The Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris returned 23 artifacts to Syria earlier this month, during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Originally loaned in 2010 and 2011 to IMA from museums in Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, and Palmyra, all 23 artifacts were transported back to Syria aboard the French presidential plane alongside Macron.
The artifacts include Roman bronzes, Byzantine and Islamic coins, funerary reliefs from the ancient city of Palmyra from the second and third centuries, a mosaic fragment from the Umayyad Mosque, reported the French magazine BeauxArts earlier in July.
Also returned as part of the collection was the statue of Ishqi-Mari, an ivory statuette discovered in a Temple of Ishtar in the ancient city of Mari by a French archaeological team in 1934.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry, in a July 7 statement, noted France as the first country to cooperate with Syria in its campaign to recover antiquities held worldwide since the Assad regime was overthrown.
Return of artifacts delayed by Assad's regime
Returning the artifacts comes as part of Syria’s “national and diplomatic efforts” to recover its cultural heritage, Syria’s Foreign Ministry explained.
Syria’s state media SANA, citing Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), added that the artifacts had originally been slated to return in 2014, but delayed due to the deterioration of Syria and France’s relations under Assad.
Further, SANA reported that French authorities at the time had also refused to return the artifacts due to the nature of the security situation in Syria and concern for the artifacts’ preservation.
Macron and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa presided over the official handover ceremony of the artifacts on July 7, which took place at the People's Palace in Damascus.
'Great pride' in returning artifacts to Syria
In its statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry expressed its thanks and appreciation to French authorities for their cooperation in returning the artifacts.
“France has safeguarded Syrian archaeological treasures for years of war, to protect them from destruction and trafficking,” Macron shared in a post to X/Twitter, alongside a video of the ceremony. “They are back. Very proud to bring them back to Damascus.”
IMA President Anne-Claire Legendre echoed Macron’s sentiment in her own social media post, sharing the institute’s “great pride” in finally returning the artifacts to Syria.
“It is very moving to return these works to the Syrians and to see them return to the Damascus museum,” IMA said in its own X post, marking the occasion. “It is giving back to the Syrians elements of their history that have been threatened all these years.”
“After more than fifteen years of conservation at the Arab World Institute (IMA), these works, entrusted by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria (DGAM), are returning today to their country of origin. Presented as part of the permanent tour of the IMA museum, they have helped to reveal to a public from all over the world the richness of Syrian heritage.”
“This trip also marks the opening of a new chapter in cooperation between the Institut du monde arabe and Syria, with the preparation of a major exhibition dedicated to Syria in 2028 and the strengthening of partnerships between Syrian cultural institutions and the IMA,” IMA concluded.