mysterious artifact

The Mysterious Artifact of Nebkheperura
© Copyright 2012 M7C, All rights reserved.

This artifact (see picture) has the royal name of Nebkheperura on it flanked by solar-crowned animals in mummiform. Nearly everyone I shown the artifact to (on facebook.com) said it was “fake” or “forged in modern times,” because of its crude rendering. I had purchased it from Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art, Inc., in NY, USA. In 2009 people conducted a campaign of Libel against this company, but not before 2008 do any allegations of fraud appear online. In 2009 Dr. Zahi Hawass, then President of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt (under Pres. Mubarak), demanded “the return of all Egyptian monuments and illegally smuggled artifacts back to Egypt.” The 2009 Libel campaign also targeted books of Egyptian History and Culture on Amazon.com, including books I authored and one of my College History Professors (my books were not sold then, so the libel was false and based on my description of the book only).

When I purchased the artifact, there were violent storms in NY which “followed it here” causing a storm until the day I opened the package. Whenever I examine the artifact (removed from its storage box) there are weather anomalies; today it is overcast (cloudy). The silver trumpet of Nebkheperura in the Cairo Museum “causes battles or wars to commence when blown into,” as discovered by Museum Staff once in 1967, 1991 and in January 2011. I cleaned the artifact with ordinary water (it is made of “brown limestone”) to see if any paint was there; nothing resulted. The reverse side has tiny cracks in it. The Cartouche (oval for name) has a “crude looking scarab” that was created by a low quality craftsman. SG sells “low end/quality artifacts” mostly, as they admitted to in their catalogs. I emailed them on January 2, 2012 to ask about the origin of their artifacts, after facebook.com people (the Hatshepsut Project) claimed “Sadigh Gallery are notorious purveyors of fake artifacts.” Michael Sadigh himself telephoned me personally to state his artifacts “are real, and come from different collections, always changing hands so that the origins are unknown” (other than culture). The libelous claims against his company are recent and come from either internet trolls or competition, as some have links to “more respectable dealers of artifacts.” Not one lawsuit was filed against SG. Artifacts were refunded by people who believe this libelous claim movement. It is like returning lava rock to Hawaii because a Native Hawaiian claims it is “unlucky”, or that certain corporations are criminal so as to attack their stock value on the NYSE. Malicious people misuse the Internet to attack reputation and thus businesses. They are liars.

Human craftsmen in ancient times did not always create the best artifacts as found in Museums. Most Museums only admit the best quality items for display, as this brings in the most admirers; all others remain in private collections or on the market. Shoddy works may appear in low-end dealers, but that does Not mean said items are fakes. Most mummies found in Egypt were from commoners; and their items are not fit for the King of Egypt. I compared the “crude scarab” in the name to other pictures of books on Nebkheperura and found there are mostly different from each other, meaning, the scarabs in some renderings of his name are found on this piece. This piece was probably in someone else’s burial, as with someone using the name for “protection” as an amulet. There is a loop in the top for wearing as an amulet, and the edges are ridged like a modern coin.

© M7C 2012.