… and then sells antiquities in Israel.
The Israeli authorities follow him around. They watch him conduct sales of the stolen goods. His customers are foreigners he meets while acting as a tour guide at ancient sites.
So far so good. So you arrest the guy, tell reporters his name, tell his history department back in the States, and set a trial date.
But no. I guess the law in Israel is that you can’t name the guy – at least until his trial?
So while UD would love to tell you – especially since they stopped him as he was boarding a plane back to the States and found “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of artifacts on him – who this guy is, and… Wait. Boarding a plane?
The professor admitted to the offenses and after posting bail was allowed to leave the country.
So you take the goods back and then let the guy fly to back to the States? What’s that about? Have you even bothered to tell authorities here – or the guy’s university?
If your history professor were an antiquities crook, awaiting trial abroad, wouldn’t you want to know about it?
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Update: Hokay. John Lund, 70 years old, retired lecturer. (Where? I’ll see if I can find out.)
Lund was allowed to leave after posting a $7,500 bond meant to guarantee he will return to stand trial.
Huh? He’ll eat the money and stay home, no? Still don’t understand why Israel let him go.
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Is this the guy? Appears to be a Mormon…?
Dr. Lund retired after teaching for thirty-six years in the CES Institute program.
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Wow. The lands of the Book of Mormon. New one on me. (“See Educator Video.”)
His work is discussed in a recent issue of Mormon Times.
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Got his own website. Does not include in his list of books the one about blacks and the Mormon church.
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Curiouser and curiouser. The story’s growing by leaps and bounds — nobody’s calling this fraud a professor anymore — but Israel’s behavior — letting Lund go not once but twice — remains baffling.
First Release:
Antiquities officials discovered Lund selling artifacts at a lecture he gave in a Jerusalem hotel, [an antiquities security official said]. They seized the items, searched him and his hotel room, where they found hundreds of artifacts…. Because all the items had been recovered and Lund was a tourist, “We thought it was appropriate to let him off with a warning,” [the official] said. “But we kept our eyes open … and sure enough, the guy kept on doing what he was told not to.”
Wha…? Is this Mommy, or is this a fraud unit? First of all, they didn’t recover everything; he was found loaded with goodies at the airport. Second, he’s selling artifacts in the open, while giving a lecture, in a hotel. Brazen theft. Public flaunting and marketing of stolen goods. But – hey – we’re sure we got it all! All of the hundreds of artifacts! And after all the guy’s a tourist. Foreign countries never arrest tourists.
Second Release:
[H]e had stolen ancient coins in his possession and checks totaling more than $20,000 believed to be from the illegal sales of ancient coins, clay oil lamps, and glass and pottery vessels.
Lund was allowed to leave after posting a $7,500 bond meant to guarantee he will return to stand trial.
May 18th, 2011 at 9:04AM
A professor who steals antiquities, eh? http://bit.ly/l0bOJ6
May 18th, 2011 at 9:45AM
Carolyn: LOL.
May 18th, 2011 at 10:43AM
For a blog that discusses the looting of antiquities in a fairly trenchant way, see http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/.
May 18th, 2011 at 7:44PM
Fascinating. Puzzling. Thank you for sharing this.
I don’t know enough to contribute comments on Mr. Lund, but the link provided by Carolyn brings to mind this classic University-themed piece from McSweeney’s:
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/10/10bryan.html
The best part is the throwaway line about “setting fire to the herpetology wing” at the end.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:28AM
Thanks, Crimson05er, for the link.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:36AM
Took me a while to get it, but of course: Indy hates snakes! Very clever. Actually, most archaeologists with a sense of humor enjoyed the Indiana Jones films, even if what he did bore no resemblance to professional standards. The involvement of Nazis in loopy archaeological pursuits has a factual basis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_archaeology.