HMRC returns looted ancient statue to Libya

A 2,500-year-old statue that was smuggled into the UK and seized by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been returned to the Libyan Government.

The marble funerary statue, which dates from 630BC, was shipped to the UK in 2011 using false documents describing the priceless artifact as a “stone decoration from Turkey”.

The statue, from the ancient city of Cyrene, had been looted from the UNESCO World Heritage site in Libya and could have fetched up to £3million on the black market.

A Judge ruled in 2015 that the statue had been unlawfully excavated from Libya and should be forfeited to the Crown before being returned to the Libyan Government.

It was safely kept at the British Museum until it was handed to the Libyan Embassy in London in May 2021.

Andrew J McKie, Assistant Director, HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“This statue is of significant historic and cultural importance and this case demonstrates HMRC playing a crucial role in combatting the illicit international trade in cultural property.

"We are grateful for the support of the British Museum and we are pleased that the statue has now been returned to its rightful owners."

The investigation was led by a specialist team that sits within HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service that works closely with international partners and historical specialists at the British Museum to safeguard and identify smuggled historical artifacts and return them to their rightful owners.

This is one of several cases where HMRC have worked to prevent the illegal sale of smuggled antiquities.

The intricately carved marble statue is believed to represent the Goddess Persephone rising from the underworld. Archaeologists from the British Museum studying the life size funeral statue identified iconography and techniques typical of the skilled artisans from ancient Cyrene.

The city, one of the of the important in the Greek world, was later Romanized and remained an important trading centre until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 365AD. Its ruins have been famous since the 18th century.

Notes for editors

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