folded in her lap, leaned forward on the table and replied, “Yes, it is a shame we have to bow to Ankara and give them what is naturally ours. Unfortunately, a law, even if it is bad or unfair, is still a law. I also do not want the peace and quiet of our farm to be destroyed by people digging everywhere and by reporters and photographers endlessly roaming our property. If anything is discovered, the minute the news of the discovery is released our farm will be crawling with thieves and robbers who wish to enrich themselves at our expense. These people have even less regard for life and no respect for the law. I fear for what would happen to our family and our farm if we tried to hide news of the discovery or, even worse, if we tried to sell any treasures we find. Eventually the police will find out what we have done. Our family is happy now and God smiles upon us. Cover it up and forget it is there. Let someone else discover it three hundred years from now and let them deal with it then. For us, it can only bring misery.”