AMMAN — Jordan
and the
United States on Tuesday celebrated the homecoming of nine illegally
trafficked artifacts, including animal figurines, a stone altar, tombstones, a
statue of a goddess and a bronze pitcher, the repatriation of which follows a
bilateral agreement on the protection of cultural property signed in December
2019.
اضافة اعلان
At the handover
ceremony
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al- Fayez commended the
efforts of the concerned agencies in both countries in preventing the smuggling
of cultural property, highlighting Jordan’s role in addressing this
“phenomenon” in cooperation with international partners. He also stressed the importance of enhancing
the role of local institutions in protecting cultural heritage.
US Ambassador to Jordan
Henry T. Wooster described the recovery of the artifacts as
“a historic event” that highlights the US’s commitment to help protect Jordan’s
cultural heritage. “We are seeing justice done today and the embassy is equally
committed to preventing this problem,” he added.
The agreement
between
Jordan and the US aims to restrict the import of Jordanian artifacts to
the United States, including historic coins, manuscripts, stones, minerals,
ceramics, glass, mosaic plates, ancient bones, seashells and human, animal
and plant remains.
Wooster said
that the agreement also helps address the underlying problems that lead to
trafficking, through strengthening Jordan’s national cultural heritage program
to provide real economic benefits to Jordanian communities.
The prized items
were retrieved from an antiquities collector in New York by the
Department of Homeland Security, The Homeland Security Investigations Office and the New York
District Attorney’s Office, in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of
Tourism and Antiquities as well as the Jordanian Embassy in the US.
According to Director of the General Department of Antiquities (DoA) Fadi
Balawi, the artifacts require further studies to identify their original
locations, as well as the civilization and historic period they date back to.
Balawi stressed
DoA’s continued efforts to preserve and safeguard cultural heritage in Jordan
and to trace and recovered artifacts inside and outside the Kingdom.
Royal Jordanian
Airlines and the
Jordan Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) provided
major support for this transfer through facilitating flight arrangements and
transporting the antiquities and members of the New York delegation free of
charge.
Assistant Attorney
General of New York Matthew Bogdanos, Homeland Security Investigation New York
Deputy Special Agent Michael Alfonso and Director of the North American Department
at the Foreign Ministry Issam Al Bdour also attended the ceremony.
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