Cambodia Celebrates Return of Long-lost Ancient Cultural Pieces

Cambodia has celebrated the return of numerous cultural art pieces stolen during the country's civil war period.

Prime Minister Hun Manet recently led a ceremony to welcome the pieces, called artifacts, back to Cambodia. The event took place at the nation's Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. The palace houses the government's official headquarters.

The Cambodian leader said a total of 70 ancient statues had been reunited with the country's people. Most of the pieces are believed to have been stolen during Cambodia's civil war period, from 1967 until 1975.

At the time, the communist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia. It is blamed for the killings of more than 1 million Cambodians during its rule and years of unrest and economic difficulties.

Multiple international efforts over the years have helped Cambodia get back its artistic and archaeological treasures. The stolen artifacts include ancient pieces from Asia as well as artwork lost or stolen in conflict areas such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe.

“A total of 70 Khmer cultural objects have been returned through a range of different processes,” Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement. These included voluntary returns, negotiations, seizures and legal processes.

The statement said the returned artifacts included important Hindu and Buddhist pieces from the 9th-to-14th-century. Among them were “priceless stone statues” representing mythical Hindu figures, it added.

Hun Manet said that from 1996 until last month, 1,098 artifacts had been returned to Cambodia. About half were from private collections and half from foreign groups or governments.

Officials said the 70 items presented included 14 that arrived from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in early July. The rest, from private collectors, arrived in late July.

The pieces that came from the Metropolitan Museum were bought and trafficked by well-known art dealer Douglas Latchford. He had been indicted in 2019 on charges linked to an effort that sought to sell stolen Cambodian artifacts on the international art market. Latchford, who died the following year, had denied any involvement in smuggling.

A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia said the U.S. government had assisted the country with the return of over 150 ancient cultural pieces. Embassy official Bridgette Walker told ceremony attendees that the United States had long been a dependable partner “for protecting the cultural heritage of Cambodia.”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

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mythical – adj. existing in a myth: an ancient story about gods and brave people, often one that explains historical events

indict – v. to officially accuse someone of a crime

heritage – n. the buildings, paintings, customs, etc. that are important to a culture or society