Darius the king

[hidemeall]

Hello,

I have a statue that is similar to the one of King Darius, smaller in size about 30cm, from stone (heavy stone)it is complete with the head.
it has been found in an old grave along with a very tall skeleton by my grandfather about 50 years ago, only couple of months ago i found out that it is very similar to the statue of Darius and has Persian writings on the base and on the robe of the statue. Some archaeologists from Turkey told me that i'm not even aware what i have in possession. My question: how much would its value estimated and where to sell it

Thanks

 

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[CRUSADER]

Welcome to Tnet

In answer to your question: $10 at flea market.

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

looting graves in not going to go over to well on this forum ..

 

[Mackaydon]

Welcome to Treasure Net !!

Reads like you're in possession of stolen property. I'd immediately turn it in to the head of the Archaeology Dept. of your local university with your story; then ask that if they do any research on the item they share it with you.
Don..

 

[p2c]

In general, I'd say this is a museum piece. To that extent, you can do what you want, but I personally would donate it. I am sure there is a market for these pieces, in fact I know there is -- usually you hear stories that are sensationalized and then end up being fakes or altered pieces, like the James Ossuary a few years ago (I am not suggesting what you have is fake). The market for these is kind of a black market and why so many fakes show up. It, however does lead to significant pieces being discovered as well. If for example, you look at the Dead Sea Scrolls, how they were discovered, it took this sort of market to bring to light what they were.

The fact of the matter is much that is in museum today went through the hands of private collectors. Archaeology is quite an underfunded field. There are plenty of sites waiting to be investigate, but no one will ever underwrite the expense. While I do not condone trespassing or 'grave robbing' as well people need to also realize its okay for individuals to posses 'museum pieces' if they wish. And the fact that there has been private collectors in the past has lead to there being museum collections.

Here's a link to the Oriental Institute (U of Chicago's) Museum's collection of ancient Persian artifacts:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/persia/

I am sure there would be someone you could contact if you so wanted to either donate or sell the artifact to the museum.

 

[lost hunter]

 

[BigPete]

What did he do with the skeleton?

 

[bdu1962]

Why was grandpaw digging up a grave?

 

[mikusek]

A nice statue, first find out if it is a genuine artifact, then decide what you want to do with it. A museum might offer you a nice sum.

It would be interesting to know more about the circumstances pertaining to how your Grandfather found it. Such as: was it as a result of the grave being washed out by flood or rains, is it from a tomb that was accidentally opened by construction.

Is it possible that it came from the "king's" burial? That would make it an important artifact that a museum would relish the chance to possess.

Good Luck, whatever you decide.

 

[bonepicker]

Im no expert by any means. And i do not condone grave robbing, or tampering.
But it kinda looks to me like something you would find at a souvenir shop.
If it is real, the big question is, where did it come from.?

 

[lostcauses]

"it has been found in an old grave along with a very tall skeleton by my grandfather about 50 years ago,"
Did he have a permit??
If not and you posted this on the internet??
Don't be surprised if law enforcement of some kind comes knocking at your door.

do we have a face palm emote??

If you have a permit, and the story is real then the item would be real and worth some money.
Such would need to go through an auction house such as Sotheby's.
If no documentation: then no proof or trail, well value drops rapidly. Any one purchasing such with out proof of how it was obtained will not gamble much on it due to it could be stolen.

 

[p2c]

"it has been found in an old grave along with a very tall skeleton by my grandfather about 50 years ago,"
Did he have a permit??
If not and you posted this on the internet??
Don't be surprised if law enforcement of some kind comes knocking at your door.

do we have a face palm emote??

If you have a permit, and the story is real then the item would be real and worth some money.
Such would need to go through an auction house such as Sotheby's.
If no documentation: then no proof or trail, well value drops rapidly. Any one purchasing such with out proof of how it was obtained will not gamble much on it due to it could be stolen.

Though OP did not say, this probably came from Turkey, Iran, or Iraq, if it is genuine. It may have been found doing work with an oil company or some other legitimate purpose; so, I would not impugn motive that his grandfather was trolling around burial sites. Plus, 50 years ago processes were different, and though the OP did not say where he is from, He has an Albanian flag on his profile. I doubt there is some global UN police that will come and enforce anything, particularly since possession does not necessarily imply crime.

 

[p2c]

And if it is considered 'stolen property' giving it to a museum or archaeology dept. just means they have stolen property. He'd have to probably return it to current national government representing the locale that it came from, but say does that really make it right either? He probably can't find the grave site it came from. I'm really confused how you expect him to atone for what his grandfather may or may not have done, since there really isn't a path to making restitution...

 

[hidemeall]

Thank u all for ur replies
Why do most of you think that he has to be digging the grave to find it?!? He was returning from a trip on a heavy rain day, the side of the road has been collapsed, the place is not a graveyard, only this single grave has been there, and a peace of a statue has been visible (not this one, i have couple of them found in the same grave) while trying to dig them out than he noticed parts of decomposing skeleton. The statue of Darius has been found in 1972 http://www.livius.org/su-sz/susa/susa_statue_darius.html and my grandfather found this one in 1961, how could it be fake, if someone has made it he/she didn’t have a model to make it from. i already have a buyer offering 5milion euro but he is not offering more, im informed that this is worth at least 10-15M euro if not even more, in the black market, give it to a museum hmmmm for a gooood reward yes otherwise no way, this statues place is in Irans national museum, where the other one is but...
Thanks

 

[Silver Searcher]

People digging up graves taking grave goods just sounds like a normal day for a Archy

SS

 

[tinpan]

"it has been found in an old grave along with a very tall skeleton by my grandfather about 50 years ago,"
Did he have a permit??
If not and you posted this on the internet??
Don't be surprised if law enforcement of some kind comes knocking at your door.

do we have a face palm emote??

If you have a permit, and the story is real then the item would be real and worth some money.
Such would need to go through an auction house such as Sotheby's.
If no documentation: then no proof or trail, well value drops rapidly. Any one purchasing such with out proof of how it was obtained will not gamble much on it due to it could be stolen.

Though OP did not say, this probably came from Turkey, Iran, or Iraq, if it is genuine. It may have been found doing work with an oil company or some other legitimate purpose; so, I would not impugn motive that his grandfather was trolling around burial sites. Plus, 50 years ago processes were different, and though the OP did not say where he is from, He has an Albanian flag on his profile. I doubt there is some global UN police that will come and enforce anything, particularly since possession does not necessarily imply crime.

Darius's Empire was how big at its height ? Even all the way to Albanian

tinpan

 

[CRUSADER]

Thank u all for ur replies
Why do most of you think that he has to be digging the grave to find it?!? He was returning from a trip on a heavy rain day, the side of the road has been collapsed, the place is not a graveyard, only this single grave has been there, and a peace of a statue has been visible (not this one, i have couple of them found in the same grave) while trying to dig them out than he noticed parts of decomposing skeleton. The statue of Darius has been found in 1972 http://www.livius.org/su-sz/susa/susa_statue_darius.html and my grandfather found this one in 1961, how could it be fake, if someone has made it he/she didn’t have a model to make it from. i already have a buyer offering 5milion euro but he is not offering more, im informed that this is worth at least 10-15M euro if not even more, in the black market, give it to a museum hmmmm for a gooood reward yes otherwise no way, this statues place is in Irans national museum, where the other one is but...
Thanks

If you were offered 5 Million, take it and run, don't be so greedy.
The workmanship of the below sudo-hieroglyphic image is amateur at best.

 

[hidemeall]

Darius's Empire was how big at its height ? Even all the way to Albanian

tinpan
[/quote]

Map of Persian empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Greco-Persian_Wars-en.svg
Im not from Albania, im from Macedonia, but the drop-down menu of the forum made me some problems during registration and i choose Albania.
Let us assume it is fake, who made it and what did he use as a model, the statue of Darius was found in '72 and this one in '61!?!?! how ever im 100% sure of its originality, but i'm little greedy and im interested in finding buyer that will offer me more then 5M so, do u know any market or person that i can get in touch with, he can come and check it for its genuinity.

 

[kevkirki]

funny how some post get some crazy attention ...cool post anyways

 

[wrecker]

I'm sorry - can't help in this matter yet. I don't know anybody else who would pay more than 5 million Euros for it. But I recently inherited 11 million in Nigeria. Former minister of finance Mboko Alele is preparing all the necessary documents for me at the moment and will transfer it pretty soon to my bank account.