The top half of a 1,800-year-old marble statue of the Greek demigod Hercules was bought home to Turkey by the country’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday after it was handed back by a Boston museum.
The upper part of the ancient statue, known as "Weary Hercules," will now be reunited with the lower half, which is on display in a museum in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya.
"I have joyful news," Erdoğan told journalists in Ankara after bringing the half-statue back on his plane from New York where he attended the UN General Assembly.
"The Ministry of Culture and Tourism had been trying to get it back for 20 years," Erdoğan said.
The bottom half of the naked Hercules statue was discovered in 1980 in the southwestern Turkish town of Perge a few years after the top half was removed from the country. Together, the two halves weigh 200 kilograms.
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has said their fragment was bought in the early 1980's with proper papers.
The return of the half-statue is a victory for Turkey, which has recently embarked on a campaign to repatriate artifacts. Since 2002, it has repatriated 4,028 artifacts, Erdoğan said.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
