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The Department of Antiquities
of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announces that, on the
20th of May 2023, thirty-six (36) Cypriot antiquities were
repatriated to Cyprus from Australia. The repatriation was made possible
following the considerate initiatives of private individuals in Australia,
who voluntarily decided to return these precious objects to their place of
origin. The antiquities date to various chronological periods, ranging from the
Bronze Age to the Roman period and include stone tools, pottery and glass
vessels, clay lamps, metal objects and stone sculpture. The repatriation of
the thirty-six Cypriot antiquities was made possible through the joint
efforts of the Australian authorities, the Australian National University,
the University of Sydney, in close collaboration with the Cypriot competent
Authorities.
Specifically, the Director of
the Department of Antiquities, Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, accompanied
by Chief Police Inspector Michalis Gavrielides and Conservator Dr.
Eleftherios Charalambous, received the abovementioned antiquities in Canberra
and Sydney, where they supervised their packing and escorted them to the
Cyprus Museum in Lefkosia on the 20th May 2023. The antiquities
will be conserved and digitized as part of the Department of Antiquities’
digitization program. During her visit to Australia, the Director of the
Department of Antiquities, Dr. Solomidou-Ieronymidou, was invited to deliver
lectures related to the role and projects of the Department of Antiquities,
as well as on the efforts made against looting and illicit trafficking of
cultural heritage. The lectures were given at the Australian National
University of Canberra and the Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation in Sydney.
A seminar on repatriation and illicit trafficking of cultural heritage was
also organized at the Chau Chak Wing Museum of the University of Sydney where
both Dr. Solomidou-Ieronymidou and Chief Inspector, Mr Gavrielides,
participated with presentations and answered to related questions from
students and the general public.
The Department of Antiquities
and the National Committee for Combatting the Looting and Illicit Trafficking
of Antiquities wish to warmly thank the Australian High Commission in Cyprus
and especiallytheAustralian
High Commissioner, Ms
Fiona McKergow, and the Deputy Head of Mission and Consul, Ms
Michelle Anderson, the High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus in Australia
and especially the Cypriot High Commissioner Mr Antonis Sammoutis and the
Deputy Head of Mission and Consul, Mr Stavros Nikolaou. The Cypriot
Authorities also extend their sincerest appreciation towards Dr. Georgia
Pike-Rowney of the College of Arts & Social Sciences at the Australian
National University, to Dr. Melanie Pitkin, Senior Curator of the Nicholson
Collection of the University of Sydney and to Dr. Craig Barker of the
University of Sydney and Director of the Paphos Theatre Archaeological
Project in Cyprus. Warm thanks are also expressed towards the Presidents and
the representatives of the Cypriot communities in Melbourne, Canberra and
Sydney for their assistance and excellent hospitality.
The Department of Antiquities,
as the competent Department of the Republic of Cyprus for the protection and
management of the cultural heritage of Cyprus, will continue its intensive
efforts to protect cultural heritage and promote the repatriation of cultural
objects to their place of origin. Cooperation and joint efforts of all the
competent bodies, both at a local and an international level, is of the
utmost importance in strengthening protection of cultural heritage, which
constitutes a priceless and irreplaceable inheritance, not only for a nation
but also for humanity as a whole.
(MV/SCH)
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