The antique was seized from one of the largest collectors in the world during a very large-scale search.
It’s a first. This Friday, the United States returned an almost 3,000-year-old antiquity to the Palestinian Authority, the American media reported. CNN.
“The object was officially repatriated today by this office to Bethlehem in the West Bank during a ceremony,” said in a press release the Manhattan District Attorney in New York.
This repatriation was described as “a historic moment between the American and Palestinian peoples” by the head of the American Office of Palestinian Affairs, George Noll.
Large-scale antiquities trafficking
This ivory spoon was seized as part of the multinational criminal investigation carried out at the beginning of last December, the prosecutor said.
It was Michael Steinhardt, one of the greatest collectors of ancient art in the world, who held the antiquity thanks to an Israeli dealer. Another 180 stolen items worth $70 million were also seized during the search.
The nearly 3,000-year-old spoon was stolen “from the Khirbet al-Kum area of Hebron,” Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Rula Maayah said.
She concluded: antiquity “acquires its true scientific and archaeological value in its authentic location.”
