General Authority of Antiquities & Museums in Sanaa issues new list of lost antiquities
SANAA, March 19 (YPA) – The General Authority of Antiquities and Museums in Sanaa issued the fifteenth list of lost antiquities that were looted, robbed, smuggled, and offered for sale in international auctions abroad, under the name “Our Looted Antiquities.”
The authority explained, “The list included fifty artifacts dating back to different historical periods that were smuggled out of the country and are currently being offered at more than one public auction in Israel, America, the UAE, Britain, Poland, Switzerland, and Germany.”
The statement indicated that the authority assigned a team affiliated with it to monitor and track the antiquities that are sold and displayed at international auctions and then prepare lists and identify information regarding those antiquities, their locations, and the exhibition halls in which they are displayed.
The authority confirmed that the team is working with some researchers abroad, whether Yemenis or foreigners, who are responsible for sending all information about the ancient Yemeni antiquities that are being displayed or sold, whether they are being sold abroad or being promoted for sale at home, based on social media and various media outlets, and monitoring and documenting them in a database and submitting it to the competent authorities to enable them to demand the return of these artifacts.
The statement stated that the number of antiquities that were robbed and smuggled out of the country from 1994 until today amounted to more than 13,000 antiquities, including about 8,000 antiquities that were allegedly looted and smuggled out of the country during the period of the Saudi-Emirati coalition aggression against Yemen, according to information and sources of the authority.
The Authority affirmed its keenness to recover all looted Yemeni antiquities that are offered for sale in international auctions abroad and to place the Yemeni file on the destruction of Yemeni antiquities and smuggling them abroad on the list of upcoming priorities.
The statement indicated that the process of exhuming and stealing antiquities and smuggling them abroad during the current situation has increased due to the Saudi-Emirati coalition aggression, which has sought since its first days to target archaeological and historical sites.
The Authority has previously issued 14 lists of “the looted antiquities” in the context of its tireless efforts in tracking looted and smuggled Yemeni antiquities to Arab and foreign countries, auctions, and international museums.
YPA