The 1,800-year-old ancient stone votive inscription of the Lydians, which was stolen years ago from the ancient city of Sidas and taken to Italy, was brought back to Turkey after 23 years with the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The votive inscription, which was stolen from the ancient city of Sidas (Saittai), located within the borders of Manisa’s Demirci district and known to have been an important city in the 3rd century BC, in the 1990s and taken to Italy, was brought back to Turkey.
The 1800-year-old inscription was brought back to Turkey with the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The inscription, which was loaded onto a THY plane that took off from Rome after the Ministry officials received it, was brought to Istanbul Airport.
The historical artifact, which was kept in a special box, was unloaded from the plane by Turkish Ground Services (TGS) teams. The artifact was received by Rahmi Asal, Director of Istanbul Archaeology Museums, and after being examined, it was placed on the TGS cargo vehicle under the supervision of the authorities.
Making a statement to journalists here, Rıza Haluk Soner, Culture and Promotion Counselor of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Rome, stated that the historical artifact brought to Istanbul from Rome as a result of long struggles and legal efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will be shown to the public by the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy in Ankara tomorrow at 12.30 pm and said, “We proudly brought our artifact to our country. Thus, another one of our historical artifacts abroad has returned to the land where it belongs. I would like to thank everyone who contributed a lot.”
The historical artifact will be sent to Ankara in the morning.
The inscription, which was stolen from Turkey and taken to Italy, was seized by Italian cultural police during a raid on an antique dealer in 1997. The case was forwarded to the Turkish Interpol unit to confirm whether the origin of the inscription was Turkey. As a result of the examinations carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was determined that the work had been previously published by Prof. Dr. Hasan Malay in 1987 and had been stolen from the Temple of Apollo Aksyros in Manisa. However, since no evidence was found regarding this theft, the investigation in Italy remained inconclusive.
As a result of the mutual lawsuits and the evidence presented by Turkey in the intervening 23 years, it was decided to return the work to Turkey.
Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur-sanat/1800-yillik-lidya-yaziti-turkiye-ye-getirildi/1982426
