https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/topic/heritage-crime Looting, trafficking, seizures and returns of Cypriot antiquities. en Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:29:00 GMT https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/morphou-metropolis-byzantine-icons-repatriated https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/morphou-metropolis-byzantine-icons-repatriated Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:29:00 GMT The Evangelists Matthew and Mark, taken from the Metropolis palace in Kyrenia, were traced to the UK and handed back to the Church without payment. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Two gold-ground icons side by side: on the left a grey-bearded saint in a red cloak holding a closed red book, on the right a dark-bearded saint in a green cloak holding a red book and a pen, Greek inscriptions beside their haloes https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w27 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w27 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 17:00:00 GMT A Late Bronze Age juglet withdrawn from a British online sale is handed back to Cyprus, and the Department of Antiquities lists its stolen antiquities in UNESCO's Virtual Museum. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Title card reading This Week in Cypriot Archaeology, 29 June–5 July 2026, in dark serif type on a cream ground, with a faint outline of Cyprus in the lower right corner https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/cypriot-antiquities-returned-from-online-auctions-2026 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/cypriot-antiquities-returned-from-online-auctions-2026 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT The objects came back in eight handovers in France, Britain, the United States and Canada between December 2025 and June 2026, six of them after auction houses withdrew the lots. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Pale terracotta model of four horses standing side by side, a wheel at one side and, behind the horses, a round shield and pointed helmets, on a white background https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w26 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w26 Sun, 28 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT A clay four-horse chariot of about 600 BCE, found in a French online sale, is returned to Cyprus, and a French mission ends its season on the walls of Nea Paphos. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Title card reading This Week in Cypriot Archaeology, 22–28 June 2026, in dark serif type on a cream ground, with a faint outline of Cyprus in the lower right corner https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w24 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w24 Sun, 14 Jun 2026 17:00:00 GMT A Black Polished bowl of about 1900 BCE, spotted in an online auction in May 2025, was handed to the Cyprus High Commission in Ottawa after a year of police and justice work. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Title card reading This Week in Cypriot Archaeology, 8–14 June 2026, in dark serif type on a cream ground, with a faint outline of Cyprus in the lower right corner https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/greece-returns-48-cypriot-antiquities-zacharakis https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/greece-returns-48-cypriot-antiquities-zacharakis Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT Pottery and limestone figurines from the Early Bronze Age to the medieval period, given up by the heirs of Christos Zacharakis, were handed over at the Cyprus Museum on 1 June. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos About fifty painted clay jugs, bowls, flasks and juglets of many shapes, with two small limestone pieces, set out on a white-covered table and green display blocks in a museum room https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w12 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w12 Sun, 22 Mar 2026 18:00:00 GMT A Cypro-Archaic jug pulled from a UK online sale comes home, UNESCO posters at Larnaca and Paphos airports warn travellers, and MPs tour the new museum site in Nicosia. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Title card reading Week 12, 2026, This Week in Cypriot Archaeology, in dark serif type on a cream ground, with the pale shape of Cyprus in the lower right corner https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w01 https://www.ancientcyprus.com/news/this-week-in-cypriot-archaeology-2026-w01 Sun, 04 Jan 2026 18:00:00 GMT A Cypro-Geometric drinking cup comes home from a French online auction, and the bicommunal heritage committee counts over 180 sites worked on since 2008. Heritage crime Alexis Drakopoulos Title card reading This Week in Cypriot Archaeology, 29 December 2025–4 January 2026, in dark serif type on a cream ground, with a faint outline of Cyprus in the lower right corner