24/09/2026
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24/09/2026
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NEW YORK, Sept 24: Syria has recovered 36 looted antiquities valued at more than $5 million from the United States, including a massive funerary relief from the ancient city of Palmyra and 14 rare mosaics stolen from a Roman villa in Syria.
The artifacts were formally returned to Syria during a ceremony in New York this week as part of international efforts to combat the illicit trafficking of antiquities and recover cultural property taken from archaeological sites, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.
The ceremony was attended by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and US Special Envoy to Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack. Syria’s charge d’affaires in Washington, Mohammad Nasser Qanatri, UN Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi and other officials and diplomats also attended.
Bragg said the repatriation demonstrated that protecting cultural heritage goes beyond national borders and described the investigation leading to the recovery as “incredibly complicated, multi-faceted.”
He said the recovery was made possible through close cooperation among authorities and partners in several countries.
Among the most significant objects returned is a large stone funerary relief looted from the archaeological site of Palmyra. Bragg said the Palmyra relief was smuggled out during a period when ISIS (Daesh) was carrying out systematic looting of archaeological sites in Syria.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said its Antiquities Trafficking Unit seized 31 antiquities from the Middle East and North Africa during investigations linked to the recovery.
1,000-pound Palmyrene funerary relief
The Palmyrene funerary relief dates to the late second century and is made of limestone. It depicts a reclining man accompanied by a woman and three children.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the massive sculpture originally decorated the wall of a burial chamber in ancient Palmyra and weighs more than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms).
Investigators said the relief appears to have been carefully removed from the burial chamber wall to prevent damage to the carved figures.
Ancient mosaic among recovered artifacts
Another important artifact is the “Telete and Eros” mosaic, a large section of a mosaic floor dating to the third century BC. The artwork depicts the mythological wedding of Telete and Eros and was created using hundreds of small colored stone cubes known as tesserae.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it seized the mosaic in July 2021 along with 22 other mosaics stolen from Syria and Lebanon.
The returned collection also includes three female Syro-Hittite figurines dating to the second millennium BC. The figurines were made in northwestern Syria and first appeared on the international art market in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the possession of New York art dealer Edward Merrin.
Merrin was later convicted in federal court of crimes linked to antiquities trafficking. The figurines were subsequently sold to the collection of antiquities collector Michael Steinhardt.
Bragg said four of the artifacts returned to Syria were among 180 antiquities worth a combined $70 million seized from the Steinhardt collection following a years-long criminal investigation involving several countries.
‘Part of Syria’s history is finally returning home’
Qanatri welcomed the return of the artifacts, saying Syrian-American cooperation had helped bring part of Syria’s history back to the country.
He said the recovery demonstrated how cooperation, mutual respect and a shared commitment to protecting cultural heritage could strengthen ties between the two countries.
Syria’s archaeological heritage suffered extensive looting, trafficking and destruction during years of civil war. Palmyra, one of the country’s most important archaeological sites, was particularly affected during ISIS’ control of the city in 2015.
The ancient city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO has documented the destruction of several major monuments in Palmyra, including the temples of Bel and Baalshamin, the Arch of Triumph and parts of the city’s museum and collections.
In 2015, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2199, which introduced binding measures to combat the illicit trafficking of Syrian antiquities and cultural property amid concerns that proceeds from the trade could finance armed groups.
The United States also imposed emergency restrictions in 2016 on the import of Syrian archaeological and ethnological materials illegally removed from the country on or after March 15, 2011, the beginning of the Syrian civil war.
The US restrictions cover a wide range of cultural property, including objects made of stone, metal, ceramics, glass, ivory and bone, as well as textiles, paintings, mosaics and other archaeological and ethnological materials.
