Artworks returned from US on show in Antalya

ANTALYA

The Antalya Archaeology Museum opened an exhibition on March 31 displaying a special section of 12 smuggled historical artifacts the U.S. returned to Türkiye following the efforts of the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

Nearly 23,000 historical artifacts have been so far brought back to the country from various countries where they were smuggled. As a result of the works carried out by the teams of the ministry’s anti-smuggling teams for the return of thousands of historical artifacts, which were smuggled abroad since 1980, 12 artifacts have recently returned from the U.S.

The artifacts were seized as a result of the investigations carried out by the U.S. Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Homeland Security and Intelligence Unit (HSI).

The 12 historical artifacts, which were delivered to Türkiye during a ceremony held at the New York Consulate General on March 22, were brought to the southern province of Antalya by a cargo unit of Turkish Airlines (THY).

A special section has been created in the Antalya Museum for a total of 12 artifacts, including a life-size rare bronze statue of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus, two bronze bull chariots, a Roman-era military diploma, and Urartian-era terracotta vase, a statue head from the ancient city of Perge, a Kilia marble idol and a Neolithic Pilgrims Mother Goddess figure.

The new section was prepared in the area where the Heracles Sarcophagus, the Weary Heracles Statue and many other sarcophagi, which were smuggled abroad and returned to their homeland before, are placed in the Antalya Museum.

While the life-size rare bronze statue of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus can be seen by visitors, other artifacts were kept in their boxes.

The artifacts were put on display after the ceremony attended by the culture minister.

The 12 returned historical artifacts are from different regions of Türkiye, such as Antalya, Burdur, Konya, Şanlıurfa, Çanakkale, Manisa and Eastern Anatolia.

It is reported that the statue of Lucius Verus was seized during the illegal excavations carried out in the Sebasteion structure in the Boubon ancient city on Dikmen Hill, 2.5 kilometers south of İbecik village in the Gölhisar district of Burdur, and was smuggled abroad.

Smuggled from the Sebasteion structure, built for the deified Roman emperors, the statue was attributed to the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus, who ruled between 161-169. It is one of the rare human-sized bronze statues that have survived to the present day.

Many of the ancient bronze sculptures have rarely survived to the present day because they were melted and used for other purposes.