PHILADELPHIA, PA — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Philadelphia seized 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on February 18 after determining the items, believed to date back nearly 4,000 years, were unlawfully imported, the agency said.
The shipment arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates on October 16 and was destined for an address in Jacksonville, Florida, according to CBP.
Officers x-rayed the package, which was manifested as metal decoration articles, and identified sword-shaped objects. After opening the shipment, officers discovered the swords and arrowheads and detained them on suspicion they were cultural artifacts.
CBP officers contacted the National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit, which sought assistance from an archaeologist affiliated with a Philadelphia university who has experience in the Middle East.
On February 13, the archaeologist authenticated the items as antiquities dating to the later second millennium BCE, between 1600 and 1000 BCE, from an area near the southwestern Caspian Sea along the Talish Mountains region of Iran. The antiquities are suspected to have been derived from illicit excavations of burial sites, CBP said.
CBP officers will safeguard the artifacts until a final disposition is ordered.
“Customs and Border Protection officers strive to rescue cultural artifacts from the grips of illicit international traders who plunder and exploit another nation’s heritage for profit,” said Elliot N. Ortiz, CBP’s acting area port director in Philadelphia. “The deceptive practices used to smuggle these treasures into the United States not only violate our import laws but also undermine efforts to preserve and protect the integrity of cultural history.”
CBP said most countries have laws protecting cultural property, including export controls and national ownership provisions. Importation into the United States generally requires an export permit issued by the country of origin, and officials warned that fraudulent export certificates have been used in some cases.
Additional U.S. import restrictions may be imposed in response to requests from other countries, the agency said.
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