The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry signed an agreement on May 14 with Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio in the United States for the return of 12 ancient Zeugma mosaic pieces looted during illegal excavations in Turkey’s southeastern province of Gaziantep nearly 50 years ago.
Credit: BGSU
“We are very happy that the Zeugma pieces are being returned to Turkey. The importance of carrying on cultural relations in the international arena by a mutual understanding has been underlined once again,” said Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry’s New York office director Tülin Sermin Özduran, who signed the agreement.
She thanked the authorities of Turkish Foreign and Interior Ministries as well as the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality for their efforts.
Turkish Consul General in Chicago Umut Acar, who hosted the signing ceremony, also thanked the Foreign Ministry and the Culture and Tourism Ministry for their efforts to return archaeological remains and pieces of cultural heritage to Turkey from all over the world, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Some of the mosaics on the floor of the Arts Center of the University of Bowling Green, USA [Credit: BGSU]
BGSU President Rodney Rogers said they took it as a legal and ethical duty to return the tile fragments to Turkey.
“Legally, there’s one question and then there’s what we believe is the right decision … Unbeknownst to us, these items appear to have been removed in an improper way. Therefore, we believe it is our duty as a university to allow these pieces, which have historical significance to Turkey and the citizens of Turkey, but also to society in general, [to be returned] to their home,” he said at the ceremony, according to the daily The Blade based in Toledo, Ohio.
Raymond Craig, dean of the BGSU College of Arts and Sciences, and Sean Fitzgerald, general counsel for the university also signed the agreement.
The 'history' of Ionian shipwrecks emerges after three cases of antiquity smuggling in one month were investigated by the Ioannina Police and two Germans living for 30 years in the coastal town of Perdika in Thesprotia were arrested, as well as a scuba diver in Igoumenitsa and a business man in Parga. Hundreds of antiquities were found in their possession and confiscated.
Neck of an amphora of the Late African I.C type from the shipwreck 'Poseidon 1' [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports/Hellenic Centre of Marine Research (HCMR)]
From Prehistoric times, the Ionian had been a 'sea bridge' between East and West. It was only a relatively safe passage since there was the threat of the open sea and ships sailed without losing sight of the coast.
“It may not have been a particularly dangerous sea for navigation, but the frequency of travelling presupposes the existence of a great number of nautical incidents over the centuries” says Pari Kalamara, head of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (EUA) to the Athens and Macedonian News Agency. She also points out that important naval battles took place there that influenced the course of the Mediterranean peoples, such as: the naval battles of Actium in 31 BC, of Lepanto in 1571, of which no trace remains in the sea, as well as the battle of Navarino in 1827, evidence of which can still be seen in the bay.
The shipwreck 'Poseidon 1' (First half of 4th c. AD) at a depth of 1,175 metres [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports/Hellenic Centre of Marine Research (HCMR)]
The Ionian is a sea that compared with the Aegean remains relatively unexplored, says Mrs Kalamara. Μasses of antiquities such as amphorae, tablets and other vessels from the Hellenistic period up to the Late Byzantine era are buried in the depths and at times get entangled in the nets of fishermen who hand them over to the proper services.
At the same time, confiscated antiquities, mainly amphorae used for trade from many parts of the Ionian, a large number of which are in the storerooms of the region’s Antiquities’ Ephorate, give a picture of significant shipping activity in the area over the centuries, which constitutes a field of marine research of great archaeological interest.
The shipwreck 'Poseidon 2' (7th c. AD) at a depth of 1,370 metres [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports/Hellenic Centre of Marine Research (HCMR)]
Most of the research, some of it conducted even before the official founding of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, was in connection with regions where important naval battles had taken place. Surface surveys, carried out on occasions by the EUA in specific places, yielded significant evidence and uncovered shipwrecks.
In 2002, shipwrecks from Roman times were located in Kephalonia and Ithaca, as well as a Prehistoric one of the Early Helladic period in Giagana. Likewise in the region of Methoni, two important shipwrecks of Roman times should be mentioned; one with a cargo of columns and the other with sarcophagi.
Photo mosaic of the shipwreck 'Poseidon 3' (18th c.) at a depth of 1,260 metres [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports/Hellenic Centre of Marine Research (HCMR)]
During surface surveys in the Northern Ionian, between Corfu and Paxoi, for controlling the transit of the natural gas pipeline 'Poseidon', three shipwrecks of the 4th, 7th and 18th centuries AD were located at a depth of more than 1,000 metres.
Moreover, systematic surveys were conducted on a 16th century shipwreck at the Dimitris or Sinialo reef in Zakynthos as well as at the Xi peninsular in Kephalonia, where six marble statues were found and pulled up, three marble column bases and two marble capitals which were probably part of the cargo of a Roman ship transporting works of art.
Trading pointed amphora from Corfu [Credit: Ministry of Culture and Sport/EUA/P. Vezyrtzis]
Equally important, adds the head of the EUA, are the surveys of the coastal sunken prehistoric settlements at Methoni and Platygiali in Astakos, where a port has now been constructed, as well as the Medieval harbour of Glarentza in Kyllini. Special mention is also made by Mrs Kalamara of “more modern but equally tragic events, such as the shipwrecks and airplane crashes mainly of the Second World War, which are also protected by Greek archaeological law, because they are monuments associated with Europe’s recent history and they too must be absolutely respected and protected.”
A rapid tourist development of the Ionian, already since the 1950s, has also offered antiquity smugglers scope for action. Many cases have been recorded by the port and police authorities and the Ephorate always tries to assist, says the head of the EUA and adds “Unfortunately, over recent years, these events tend to build up, since nowadays technology for surveying the seabed can be obtained more easily and access to greater depths by deep sea diving is simpler. In no way however should one generalize and consider everyone a potential illicit trader in antiquities. We cannot under any circumstances become complacent and should be constantly on the alert, so as to respond directly and assist the authorities who patrol the seas and who at this time are shouldering great burdens in the Eastern Mediterranean in general”.
As Mrs Kalamara points out, in a region such as the Ionian with its intense tourist and business activities, large hotel units, marinas, ports and aquaculture, the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities responds to the demands for the protection of antiquities and of underwater cultural heritage which in turn can become a major attraction for a particular type of tourism in the future.
The Foundation for Prussian Cultural Heritage is returning indigenous artifacts taken from graves in south-west Alaska, it announced Wednesday.
Credit: Alliance/DPA/R. Hirschberger
Nine objects from Berlin's Ethnological Museum's collection had come into their possession in the 1880s via Norwegian explorer Johan Adrian Jacobsen. Jacobsen traveled along the American northwest coast and Alaska on behalf of the Royal Museum of Ethnology, as it was then called.
The excavated items, including two broken masks, a cradle and a wooden idol, had been brought by Jacobsen from Chenega Island and Sanradna (Soonroodna) in Kachemak Bay in southwest Alaska. As they were determined to have likely come into Jacobsen's possession as the result of looting and not through an archaeological dig with approval, the foundation decided to return the objects to representatives from the Chugach Alaska Corporation.
The nine items included a mask, a cradle and a wooden idol [Credit: Alliance/DPA/R. Hirschberger]
"The objects were taken without the consent of Native People and thus unlawfully acquired; therefore, they do not belong in our museums," said Foundation President Hermann Parzinger on Wednesday when the objects exchanged hands in a ceremony in Berlin where the vice-president of the Chugach Alaska Corporation, John Johnson, was in attendance.
"I am particularly pleased that this return does not mark the ending but rather the beginning of an intensified collaborative exchange with the Chugach Alaska Corporation," said Parzinger. The returned objects will serve as part of a cooperative exchange of knowledge among generations within the Chugach community.
The items will be the subject of an inter-generational exchange within the Chugach community [Credit: Alliance/DPA/R. Hirschberger]
For several thousand years, people who identify as Sugpiaq or Alutiiq – also formerly called Pacific Eskimos – lived in the Chugach region. Today, the Chugach live in seven communities around Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. The community has been in contact with Europeans since at least the time of Tsar Peter the Great.
In a country whose archaeological wealth is one of its main sources of income, at a time when archaeologists make an impressive entrance into the lives of local communities whose support they are counting on to continue their important work, an excavation is now confronted with the danger of being left incomplete. Not for lack of money, but because it seems that a private citizen can obstruct access to the excavation site.
Aerial photograph of the Minoan cemetery at Petras, Siteia [Credit: Metaxia Tsipopoulou]
This is the case in the systematic excavation of the Minoan cemetery in Petras, Siteia (Eastern Crete), being conducted since 2004 by Metaxia Tsipopoulou, honorary Head of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Earlier on, specifically since 1985, Ms Tsipopoulou had excavated the town and the Minoan palace, which since 2006 are archaeological sites open to the public. In 2012, a 5 year excavation programme was approved by the Ministry of Culture and in 2017 the permit was renewed for another five years (2017-2021).
As we are informed by the excavation’s head: “The extensive Minoan cemetery so far consists of 17 large funerary buildings (approximately 80-100 m2) dating from 2800 to 1750 BC. It is to date the largest burial assemblage of that era in Crete and the only one being systematically excavated in its entirety in the 21st century using modern methods of excavation, documentation and treatment of the material.
After recent works on Mr J. Plakiotakis property. The bulldozer operation took place next to the site being excavated [Credit: Metaxia Tsipopoulou]
“The Petras cemetery, then used by the elite of the palatial settlement, had not been plundered and has yielded important finds both in quality and quantity, many of which are made of precious imported materials (gold, silver, bronze, ivory, semiprecious stones) and their study essentially changes our knowledge of the Minoan period in Eastern Crete and beyond. Moreover, the uniquely important skeletal material is being excavated and documented by expert palaeoanthropologists from the University of Thessaloniki”.
It should be noted that Petras is being studied by a 30-member international and interdisciplinary team of scientists from 9 countries and several monographs and numerous articles on it have already been published ( for bibliography, see www.petras-excavations.gr and www.academia.edu), while material has been granted to young scientists for post graduate papers and three doctoral theses.
This year’s excavation period is in danger of being lost
As we are informed by Ms Tsipopoulou, the Ministry of Culture and Sports has approved the expropriation of 2.47 acres of land on which the cemetery is located (former Tsakalakis property) which is also part of the boundaries of the archaeological site, (Ministerial Decision YΠΠΟΤ/ΓΔΑΠΚ/ΑΡΧ/Α1/Φ43/16730/888/20-12-2011/Government Gazette 86/Compulsory Expropriations/23-3-2012).
The gate permitting access to the excavation site [Credit: Metaxia Tsipopoulou]
“The land is on a plateau high on the Kefala hill” explains the Head of the Petras Excavation. “The only access to it is via a dirt road about 4m wide which starts from the bypass round the main Siteia to Palaiokastro road (see attached aerial photograph) crossing the adjacent property of Mr Joseph Plakiotakis. Both the road and the property are inside the defined and demarcated archaeological site. This road has been shut with a gate by the above individual and father of the New Democracy MP of Lasithi, who, until 2016, allowed us access by giving us the key to the padlock for the 5-6 weeks duration of the excavation.
“According to the topographic plan made by the Department of Land registration and Expropriation of the Ministry of Culture and the contracts of the Tsakalakis property, this dirt road is RURAL.
“The Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi granted Mr. J. Plakiotakis a document (Presidential Decision 02405/ 13.07.2016) stating that ‘This year’s excavation period, which runs from 1-7 until 6-8-16, completes the five-year systematic excavation programme at the Kefala site in Petras’ and that ‘Our Ephorate has no ownership rights to the passage that is within your property.’ In 2017, Mr. Plakiotakis allowed us access because of this document, but only after a great struggle and pressure from many sides. He did not however let the workers take the tools and materials used for stabilizing the walls.
The transportation of personnel to the excavation on the Kefalas Hill is done in agricultural vehicles [Credit: Metaxia Tsipopoulou]
“I have secured both the renewal of the permit for a systematic excavation from the Central Archaeological Council and also, sufficient financial aid from the US based Institute of Aegean Prehistory which funds the majority of Prehistoric excavations in Greece and supports the excavation at Petras from 1987 to the present.
“It is important for excavations of this unique cemetery to continue this year since all necessary preparations have been made , the personnel- 40 people from 6 different countries – has booked tickets and a deposit has been made on the rooms where we will be staying for 6 weeks, from July 1 to August10 ?.
“I should point out that the cemetery area is without walls and the danger of illegal excavations very real, while the Ephorate of Lasithi itself has no access to the monument it is obliged to protect.
The region where the excavation is being conducted [Credit: Metaxia Tsipopoulou]
“We use agricultural vehicles in the excavation, to transport personnel, tools, instruments and finds, a truck and loader to remove debris and transport soil samples for flotation (7,500 large bags), as well as a concrete mixer for the preparation of mortar for stabilizing works.
“During the previous week Mr J. Plakiotakis operated a bulldozer on his property directly in the area being excavated and in the demarcated archaeological site. Till Friday afternoon, the Ephorate had not pressed charges as required by archaeological law”, said Ms Tsipopoulou.
According to the latest developments in the case, Ms Tsipopoulou was informed that a warrant will be issued to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi for the opening of a new road allowing trucks and loaders to pass through and to access the excavated plateau. The western side of the hill, however, apart from being extremely steep, belongs to owners we are not sure have accepted a road being opened through their properties. Indeed it is very likely that, when this road is opened, antiquities will be found which must be directly excavated. The only solution for the excavation to continue and be completed is to give the Ephorate a key to the gate that blocks the rural road, so that the research can continue smoothly and the Ephorate is able to protect the site by having direct access to it whenever necessary.
A French tourist was fined €200 and given a suspended sentence after police caught him trying to leave Pompeii with a backpack stuffed with ancient Roman artefacts.
Photos of the looted artefacts released by the Carabinieri di Napoli [Credit: Metropolis]
Montpellier man Pierre Luc Giglio, 52, was stopped at Pompeii last Friday along with his companion, a 50-year-old French woman, after security guards noticed them acting suspiciously.
Upon searching their bags they found 13 fragments of terracotta and a piece of marble, believed to have been taken from the House of Loreius Tiburtinus, a well-preserved villa thought to have belonged to one of the city's wealthy inhabitants.
The couple told carabinieri officers that they just "wanted to take home a souvenir", according to local news site Metropolis.
At a hearing on Saturday, a judge sentenced Giglio, who was caught redhanded looting the remains, to four months' imprisonment, suspended, and ordered him to pay a €200 fine. His partner escaped charges since she was in a different part of the site at the time of the theft.
In court, the pair apologized to Pompeii's archaeological directors and put the act down to "bravado".
"We didn't mean to do any harm, we came because we're fascinated by the archaeological history of Pompeii," Metropolis quoted them as saying. According to the site, the pair have no plans to cut short their holiday in Italy because of the incident.
Authorities face an enormous challenge to protect Pompeii's treasures, whether from light-fingered tourists, professional thieves or simply the wear and tear of thousands of years and millions of visitors.
In March, an American tourist was caught dislodging the tiles of a priceless mosaic as he attempted to get a picture of the House of the Sailor. He was questioned by police but released without charge.
Meanwhile the site has struggled for centuries with tourists who pocket relics as holiday souvenirs or even to sell for a profit.
Archaeologists recently found illegal tunnels that they suspected were built by robbers, prompting them to begin excavating the Civita Giuliana area north of the city walls. The dig resulted in the unprecedented discovery of the remains of a horse, which experts were able to cast in its entirety.
Sometimes the thieves themselves try to make amends. In 2014, a Canadian tourist returned an artefact she had stolen from Pompeii's amphitheatre during her honeymoon – 50 years earlier.
And several thieves have sent back the loot claiming the relics are 'cursed'. Pompeii's archaeological superintendent said in 2015 that he was considering setting up an exhibition of the returned artefacts and accompanying letters, to tell the story behind the stolen pieces.
"Very important" archaeological finds dating to the fourth century BC and second century AD were recovered in a double operation by Carabinieri art cops in Lazio Friday.
In the first op two Roman businessman were nabbed after spending huge sums of money on the finds, including two kraters and two heads, one of a bull and one of a horse, probably from a much larger sculptural group, police said.
The second op traced sales on the Internet of artefacts from the ancient site at Ardea south of Rome, police said.
The total value of the objects recovered was some 900,000 euros.
The façade of the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere has been restored to its former glory after a restoration carried out by experts of the Rome Special Superintendent's office lasting a year and a half and costing 400,000 euros.
Credit: AGF
Now the splendid medieval mosaics that run horizontally across the front can be admired in all their glimmering gold, with the Madonna dominating the scene and in an ideal dialogue with the 19th century paintings by Silverio Capparoni and the 18th century portico designed by architect Carlo Fontana under Pope Clement XI.
The restoration is the result of a complex process due to the co-presence of various styles and materials and the various interventions carried out on the basilica over time, including the addition of the portico and of the fresco paintings by Capparoni from 1863 to 1874.
Credit: AGF
The restorers led by Elvira Cajano focused their efforts on the figures (Christ with the angels, the Gospel writers, Pius IX, the lambs and the palm trees), which had almost disappeared due to the rain and pollution.
Now, where possible, the original colour has been restored.
Credit: AGF
Working on the detail while also guaranteeing the comprehensive overview of a monument that was designed to be seen from a distance was also difficult.
The restorers began by studying the sources and conducting a diagnostic campaign, before proceeding with cleaning and restoration of the mosaics, frescoes, statues and structures in travertine and granite, consolidation of the masonry and creation of rain conduits.
Credit: AGF
"The memory of this façade was lost because it was faded and neglected. I have lived in Trastevere for years and I find it moving," said Rome Special Superintendent Francesco Prosperetti.
"The restoration started with 200,000 euros of ministerial funds; then the other 200,000 came in from the takings at the Colosseum, 30% of which are given to the Superintendent's Office. With that money we hope to be able to restore other monuments and also make this restoration last, because the façade of Santa Maria in Trastevere needs regular maintenance."
On May 2, 2018, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned 3,800 ancient artifacts, including cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, and clay bullae, to the Republic of Iraq. The artifacts were smuggled into the United States in violation of federal law and shipped to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc, a nationwide arts-and-crafts retailer.
Ancient cuneiform tablets from Iraq that are being returned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are seen, during a ceremony at the Residence of the Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, in Washington, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 [Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP]
“On behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and thanks to the hard work of the Office of the Special Agent in Charge in New York, it is a great honor for me to return so many priceless cultural artifacts to the people of Iraq,” said ICE Acting Director Thomas D. Homan. “I would like to thank my colleagues at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for making this repatriation possible,” Homan added. “We will continue to work together to prevent the looting of antiquities and ensure that those who would attempt to profit from this crime are held accountable. This ceremony should serve as a powerful reminder that nobody is above the law.”
Many of the tablets can be shown to come from the ancient city of Irisagrig. The tablets, primarily from the Ur III and Old Babylonian period (2100-1600 BCE), are mostly legal and administrative documents, but also include an important collection of Early Dynastic incantations and a bilingual religious text from the Neo-Babylonian period. Two clay cones are inscribed with royal inscriptions from the Early Dynastic Lagash II periods (mid-third millennium BCE). The clay bullae include artifacts believed to be of Parthian or Sasanian date (late 2nd cent. BCE – early 7th cent. AD).
“These pieces are very important to us and they should be returned home to Iraq, to the rightful owner of these pieces,” said Ambassador of Iraq to the United States Fareed Yasseen.
The artifacts returned were initially intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The shipping labels on these packages falsely described the cuneiform tablets as tile samples.
Ancient cuneiform tablets from Iraq are among the objects being returned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to Iraq [Credit: ICE]
“CBP is honored to have played a role, together with ICE, in the return of these national treasures to their rightful owner, the Republic of Iraq. In doing so, we ensure the protection of this priceless cultural heritage and secure a precious, tangible link to the past for future generations,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner Ian Saunders.
After a review of the items and their documentation, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents, in conjunction with Assistant U.S. Attorneys at United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) conducted interviews of a number of Hobby Lobby employees between January and June of 2016 which led to the discovery of a deliberate intent by employees of the company to avoid using a customs broker for the artifacts related to this transaction.
“The Republic of Iraq, standing on the land that was once home to the storied city-states and kingdoms of Mesopotamia, has a celebrated heritage as a cradle of civilization,” stated U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue. “We are proud to have played a role in removing these pieces of Iraq’s history from the black market of illegally obtained antiquities and restoring them to the Iraqi people.”
Ancient cylinder seals from Iraq are among the objects being returned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to Iraq [Credit: ICE]
Wednesday’s event was the first repatriation of cultural property to Iraq since March 2015, when ICE returned ancient antiquities and Saddam Hussein-era objects, including the Head of Assyrian King Sargon II, a limestone fragmentary head of Lamassu, the winged bull, from the Palace of Sargon II. ICE has returned more than 1200 items to Iraq in five repatriations since 2008.
ICE has returned over 8,000 artifacts to over 30 countries since 2007, including paintings from France, Germany, Poland and Austria, 15th-18th century manuscripts from Italy and Peru, cultural artifacts from China, Cambodia, and two Baatar dinosaur fossils to Mongolia, antiquities and Saddam Hussein-era objects returned to Iraq, ancient artifacts, including a mummy’s hand, to Egypt, and most recently royal seals valued at $1,500,000 to the Republic of Korea.
The Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program is unique to HSI’s portfolio.
Returning a nation’s looted cultural heritage or stolen artwork, promotes goodwill with foreign governments and citizens, while significantly protecting the world’s cultural heritage and knowledge of past civilizations.
The theft and trafficking of cultural heritage and art is a tradition as old as the cultures they represent. What has changed is the ability of cultural pirates to acquire, transport and sell valuable cultural property and art swiftly, easily and stealthily. These criminals operate on a global scale without regard for laws, borders, nationalities or the significance of the treasures they smuggle.
Federal importation laws give HSI the authority to take a leading role in investigating crimes involving the illicit importation and distribution of cultural property and art. Customs laws allow HSI to seize cultural property and art that are brought into the United States illegally, especially when objects have been reported lost or stolen.
With support from the Department of State’s (DOS) Cultural Heritage Center (CHC) and in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, HSI has trained hundreds of special agents, investigators and attorneys on cultural property. At these workshops, scientists and experts provide instruction on the handling, documentation, storage and photography of different types of artifacts; and attorneys and HSI special agents train customs officers, fellow agents, and prosecutors on investigative methods.
