The Ministry of Culture announced that “archaeological pieces stolen from Lebanon during the civil war have been handed over” on Thursday by the United States. In a press release, the ministry explained that “on April 8, 2020, the General Directorate of Antiquities (DGA) had identified that an archaeological piece from Lebanon was being offered for sale.” According to the Ministry’s press release, this piece was a marble head representing a young Roman man. “The piece was discovered during archaeological excavations carried out by Maurice Dunand in 1971 in the temple of Eshmoun, in Saida,” reads the text.
Following extensive communication with relevant authorities in New York, “the piece was found in the Royal Athena Galleries,” says the Ministry, which emphasized that it had received information about “twenty-two mosaics in possession of George Lotfi, in the United States.” “They had been transported illegally from Syria and Lebanon to the United States,” continues the ministry. An investigation had been opened to determine the origin of these pieces. It showed that 11 of them belonged to Lebanon. They were handed over on Thursday to Abir Taha, Lebanon’s Consul General in New York. “They will be transported to Lebanon by the CMA CGM company, which has agreed to do so free of charge,” says the ministry.
As a reminder, Interpol had unleashed in June 23 a Red Notice for George Lotfi, an antiquities dealer from Tripoli. He is suspected of trafficking in stolen antiquities. In August 2022, the United States issued an arrest warrant for the octogenarian “for his role in trades that resulted in looted antiquities from Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East ending up in notable museums, including the Louvre, Paris, to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
