Culture Ministry Succeeds in Preventing Selling of Unique Syrian Artifact at London Auction House

 DAMASCUS, (ST)-Weeks long efforts by the Syrian Ministry of Culture have succeeded in preventing a unique and very precious Syrian artifact from being sold at the Bonhams Auction House in London on April 3, 2014.

The achievement was the fruit of many procedures adopted by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with UNESCO and all concerned local and international parties, including the Interior Ministry, the Syrian Interpol, the International Interpol, the office for fighting illicit trafficking and the Lebanese Sa’ada Culture Institution in addition to director of excavations at Tell Sheikh Hamad site, German Prof. Dr. Hartmut Kuhne.

According to a Culture Ministry statement, of which SANA had got a copy, the artifact, displayed in the auction, is the lower part of an ancient black basalt monument of the Assyrian King Adad-Nerari III, who ruled Syria 2,800 years ago. The upper part was discovered by Iraqi archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1879 in Tell Sheikh Hamad site (Dur Katlimmu) between Hassaka and Deir Ezzour provinces. It dates back to the Assyrian era and now it is at the British Museum.

A report by archeologist Rassam indicated that he couldn’t find the lower part of the monument during excavations. Also, the German Professor Hartmut Kuhne didn’t find it in his excavation activities in 1975. This provides evidence that the artifact was stolen and smuggled from Syria in illegal excavation and selling processes; thus the Syrian State has the right to restore it.

The Culture Ministry in cooperation with the parties which participated in prohibiting the selling process is keen to find the proper legal procedure to restore this unique piece which also contains an inscription explaining the substances used to rebuild god Sulmanu.

Bonhams Auction House expected the rare artifact to be sold at 1-1.3 million US dollars after it had posted the piece image on its website without mentioning the name of its owner; an affair that violates international laws and raises doubts about the whole selling process.

As a result of keen efforts by the Syrian government and cooperating parties, the auction house was forced to stop the process and pull the piece back from the auction claiming doubts around the Syrian artifact which measures 137.5 cm high, 75 cm wide and 27 cm in depth, with a weight of 830 kg.

It is noteworthy that since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, horrible crimes have been committed against the Syrian history, artifacts and heritage by organized gangs, terrorist groups and thugs.

H. Mustafa