A 2,700-year-old necklace, recovered from the Bintepeler archaeological site in Manisa and smuggled from Türkiye to the United States, has been returned.
This ancient artifact, considered a significant example of Lydian art, was illegally taken decades ago and had been held in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts.
The necklace, measuring about 20 centimeters, features pomegranate-shaped beads made of gold and carnelian stones, which are characteristic of Lydian craftsmanship. It is believed to date back to the sixth or fifth century B.C.
The artifact was successfully returned after negotiations between the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which acquired the necklace in 1982, contacted the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Consulate in Boston in 2023 about the artifact, for which it had no provenance information aside from its Anatolian origin.
Scientific investigations and archival research by the ministry determined that the necklace had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of the Bintepeler Necropolis in the 1970s, where hundreds of Lydian burial mounds, or tumuli, had been discovered.
The necklace, remarkably well-preserved, bore striking similarities to other artifacts registered with the Manisa Museum Directorate that were recovered from the same site. In light of this information, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts decided to return the necklace to Türkiye.
This recovery is part of Türkiye’s ongoing efforts to reclaim stolen cultural heritage.
“In 2024, we saw the return of 20 historical artifacts to the land of their birth. We are now bringing back one more artifact from Anatolia to Türkiye, raising the total to 21,” stated Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.
The necklace will soon be displayed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.
