The Aporia · US returns 36 Syrian antiquities worth $5M, including a Palmyra relief and 14 mosaics

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Ancient pieces of Syrian history that had traveled far from their original landscapes are now making the journey back home. asserted

that → travel → journey

US authorities have returned 36 antiquities to Syria, a collection worth more than $5 million that includes a monumental relief from Palmyra, Roman-era mosaics and objects recovered from major private and institutional collections, states a report by Arab News. asserted

report → return → News

The repatriation, announced September 23, marks another major effort to trace and recover cultural objects that entered the international art market through illicit trafficking. asserted

that → announce → trafficking

A collection spanning centuries According to Arab News, among the returned objects is a massive limestone relief from ancient Palmyra. uncertain

relief → span → Palmyra

The funerary sculpture dates to the late second century CE and depicts a reclining man surrounded by a woman and three children. asserted

sculpture → date → woman

Weighing more than 1,000 pounds, the relief originally formed part of a Palmyrene tomb. asserted

relief → weigh → tomb

Investigators determined that it had been carefully removed from a burial chamber before being smuggled through Dubai. asserted

it → determine → Dubai

Its history is particularly significant because the relief left Palmyra before the ancient city suffered extensive destruction at the hands of ISIS between 2015 and 2017. asserted

city → leave → 2015

The archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was heavily damaged during the conflict, making the recovery of objects removed from the city especially important. asserted

recovery → damage → city

The collection also includes 14 mosaics taken from a Roman villa in Syria. asserted

collection → include → Syria

Among the other notable pieces is a third-century BCE mosaic section portraying the mythological wedding of Telete and Eros, created from hundreds of tiny pieces of colored stone known as tesserae. asserted

section → portray → tesserae

13 pieces came from the Met The report adds that thirteen of the 36 antiquities were seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as part of investigations into the provenance of ancient objects held by the institution. asserted

antiquities → come → institution

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said its Antiquities Trafficking Unit has seized 402 antiquities from the Met since 2017, with a combined value of $98.7 million. asserted

Unit → say → million

The Syrian return therefore forms part of a much broader examination of objects that passed through museums, galleries and private collections. asserted

that → form → museums

Four other objects in the latest repatriation came from the collection of American collector Michael Steinhardt. asserted

objects → come → Steinhardt

Those pieces were among approximately 180 antiquities valued at $70 million that authorities recovered from his collection in a 2021 agreement. asserted

authorities → value → agreement

That agreement also resulted in a lifetime prohibition on his acquiring additional antiquities. asserted

his → result → antiquities

Tracing a global antiquities trade Investigators linked 31 of the returned Middle Eastern and North African antiquities to objects allegedly trafficked into New York by Georges Lotfi, a Lebanese antiquities dealer who is the subject of an arrest warrant issued in 2022 and an Interpol Red Notice from 2023. uncertain

who → trace → 2023

The allegations against him remain subject to the legal process. asserted

allegations → remain → process

The latest return adds Syria to a growing list of countries receiving cultural artifacts recovered through investigations in New York. asserted

return → add → York

The Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit says it has recovered more than 6,400 cultural treasures valued at about $495 million and returned more than 6,200 of them to 40 countries. asserted

it → say → countries

For Syria, the return represents the recovery of objects connected to civilizations that flourished thousands of years ago, and, in the case of the Palmyra relief, a tangible piece of a site whose surviving heritage has faced extraordinary losses in recent history, concludes the report. asserted

report → represent → history

US returns 36 Syrian antiquities worth $5M, including a Palmyra relief and 14 mosaics

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