A base-ring ware pottery dating back to the Late Bronze Age (1650-1050 BC) that was spotted on sale online by a French auction house returns to Cyprus.

According to a press release by the Embassy of Cyprus in Paris, the vase was delivered today, July 5, 2024, by the French Authorities to the Republic of Cyprus, during a ceremony held at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Paris.

As noted, the antiquity was located in the context of the systematic checks carried out by the Department of Antiquities, and its return was achieved with the assistance of Interpol and the French Authorities.

Head of the Office for Combating Trafficking of Cultural Goods of the Judicial Police (OCBC), Hubert Percie Du Sert, and Deputy Director of the Intelligence and Strategic Analysis Service for Organized Crime (SIRASCO) Nathalie Chanvallon delivered the antiquity on behalf of the French government. Percie du Sert said that he is very happy that his Service delivers the ancient relic where it belongs, as part of the cultural heritage of Cyprus. He added that repatriation of the antiquities is the result of close and fruitful, as proven, cooperation between the competent authorities of France and the Republic of Cyprus

For his part, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Paris, Pavlos Kombos, warmly thanked the French Authorities for their valuable contribution to the repatriation of this ancient relic and emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage, in order to “keep contact with our roots” the announcement says.

He further noted that “Cyprus, as a country with a history of thousands of years, with ancient treasures scattered from one end to the other, and primarily as a country that is semi-occupied for 50 years with its cultural monuments having been captured and looted in an attempt by the Turkish occupying forces to alter the island’s identity, is distinguished by particular sensitivity and leads efforts in the international arena in terms of the protection of cultural goods, within the Council of Europe, UNESCO and other international organizations.”