19 Dec Thousands of Stolen Greek Artifacts Turned Up in an Athens Basement
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Efforts to repatriate Greek artifacts from abroad, such as the campaign to reclaim the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum, tend to get all the attention. But the biggest, latest news on the restoration of stolen Greek treasures actually comes from within the country’s own bounds.
Nine months ago, Greek authorities heeded a call to check out the basement of an Athens building long occupied by an upper-echelon dealer of rarities such as jewelry, watches, and works of art. There, they found 102 stolen ancient artifacts, 36 post-Byzantine religious objects, and 3,247 coins, some ancient, some modern. The country’s Ministry of Culture announced the find this week.
The find originated in February, shortly after the eviction of the tenants that had for some 80 years leased a property managed by the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum in the heart of the Greek capital. All that time, the space had housed the dealer. As the landlords were at work cleaning the space out, they stumbled upon a disguised trap door leading down into a previously unknown basement. There, they found the sprawling cache of valuables in a state of disarray. A representative of the museum quickly called the country’s Ministry of Culture.
More relics scattered throughout boxes. Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture.
Archaeologists from the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Goods and the Numismatic Museum of Athens responded to the call and conducted “an autopsy on site,” according to a press release from the Greek Ministry of Culture.
They determined that the 102 ancient artifacts—which include a range of vessels such as kylixes to lekythos, as well as figurines—all date between the Geometric Period (1100 B.C.E. to 750 B.C.E.) and the Hellenistic Period (323 B.C.E. to 32 B.C.E.). The post-Byzantine religious pieces, meanwhile, feature icons, silver inlays, and a hierarchical staff. The expansive, wide-ranging coin cache also apparently holds medals, seal stones, and weights.
An ancient kotylis. Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture.
Many of these relics were found wrapped in newspaper dating back to the 1940s, when the old tenants originally signed their lease. The Greek authorities have not provided any further information regarding how these artifacts ended up in this underground locale, or indeed how they have determined the goods were stolen.
The country’s Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, did point out: “In addition to the repatriation of cultural goods illegally exported from our country—a result of our systematic cooperation with cultural institutions and entities abroad or voluntary traditions by cultural organizations or individual individuals from abroad—there are also cases of illegal activity of acquiring goods within us.”
The basement where the relics were found. Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture.
Following the discovery and examination of these archaeological objects, the Greek authorities transported the treasures for safekeeping by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens. A team of prosecutorial authorities and a scientific committee overseen by Greece’s Central Archaeological Council carried out preliminary restorations and further examinations of the goods.
The official monetary value of the total trove, in addition to details on its ultimate disposition, remains unannounced.
Source Credit: Content and images from Artnet News. Read the original article - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/stolen-greek-artifacts-found-athens-basement-2589662