A finely made 5th-century BC ancient Greek statue was turned over to the Greek Ministry and Sports Culture by the Attica police on Friday.
The gesture was made after the statue had been confiscated from a man who had been trying to sell it, before being caught by the authorities.
As Attica Security Police chief Petros Dzeferis told Culture Ministry official Vassiliki Papageorgiou, citing a ministry description, the statue “is headless, portrays a seated young male, and is close to 37-centimeters tall.”
Dzaferis also said that the Greek artifact was found through close collaboration between the police section on antiquities and the ministry’s directorate of cultural artifacts protection.
Both he and Papageorgiou, head of the directorate, said the case was among a series of successful cases carried out through the collaboration.
The statue was found in the possession of a man who was arrested in the area of Corinth on March 17, 2020. He was trying to sell the statue for a whopping 100,000 euros.
A case file was drawn up against him and he was led before the public prosecutor of Corinth.
More ancient Greek statues found in 2021
Two ancient Greek statues depicting female figures were uncovered from inside a burial tomb east of Athens in late January 2021.
The discovery was made during the construction of the new City Hall of Paiania.
According to a statement by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the tomb is preserved in fragments, and the full-sized female figures were uncovered with their heads missing.
One of the statues, presumably belonging to a wealthy and prominent individual, sits in an elaborate seat and rests her legs on a low footrest. She is dressed in a transparent Ionic tunic and robe.
The second statue depicts her physician, according to the statement.
The theme of the representation is typical in the tomb reliefs of the 4th century BC.
Similar tomb reliefs were discovered in the past and were found in the built-in tombstone in Markopoulo, Mesogaia, and the cemetery of Kerameikos.
The relief was transferred for safekeeping and maintenance to the Archaeological Museum of Vravrona.
The excavation is continuing and archaeologists say that other historic fragments are likely to be found.
With information from AMNA
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
