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Athens (dpa) - Greece on Thursday welcomed the homecoming of two ancient artifacts from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles which were smuggled illegally out of the country.
Just hours after being flown in from the United States, the 2,400-year-old black limestone stele grave marker and a marble votive relief dating from 490 BC was already on display at Athens National Archaeological Museum.
Archaeologists said the grave marker was taken illegally out of the country in the early 90s while the votive relief was stolen from the warehouses of the French Archaeological School on the northern Aegean island of Thasos.
Greek Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said Greece was currently in negotiations with the Getty to secure the return of two other ancient relics, a 4th century BC Macedonian gold funerary wreath and a 6th century BC marble statue of a woman. In return for the items, Greece has promised the Getty other artifacts on long-term loans.
"Greece will continue to fight for the return from foreign museums and collectors of every ancient Greek object for which we have evidence that it is a product of illegal digging, smuggling or illegal trade," Voulgarakis said.
"The days when foreign museums and private collectors bought antiquities without any identity passports have gone for good," he added. "Our intention is not to empty the shelves of foreign museums, but to make sure that the antiquities trade is conducted legally."
The Getty has been involved in an international art smuggling scandal ever since its former antiquities curator, Marion True, was charged by Italian authorities with conspiring to purchase stolen antiquities.
True, who has denied all charges against her, is due to stand trial in Italy and also faces a judicial investigation in Greece.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
