The ‘Korean Torso’ Returned to Turkey from England Will Soon Be Exhibited in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
The 6th century BC ‘korean torso’, which was offered for sale at an auction house in England and returned to Turkey after it was proven to have been smuggled out of the ancient city of Miletus in Aydın, will soon be exhibited at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.
Experts from the Anti-Smuggling Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism , suspected that the marble ‘Korean torso’ offered for sale with lot number 65 in the catalog published in the ‘Antiquities’ auction of Christie’s Auction House, operating in London, England, on December 8, 2021, may have Anatolian origins. With Turkey’s initiatives, the sale of the work was suspended and information and documents of evidence that it was removed from Turkey were illegally obtained. In this regard, archive documents that will determine the origin of the work were presented to the British authorities. The Didim Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the matter and a request was sent for the return of the work.
The work was returned to Turkey as part of the request. The exhibition work for the work brought to the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum has been completed. The work will be opened to visitors in the museum soon.
‘A Proud Moment for All of Us’
Zeynep Boz, Head of the Anti-Smuggling Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, He explained the process of bringing the work to Turkey, stating that ‘kore’ is the name of Persephone in Greek mythology and means virgin. Boz said that when the work was offered for sale in 2021, they noticed the name of a collector known for smuggling and pursued the issue. Boz said, “This situation gave us a direct opinion.
Later, thanks to the archive documents, the suspicious names and our access to scientific data proving that it was of Anatolian origin, and with the advantage of being able to cooperate with the judiciary through an investigation initiated by our Didim Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs established contacts with the London Embassy. We brought the work to our country.
“It was a proud moment for all of us. Because while we were receiving the return of this work, we were also hearing from our British colleagues or British authorities how effective we are in the fight against cultural property smuggling in our country, and confirming “This once again from their perspective, which made us very happy,” he said.
‘We Have Completed the Exhibition Work’
Yusuf Kıraç, Director of the Museum of Anatolian CivilizationsHe also stated that the collection was enriched with the work coming to the museum, and said, “These works make explanations to the scientific community with scientific articles. In recent years, we see that our people come to museums more to see works that have been smuggled abroad and that they are more likely to adopt them. We are happy to see this and tell you about it.
The works that come to the museum are reported scientifically and during this reporting, it is decided in which section and display it will be exhibited. This work is a work from the Hellenistic period. It is ranked with other works and receives that inventory number. Then, this work will remain with that name for life. Now we have completed that work. We are waiting for a day. “It will be put on display soon and presented to visitors,” he said.
