The newly repatriated bust of a bearded man from Aphrodisias, mid-2nd century AD
A hugely exciting homecoming unfolded on the steps of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. Resplendent in autumn sun, just two months after its extensive renovation, the museum celebrated the return of 100 cultural objects to Turkey from the United States.
This is the culmination of many decades of investigative work, painstaking research and international cooperation. The returned objects come from some the US’s greatest collections, including the Metropolitan Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Among them are 44 terracotta tiles from Düver, Burdur and 40 objects from the Bronze Age site of Horoztepe, Tokat. An exquisite portrait bust from Aphrodisias is the most recent object to be repatriated, and was unveiled on the museum steps.
The unveiled marble portrait awaits its press conference on the steps of the museum
The event also marked the opening of a new exhibition, No Escape: Boubon. The exhibition takes its name from one particularly remarkable recovery: a group of bronze imperial portraits from Boubon, an ancient city near İbecik village in Burdur. The sculptures depict four Roman emperors, Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Marcus Aurelius. They once formed part of the city’s Sebasteion, a sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the imperial family. Following illegal excavations in the 1960s, the statues were dismembered, the pieces dispersed among collections abroad. Their identification and recovery has been a tour-de-force of archaeological detective work.
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Culture and Tourism Minister, tours the new exhibition with Zeynep Boz, Head of the Department for Combating Illicit Trafficking
The Culture and Tourism Minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, described the extraordinary collaboration that led to their return, down to the painstaking process of matching the dimensions of the sculptures’ feet to the recesses left in their original pedestals. He also emphasised the vital importance of reevaluating antiquities within their proper cultural contexts.
Matthew Bogdanos, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, also addressed the gathering. He heads the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, the sole antiquities enforcement task force in the world. The unit has recovered 6,452 looted antiquities to date, including 276 of Turkish origin. Bogdanos said that he hopes one day to become ‘obsolete’, when good provenance becomes an economic commodity. His remarks captured the spirit of the occasion: a real sense of optimism, and a call to arms for the safeguarding of cultural heritage.
No Escape: Boubon is on show at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Cankurtaran Mh.. Open 9.30am-5pm, closed Mondays.
