Glossary Collecting and the antiquities trade
Department of Antiquities (Cyprus)
The government body responsible for the archaeology, museums and ancient monuments of Cyprus, created by the Antiquities Law of 1935.
The Department took over the powers of the old Cyprus Museum Committee. It licenses excavations, runs the Cyprus Museum and the district museums, protects monuments and, until 1996, issued export licences and supervised licensed dealers. Its first Director was J. R. Hilton, followed in 1936 by A. H. S. Megaw; Vassos Karageorghis led it from 1963 to 1989.
For collectors and museums the Department is the reference point for lawful export. Its archive of licences, lead export tags and the Cyprus Museum Sales Register allows it to confirm whether an object left the island legally, as described in Collecting Cypriot Antiquities Today. Since 1974 it has had no presence in the occupied north.
Related terms
- Antiquities Law (Cyprus)
The Cypriot statute governing excavation, ownership, dealing and export of antiquities, first enacted in 1905 and recast in 1935.
- Export licence
An official permit allowing an antiquity to leave its country of origin; in Cyprus, issued by the Department of Antiquities from 1935.
- Lead export tag
A small lead seal wired to an antiquity by the Cypriot authorities to mark it as approved for lawful export.
- Licensed dealer
A trader authorised by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities to buy and sell antiquities, a lawful role from 1935 until dealing was banned in 1996.
Where it appears
- Looting in Occupied Northern Cyprus after 1974
- The Legal Export of Cypriot Antiquities
- Collecting Cypriot Antiquities Today: Law, Provenance and Due Diligence
- The Antiquities Trade and Cyprus
- Cyprus Before Humans: Dwarf Hippos, Dwarf Elephants and the First Visitors
- Fortifications in Ancient Cyprus: From Khirokitia to the Siege of Paphos