Thirty stolen works of art and artifacts, including those from an ancient Khmer city, were returned to Cambodia by the United States on Monday after being illegally traded throughout the world for decades.
In front of the media, Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams officially handed the confiscated artifacts to Keo Chhea, the ambassador of Cambodia to the United States.
Williams stated that they rejoice in the repatriation of Cambodia’s cultural treasure to the people of Cambodia and reiterate their commitment to curbing the criminal trafficking of art and antiquities. A sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha from the 10th century and a sculpture of Skanda, who is depicted sitting on a peacock, were two of the 30 pieces. According to a statement from Williams’ office, both were taken from Koh Ker, the former Khmer capital 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the world-famous Angkor monuments.
The stolen artifacts, which date from the Bronze Age to the 12th century, were among thousands that were taken during the Cambodian battles of the 1970s and after the country’s reopening in the 1990s. Thousands of Khmer statues and sculptures, according to the federal prosecutor’s office, were illegally exported to collectors, businesspeople, and even museums in Asia, Europe, and the US after being transported out of Cambodia over a period of decades to antique dealers in Bangkok.
In 2019, one of the dealers, American Douglas Latchford, was accused of trafficking in works of art; however, the matter was put on hold upon his passing. The prosecutor’s office in New York is involved in the return of a wide variety of works. At least 700 pieces have been returned to 14 different nations between the summer of 2020 and the end of 2021, including Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Greece, and Italy.
As part of a settlement with the authorities, American collector Michael Steinhardt returned 180 ancient artifacts that had been recently stolen from countries all around the world in 2021. The items were worth a total of $70 million. The deal between the US legal system and Steinhardt, 80, allowed him to avoid being charged but forbade him from ever again purchasing items on the legal art market. The Khmer kingdom, which ruled from the ninth through the fourteenth century, was centered at Angkor, the greatest archaeological site in the world at 400 square kilometers (154 square miles). The location was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and has just reopened to visitors after being closed for two years due to a pandemic.
