A man was sentenced to six months in prison for trafficking nearly 600 Egyptian antiquities through JFK International Airport, including a relief with a Ptolemaic-era cartouche, a complete gold funerary amulet set, and wooden sculptures dating back to approximately 1900 BCE. Ashraf Omar Eldarir, a 52-year-old Brooklyn resident, pleaded guilty to four counts of smuggling earlier this year. On each occasion, he used fake provenances to conceal the illicit history of the trafficked artifacts and subsequently sell the objects to multiple prominent US-based auction houses. Art crime professor and Hyperallergic contributor Erin L. Thompson commented that antiquities smugglers have been implementing fraudulent provenance schemes “ever since museums and auction houses began to ask for provenance information.” “Auction houses and dealers would have many fewer antiquities to sell if they spotted all the fake artifacts and fake paperwork they’re offered — it’s in their financial interest to be...