Great pressure is constantly being brought to bear by European archaeologists
through the representatives of their respective Governments here to obtain
privileges for explorations and excavations in various parts of the Ottoman
Empire, including the districts designated by the memorialists.
Though I have made careful inquiry, I have not learned of any persons or
societies succeeding in obtaining any other or further privileges
[Page 1585]
since the passage of the law now
in force than those that are provided for under that law.
I herewith inclose for the information of the Department a translation of the
law in question and the law. I forward this law in
extenso, so that persons and societies in America interested in the
subject may be fully advised, and may feel no disappointment should they not
succeed in securing any better terms than are therein provided for.
It will be observed that article 3 provides that all objects discovered in
the Ottoman territory are the property of the Government. I desire in this
connection to recur to the substance of a statement contained in my former
dispatch, No. 56, that any arrangement that could be made, such as
permitting the excavators to take duplicates, would depend largely, if not
entirely, upon the result of personal negotiations with Hamdy Bey, the
director of the imperial museum.
Under the circumstances above set forth, in view of the Porte having
heretofore declined to grant other privileges than those provided for under
the law, it will be difficult for the Porte, as I have been informed by the
Grand Vizier, without giving offense to others, to make an exception in
behalf of the petitioners.
The natural obstacles in the way conflict with the advisability of applying
for two firmans in view of the several interests referred to in your
instructions.
In order not to lose time I have brought the subject before his highness the
Grand Vizier, and have fully, on several occasions discussed the matter with
him. He has promised me his support, with a view of laying the matter before
His Majesty, with the hope of obtaining his iradeh, under which a portion,
or possibly one-half, of the objects discovered shall belong to the
excavators. I have to-day, at his suggestion, addressed a personal note to
him (the Grand Vizier) upon the subject. The matter shall have my most
careful attention. I deem it of the utmost advisability that the conflicting
interests work together and co-operate in one body, so that the firman,
should it be obtainable, can be issued to that body for the benefit of all
concerned.
It will be my endeavor to obtain the most favorable concession possible, and
in a form as practicable as possible.
[Inclosure in No.
78.—Translation.]
Law on archœological excavations.
Article 1. The remains left by the ancient
populations of the states forming at present the dominions of the
Ottoman Empire—that is to say, the gold and silver and other ancient
coins, and the inscriptions conveying reference to history, and statues
and sepultures and ornamental objects in clay, stone, and other
materials, utensils, arms, tools, statuettes, ring-stones, temples,
palaces, circuses, theaters, fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, bodies
and objects in tombs, burying mounds, mausoleums, and columns—are
regarded as antiquities.
Art. 2. In general, the right of ownership of
all the antiquities is regulated by the present law.
Art. 3. All the antiquities discovered in the
Ottoman territory, he it on the surface, under ground or exhumed, picked
up in the sea, the lakes, the rivers, the streams, or the valleys, are
the property of the Government.
Art. 4. The monuments of antiquity which happen
to be in the property or houses of private persons, either loose or
built in the walls, can not be moved by the proprietors of the property;
and for the keeping of those antiquities in their original place the
Government has inaugurated the following measures.
[Page 1586]
Art. 5. It is forbidden to destroy the
antiquities which may be discovered in one’s land, like buildings,
roads, walls of castles and fortresses, baths, tombs, and other things;
and in order not to occasion any damage to antiquities they will refrain
from establishing any lime-kiln at a distance less than half a kilometer
from the spot where the antiquities are to be found; or from the
erection of any kind of building and works which would be injurious; or
to remove the stones of tumbled-down ancient monuments; from measuring
or taking moulds, or of placing ladders on them for any purpose
whatsoever; from appropriating or restoring old buildings and making use
of them in part or in all, or to use them for deposits of grain, straw,
or hay, or to use them as tanks, or for cattle, or turn them into
fountains, or to use them for other purposes.
Art. 6. The places on which’ the Government has
decided to make excavations may be bought from their owners, if they are
in the hands of private persons or societies; if they refuse to sell,
the regulation on expropriation for public uses shall be applied in
order to buy that property.
Art. 7. No one is allowed to make excavations
to extract or appropriate antiquities in the Ottoman dominions without
having previously obtained the official permit in accordance with the
present regulation.
Art. 8. The exportation of antiquities found
within Ottoman territory is absolutely forbidden.
Art. 9. The permit for the excavation and
exhumation of antiquities may be granted to private persons or to any
scientific society. The terms of that permit must be in accordance with
the conditions of the present regulation.
Art. 10. As to the searches and excavations of
antiquities, after the opinion of the administration of the imperial
museum and the conclusions of the council of public instruction have
been obtained, and after the ministry of public instruction has
submitted the case to the Sublime Porte, the final permit will be
granted in accordance with the terms contained in the third chapter of
the present regulation.
Art. 11. A duplicate list describing the
quantity and the quality of the objects excavated must be made on the
printed blanks to be furnished by the ministry of public instruction,
which must be signed and certified; then one of the copies will remain
with the excavator and the other with the board of public instruction;
where such boards do not exist they will be recorded in the books kept
for the purpose by the local authorities and sent to the ministry of
public instruction.
Art. 12. The antiquities excavated with an
official permit belong to the imperial museum, and the excavators have
only the right to take drawings or moulds.
Art. 13. The antiquities discovered without
permit are confiscated, and if the excavator has already disposed of
them he will pay their value.
Art. 14. The antiquities which may be
discovered by accident in digging the foundations of a building, or of a
wall, or of a sewer, shall be divided in equal parts between the owner
of the property and the Government, and then at the division of those
antiquities, as the Government has the choice of taking such as it
thinks proper on paying their value, it may get from the land-owner out
of those which have fallen to his share such a portion as it wants.
Art. 15. Those who desire to undertake
excavations of antiquities shall prepare a topographical plan showing
the boundaries of the spot to be excavated, and present it at
Constantinople to the ministry of public instruction, and if they are in
the provinces, to the governors-general with their written request, and
the governors-general will forward it, together with their report of
their investigation of the subject, to the ministry of public
instruction.
Art. 16. The delivery of the permit of
excavation appertains to the ministry of public instruction after
agreement with the direction of the imperial museum, but unless the
necessary investigations are made, and, according to article 10, the
consent of the Sublime Porte is obtained, this permit can not be
given.
Art. 17. The permit for excavating antiquities
can only be granted under the following conditions:
- (1)
- After having ascertained that it will cause no obstruction to
the forts, fortifications, public buildings, nor interfere with
public utility.
- (2)
- If the excavations are to take place in the landed property of
a private person, to satisfy the owner.
- (3)
- The pecuniary security which will be agreed upon by the
director of the imperial museum must be actually
deposited.
After the fulfillment of these conditions the ministry of public
instruction, after having conformed to the prescriptions of the
preceding article, delivers the permit. But no permit can be granted for
more than two years.
And if, before beginning the excavations, or even after having begun
them, for some reason the period of the permit is allowed to pass and
the explorer wants to continue his researches, if there is no objection,
the ministry of public instruction, after an agreement with the director
of the museum, may grant a permit for an additional period, not longer
than one year.
[Page 1587]
Art. 18. The ministry of public instruction
will collect on the permits of excavation on account of the museum—
|
Piasters. |
| On a permit from one day to six months |
5 |
| On a permit from six months to one year |
10 |
| On a permit from one year to two year |
20 |
Art. 19. If, after having obtained the permit,
the excavations are not commenced within the period of three months from
its date, or after having commenced them they should he discontinued for
two months, the permit will be annulled; and if the explorer wants to
renew it, the ministry of public instruction, with the director of the
museum, may continue or not the old permit, or cancel it and furnish a
new one in its place.
Art. 20. The permit for excavations shall not
embrace a larger area than 10 square kilometers. If after the
commencement of the excavations an objection is found on the part of the
Government, on the order of the ministry of public instruction, the
works shall be temporarily stopped; and the time of stoppage shall not
be accounted for in the period of the permit, and the explorers will
have no claim for expenses or damages on account of that stoppage.
Art. 21. At the places where excavations are to
be made the Government will keep an able and capable official; and the
traveling expenses and the salary of this official, after having been
fixed by the authorities, will be collected from the excavators in full
and paid to him monthly by the treasurer of the public instruction.
If the excavations are finished before the expiration of the permit, and
the researches abandoned, the surplus of the money paid for the salary
of the official shall be returned to the excavator.
Art. 22. No permit of excavation shall be
granted to officials of the Ottoman or of a foreign Government for
excavations to be made within the district of their official post.
Art. 23. The transfer, by the recipient, of a
permit of excavation is forbidden.
Art. 24. A person can not have permits for
excavations in more than one place.
Art. 25. Those who, by accident, discover
antiquities are bound, if at Constantinople, to inform the ministry of
public instruction within five days; and if in the provinces, to inform
the local authorities within ten days.
Art. 26. At the expiration of the permit, or at
the termination of the excavations, when the excavator gives notice of
it, if it is found that he has fulfilled all the conditions of the
regulations, the money he had deposited as security will be returned to
him in accordance with the receipt.
Art. 27. The amount produced by seizures of
antiquities, or, on condemnation, from sales at public auction, in
accordance with the rule, by an official auctioneer, and the money
accruing from divisions with the owners of antiquities, and also fines,
and fees of permits, and the product of confiscations, shall belong to
the treasury of the museum.
Art. 28. The importation from abroad of any
kind of antiquities is free and exempt from customs dues; and any kind
of antiquities which are to be transported from one district to another
within the Ottoman dominions are exempt from internal duties.
Art. 29. Permission for the re-exportation of
antiquities introduced from abroad into the Ottoman dominions, and for
the transportation from one district of the Empire to another of
antiquities found within the Empire, can be obtained by means of drawing
up a list of said antiquities by the owner and shipper, and transmitting
it to the director of the museum through the ministry of public
instruction; and in the provinces, to the boards or commissions of
public instruction; and in localities where there are no such boards or
commissions, to the local authorities. The owner of antiquities
introduced into the Empire from abroad is bound, within eight days, to
transmit a list of them, as before stated, to the administration of the
museum through the ministry of public instruction; and in the provinces,
to the board or commission of public instruction; and if there is no
such board or commission, to the local authorities.
Art. 30. In any case the re-exportation of
antiquities imported from abroad, and the transportation from one
district of the Empire to another of antiquities found within the
Empire, is necessarily subject to an official authorization, which can
be procured from the ministry of public instruction with the agreement
of the director of the museum.
Art. 31. The antiquities exported without the
special permit of the ministry of public instruction shall, if captured,
be seized or confiscated in the name of the museum.
Art. 32. The granting of the official
permission to export antiquities into foreign countries, though reserved
to the ministry of public instruction with the consent of the director
of the museum, is subject to the following conditions:
- (1)
- The museum should possess already a duplicate of the
kind.
- (2)
- That it should be established that the said antiquities have
been imported from a foreign country.
Art. 33. Those who appropriate antiquities
found on the ground or exhumed on private or government property, will
be liable, in accordance with article 138 of the penal code, to damages
and a fine, and to imprisonment from one month to one year.
Art. 34. If those who have accidentally
discovered some antiquities do not give notice of it, they, after being
deprived of the share to which they had a right, are punished with a
fine equal to one-fourth of the value of their discovery, and if those
antiquities are out of reach, besides the fine they will have to pay
their total value.
Art. 35. Those who, in transporting from one
district to another antiquities found within the empire, violate article
32, will be subjected to a fine from 1 to 5 Turkish pounds.
Art. 36. The lawsuits which may originate out
of these regulations shall be heard in the ordinary courts of law.
Art. 37. The ministry of public instruction is
charged with the enforcement of the present regulations.
The 23 of Rebbi-ul-Akbir 1301 and 9th of
February, 1299 (i. e., February 21. 1884,
A. D.).
