15 Greek Antiquities Seized in US Returned to Greece

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A collection of 15 Greek antiquities spanning around 3,000 years has been returned to Greece after being confiscated in the United States.

The marble, bronze and pottery artefacts were formally handed over to Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni in New York, according to Greece’s Ministry of Culture.

Among the most significant pieces are bronze helmets dating to the late 7th century BC. The helmets feature ornate relief decoration and were illegally excavated in 1964 from an archaeological site at Afrati in the Viannos region of southern Crete.

The artefacts will now be reunited with other objects recovered from the same excavation and held by the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

The returned collection also includes a female marble Cycladic figurine of the Spedos type, dating from around 2700 to 2600 BC.

Other objects include a heavy bronze bracelet from northern Greece dating to the 7th or 6th century BC, a marble reproduction of a conch shell dating to around 400 BC and a gold necklace from the 2nd century BC featuring an amphora shaped pendant.

The Ministry of Culture did not provide details on how the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office obtained the 15 antiquities.

With this latest repatriation, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has returned a total of 179 Greek antiquities to Greece since 2022, according to Mendoni.

“It is particularly important that some of the artefacts we are taking delivery of today will be reunited with finds from the same excavation in the archaeological museum of Iraklio,” Mendoni said.

“Some of these were illegally trafficked abroad and are now returning home.”

Mendoni has led Greece’s efforts to recover antiquities that were illegally removed from the country and subsequently entered international museums, private collections and the art market.

“Each repatriation is an act of justice towards our history,” she said.

The handover ceremony in Manhattan was also attended by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, a former US Marine colonel of Greek ancestry who heads the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit.

The latest return adds another significant group of ancient Greek objects to the country’s growing collection of repatriated cultural heritage.

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