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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Beth.
Neil, what is
the oldest thing you have at home?
Ooh... well, I do have some books
from when I was a child.
I have a rocking horse that was
my dad's, so that is quite old.
But neither of these are anywhere near
as old as the 1,800-year-old Roman coin
which BBC reporter
Ryan Keane recently bought in London.
But soon afterwards, Ryan discovered
there was more to the story,
as he explains here on BBC World
Service programme Business Daily:
But as I researched into other kinds
of ancient artefacts I could acquire,
I came across reports of
expansive criminal networks
related to antiquities.
Some ancient artefacts
being sold online and in stores
have been looted and trafficked.
Ryan got interested in artefacts
from Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
An artefact is any object
made by humans, usually very old,
which is historically interesting –
for example, a coin or statue.
In the past, many artefacts have
been looted – or stolen by force.
Movies like Indiana Jones and Tomb
Raider have made the subject popular,
but the theft of ancient objects is
a serious problem
in some parts of the world.
So, what can be done about it?
That's what we'll be discussing
in this episode,
using some useful new words
and phrases.
And remember – you'll find
all the vocabulary from this episode
on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
Now, I have a question for you, Beth.
One of the most famous
ancient artefacts was discovered by
Egyptologist Howard Carter
in the Valley of the Kings in 1922,
but what was it?
Was it: a) the Rosetta Stone,
b) the Mask of Tutankhamun,
or c) the Ark of the Covenant?
Oh, I think
it's b) the Mask of Tutankhamun.
OK. Let's find out later
in the programme.
Stealing ancient objects
is nothing new.
During colonial times,
it was common for artefacts
to be taken from their original home
and moved to museums
and private collections abroad.
In the modern era,
technology, especially social media,
has increased the problem.
Here's Amr Al-Azm, a researcher from
Shawnee State University in the US,
explaining more
to BBC's Business Daily:
Social media is
the game changer here.
The bottleneck,
if you will, was how does
someone who has an item
then communicate with
someone on the demand side?
It used to slow the process – you had
to go through intermediaries.
Social media changes all that
because it just opens it up.
Amr calls social media
a game changer – something new
that is introduced into a situation
and completely changes how it works.
For example, the internet has been
a game changer in how we communicate.
The reason is simple.
For someone with
illegally stolen artefacts to sell,
finding a buyer used to be difficult.
Amr thinks that now,
because of social media,
this problem, or bottleneck, is gone.
A bottleneck is a problem that delays
a process or stops it from progressing.
So, what can be done to stop the illegal
buying and selling of ancient artefacts?
Well, as the final destination
for much looted treasure,
museums have
an important role to play.
Accusations of knowingly
or unknowingly buying stolen objects
have been made against several museums,
including the Louvre in Paris.
Victoria Reed is senior curator
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
In 2024, she helped
her museum return an ancient necklace
which had been taken illegally
from Turkey in the 1970s.
But the idea of returning artefacts
to their country of origin,
something known as repatriation,
is controversial,
as Victoria told
BBC programme Business Daily:
Outside of the museum world,
of course, there are many opinions,
and I personally try to maintain a
relatively middle-of-the-road approach.
I believe in museums,
I believe in responsible collecting
and I believe
in judicious repatriation decisions.
There are arguments both for
and against repatriating artefacts,
and Victoria takes
a middle-of-the-road approach.
If you describe something
as middle-of-the-road,
you mean it's not extreme
and is acceptable to most people.
Whether ancient artefacts find their
way back to their original homes
or are displayed in museums
remains an ongoing debate,
but either way, it's good to know
that objects of culture
and beauty are being preserved
for future generations.
OK. I think it's time
to reveal the answer to my question.
I asked what the Egyptologist
Howard Carter discovered
in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.
Was it: a) the Rosetta Stone,
b) the Mask of Tutankhamun,
or c) the Ark of the Covenant?
And I said, The Mask of Tutankhamun.
And you, Beth... were right.
Yes!
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've
learned, starting with artefact –
any object made by humans which is
of historical interest.
If something is looted,
it's stolen by force.
A game changer is
a new element which,
when introduced into a situation,
completely changes it.
A bottleneck is a problem that delays
a process or stops it from progressing.
To repatriate something means to
return it to the country it came from.
And finally, the adjective
middle-of-the-road
describes things which are not extreme
and are acceptable to most people.
Once again, our six minutes are up.
If you enjoyed this programme,
why not check out
the accompanying worksheets and quiz?
They're both available now
at bbclearningenglish.com.
See you there soon and goodbye.
Goodbye!
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