15.02.2025 14:01
The statue of Marcus Aurelius, part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in the United States, will be returned to Turkey following extensive scientific and legal studies.
One of the lost treasures of Anatolian history, the bronze statue originating from the ancient city of Boubon depicts Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius as a philosopher. The statue, smuggled abroad during illegal excavations in the 1960s at the ancient city of Boubon in Burdur, is dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Included in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, United States, the statue was one of the artifacts that Turkey has been pursuing for over 65 years.
The artifacts smuggled from the ancient city of Boubon were brought to light through research led by Prof. Dr. Jale İnan, but the return of the Marcus Aurelius statue to Turkey had not been possible until now. The long-standing efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the scientific data collected in previous years proved that the Marcus Aurelius statue belonged to the Sebasteion structure in the ancient city of Boubon.
Thanks to the collaboration that began in 2021 between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and the American Department of Homeland Security Investigations, many rare artifacts of Boubon origin, including statues of Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus, and Emperor Caracalla, returned to their homeland.
THE COURT FOUND TURKEY JUSTIFIED
The Ministry's archive documents, academic research, and excavation work in the ancient city clearly revealed the original location of the statue. The testimonies of eyewitnesses who were aware of the intense illegal excavations in the ancient city supported the scientific data, leading the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the American Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to find Turkey's request for the statue's return justified and to decide to seize the statue at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
PROVEN WITH SCIENTIFIC DATA
The Cleveland Museum of Art filed a lawsuit in October 2023 against the seizure decision, arguing that the statue's origin was not certain. However, the scientific data and meticulous analyses presented by Turkey disproved the museum's objection.
Despite strong evidence, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism adopted a conciliatory approach and positively responded to the Cleveland Museum of Art's request for scientific analysis studies. Under the supervision of the Ministry's experts, a silicone foot mold of the statue was taken in May 2024, confirming that it was in perfect alignment with the bronze statue bases in the ancient city of Boubon.
Archaeometry expert Prof. Dr. Ernst Pernicka, authorized by the Cleveland Museum, and the Ministry's expert conservators took samples for lead isotope, stone, and soil analyses from the Valerianus statue of Boubon and the Marcus Aurelius statue located in the Burdur Museum. Additionally, impartial analyses conducted at the Curt Engelhorn Archaeometry Center laboratories in Germany definitively proved that the statue had been buried in Boubon for many years.
MUSEUM ACCEPTED THE RETURN OF THE STATUE
Following the scientific findings, the Cleveland Museum of Art accepted the return of the Marcus Aurelius statue to Turkey, and this decision was officially communicated to Turkey by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Thus, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which continues its efforts to bring back artifacts smuggled abroad through diplomatic, legal, and scientific means, recorded the return of the Marcus Aurelius statue as one of the most significant turning points in this struggle.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy also announced the statue's return to Turkey on his social media account with the title "Another historical return" and the phrase "We continue to protect our cultural heritage."