Μake us preferred on Google Fifteen ancient artifacts that had been illegally removed from Greece have been handed back to the country by the United States, in a ceremony held at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The objects were formally handed over to Greece’s Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni.
Marble Cycladic female figurine of the Spedos type. Height 11 cm. (2700–2600 BC).
With this latest repatriation, the total number of Greek antiquities returned since 2022 through decisions of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has risen to 179, underscoring the sustained cooperation between the two countries in combating the illicit trafficking of antiquities.
Marble male head wearing a toga. Height 25.4 cm. (14–68 AD).
The development also highlights the systematic work carried out by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and in particular its Antiquities Trafficking Unit, as well as its close collaboration with Greek authorities in securing the return of unlawfully trafficked cultural property.
Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and Matthew Bogdanos, head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan DA’s Office
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Minister Mendoni said that the return of fifteen more antiquities once again confirmed that the protection of cultural heritage went hand in hand with justice and international cooperation. She noted that, from 2022 to the present, 179 antiquities had been returned to Greece through rulings of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Clay beak-spouted jug. Height 18.5 cm. (1750–1700 BC).
She added that it was particularly significant that some of the objects received on Monday, September 21, would be reunited with finds from the same excavation, which are housed at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, observing that certain items had been illegally trafficked out of the country and were now being returned to their place of origin.
Bronze solid bracelet with stippled (punched) decoration. Diameter 13 cm. (7th–6th century BC).
Matthew Bogdanos, head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan DA’s Office, stated that every object returning home to the Greek people represented a celebration of friendship and of the unit’s uninterrupted effort against the illegal trafficking of antiquities. He added that each repatriation also served as a reminder of the systematic pursuit of the ideals of beauty, justice and truth that had been born from the sunlit land of the Hellenic Republic.
Marble lid of a Cycladic pyxis. Diameter 15.9 cm. (2700–2200 BC).
The returned objects span an unusually broad chronological range, extending from the prehistoric and early Mycenaean periods through the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic eras, and reaching as far as the early Roman period, in the 1st century AD.
Gold necklace with an amphora-shaped pendant. Height 5.2 cm. (125–120 BC).
