The Jordanian Antiquities Department announced that a number of Jordanian smuggled artifacts that were confiscated by the Canadian authorities have been returned to Amman.
The Department of Antiquities said in a statement: “The Jordanian Embassy in Canada has completed the procedures of returning archaeological artifacts to Jordan and commissioned a specialized shipping company to pack, secure and ship the pieces in accordance with the highest international standards and under the direct supervision of the embassy staff in Canada.”
The Canadian authorities had confiscated two sets of Jordanian artifacts at the airport in 2016 and 2017, which were smuggled by passengers on a plane coming from Amman. The 58 artifacts include potteries, small statues, and some colored jars and glass containers of different sizes and shapes.
Acting Director of the Department of Public Antiquities Yazeed Alian praised, in the statement, the efforts and cooperation of the Canadian authorities in combating smuggling and illegal trafficking of antiquities and its compliance with international conventions and treaties.
“All the pieces have been returned to Jordan and they match the description submitted by the Canadian authorities,” Alian said, adding that the artifacts dated back to the Bronze Ages from the fourth millennium B.C., the Roman and the Ayyubid dynasties.
