Du pillage à la conscience patrimoniale en Grèce et dans l’Empire ottoman

How was the transition made between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries from the relentless looting of antiquities, mainly by Western countries, to the emergence of a heritage consciousness in Greece and the Ottoman Empire? Strange as it may seem, these aspects are two sides of the same coin that need to be studied in parallel to grasp the full scope of the phenomenon. Bringing together contributions from specialists from several countries – France, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the United States – this volume traces some of the key elements of the period from the rediscovery of Olympia in the eighteenth century to Greece’s donation of antiquities to the University of Paris in 1919. This is a period of about 150 years, during which there was a slow shift in the way the local population and the Western world viewed the ancient heritage of Greece and the Ottoman Empire. The initial inertia of the Ottoman authorities allowed and encouraged several centuries of spoliations by Europeans, whose aim – unofficial or official – was to enrich public or private collections. The new Greek state tried, from its foundation in 1830, to put an end to the plunder of antiquities, while the Ottoman Empire was slower to grasp the importance of protecting its ancient heritage. Despite the adoption by both countries of laws regulating or prohibiting the export of antiquities, the great European powers continued throughout the nineteenth century to acquire ancient monuments from both sides of the Aegean, without regard for local legislation and under the pretext of scientific research. The volume also shows how Westerners – and in particular the French – contributed by their acquisitions or by their reactions to looting by other Westerners, to awaken a heritage awareness among Greeks and Ottomans, accelerating in some cases the enforcement of protection measures.