e Laws of Antiquities in force in the
various territories with which this book is concerned must not be
taken as absolving the traveller from the necessity of consulting the
full text of the laws. At the time of going to press, the Turkish Law
presumably prevails in such parts of the Turkish Empire as are not
occupied by the troops of the Entente; in the remainder, temporary
regulations are in force which will doubtless be modified when the
new governments are established; and it is possible that the Turkish
Law itself may be brought into greater harmony with modern ideas.

The Greek Law of Antiquities.

[Greek], 24 July 1899, Athens, [Greek] 1889.

All antiquities found are the property of the Government and are
controlled by an Archaeological Commission, consisting of the Ephor
General of Antiquities and the ephors of the archaeological
collections in Athens. Fixed antiquities must be reported by the
discoverer to the Ephor General or one of the ephors of antiquities
or other official. Damaging of ruins or remains of monuments is
forbidden. Owners of the land on which portable antiquities desirable
for the National Museums are found are compensated to the extent of
half their value. Any person who finds antiquities on his land must
report them within five days, on pain of confiscation. The same
applies to any one who finds antiquities on another person's land, or
in any other way comes into possession of antiquities. Informers
against breaches of the law are rewarded by the amount of the
compensation due to those who keep the law. Objects not considered
worth keeping by the Museums are returned to the owner of the land.
Excavations, even on private property, must be authorized by the
Ministry of Education. The Government has the right of expropriating
land for purposes of excavation. In Government excavations, the owner
of the land receives one-third of the value of the objects considered
worth keeping by the Museums. Secret excavation is punished by
confiscation of the finds, imprisonment and temporary loss of civil
rights. In authorized excavations by a landowner or his
representative the excavator receives half the value of the finds
taken by the Museums. Any one attempting to excavate on another man's
land is punished by imprisonment. Antiquities found in the country
may not be exported (on pain of imprisonment or fine and temporary
loss of civil rights) without permission, which is only granted for
objects no