The US-based museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, has agreed to return a 2,200-year-old statue to Libya decades after it was looted.
The statue, from the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt, is believed to have been taken from Libya following World War II.
According to the American "Art" newspaper, the museum and the Libyan Department of Antiquities agreed that the statue, which has been part of the Cleveland Museum's collection since 1991, will remain on display at the museum for a few more years as a loan.
During this period, the museum will update its exhibit to acknowledge Libya as the rightful owner and commit to future collaborative scholarship.
The artefact, approximately two feet tall, dates back to over 100 years BC and hails from the Ptolemaic Kingdom, an ancient Greek kingdom in Egypt founded by Ptolemy I Soter, a companion of Alexander the Great.
The Libyan Department of Antiquities reached out to the Cleveland Museum in 2023, asserting that the statue had been taken from the Ptolemies Museum in Libya, which was destroyed during the British occupation in 1941.
Cleveland Museum of Art Director William Griswold expressed satisfaction with the resolution, stating, "We are very pleased with the cooperation and open dialogue we have had with our colleagues in Libya and look forward to the opportunity to enhance the cultural exchange represented by our agreement with them."
