Libya recovers 2000-year-old marble head from Swiss Government
The Libyan Government has retrieved a two-thousand-year-old marble head of a young woman from the Swiss Government.
The artefact depicted in “Aphrodite’s Head” was handed over to the Libyan Embassy in Switzerland after it was believed to have been smuggled from the North African country in 2016.
The Swiss authorities handed over the archaeological artefact in a ceremony in the Swiss capital Bern.
“Among the efforts of the Government of National Unity and its interest in the sector of archaeology and historical heritage. The Libyan embassy in Switzerland has received an artefact smuggled from Libya since 2016, depicted in "Aphrodite's Head," the Libyan Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Unity announced in a statement.
“The handover and reception ceremony was held in the Swiss capital Bern, in the presence of representatives from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” they added.
Libya is home to some of the most beautiful heritage sites in the world. The country’s World Heritage Sites were endangered after being thrown into conflict following the unseating of long-term leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Five of the North African nation’s World Heritage Sites were put on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in danger in 2016.
