Two marble busts looted from burial sites located in a Libyan coastal city were returned to the North African country on Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced. City officials declined to identify the lender due to an ongoing investigation into looted antiquities from Middle East and North Africa. The second artifact returned to Libyan officials, Bust of a Bearded Man, dates back to sometime between 100 C.E. The statue on loan to the Met was valued at $700,000, according to city officials. In January, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office returned another marble antiquity looted from Cyrene valued at $1.2 million that also depicts the head of a veiled female figure.

Source: Libya Today March 31, 2022 21:08 UTC