希臘向土耳其歸還1,055枚銀幣，下一步關注帕德嫩神廟大理石雕像

希臘文化部長莉娜·門多尼 (Lina Mendoni) 表示，2019 年希臘海關人員在與土耳其邊境查獲了 1,055 枚銀幣。

Greece on Thursday returned a hoard of 1,055 silver coins to Turkey, dating back to the 5th century BCE, in the first such repatriation between the two countries.

週四，希臘向土耳其歸還了一批可追溯到公元前 5 世紀的 1,055 枚銀幣，這是兩國之間的首次此類歸還。

The coins, seized by Greek customs guards on the border with Turkey in 2019, were part of a stock hidden in Asia Minor, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said at a ceremony in Athens.

希臘文化部長莉娜·門多尼 (Lina Mendoni) 在雅典舉行的儀式上表示，這些硬幣是 2019 年在與土耳其邊境被希臘海關人員查獲的，屬於隱藏在小亞細亞的庫存的一部分。

"These coins had been illegally imported," she said at the Numismatic Museum, which specialises in currency and medal collections.

「這些硬幣是非法進口的，」她在專門收藏貨幣和獎章的錢幣博物館說道。

Greeks are "particularly sensitive" to repatriation issues, she said.

她說，希臘人對遣返問題「特別敏感」。

"All illegally exported antiquities from whichever country should return to their country of origin," she added.

「所有從哪個國家非法出口的文物都應該返回原產國，」她補充道。

Turkish Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the operation was the first repatriation from Greece.

土耳其文化部長穆罕默德·努里·埃爾索伊表示，這是首次從希臘遣返。

Greek and Turkish experts determined that the coins were part of a stock hidden in Asia Minor between the late 5th and early 4th century BCE, she added.

她補充說，希臘和土耳其專家確定這些硬幣是公元前 5 世紀末至 4 世紀初隱藏在小亞細亞的庫存的一部分。

While research is ongoing, it is possible the hoard was secreted in modern-day Turkey during the Persian Wars expeditions of Athenian general Cimon, a veteran of the 480 BCE Battle of Salamis, she added.

她補充說，雖然研究仍在進行中，但這些寶藏有可能是在雅典將軍西蒙 (Cimon) 遠徵波斯戰爭期間秘密藏在現代土耳其的，西蒙是公元前 480 年薩拉米斯戰役的老兵。

Most of the cache were tetradrachms -- ancient large silver coins -- originally minted in Athens and used broadly in the eastern Mediterranean, said Museum Numismatologist Vassiliki Stefanaki, a coinage expert.

博物館錢幣學家兼鑄幣專家瓦西里基·斯特凡納基 (Vassiliki Stefanaki) 表示，大部分藏品都是四德拉克——古代大銀幣——最初在雅典鑄造，並在東地中海廣泛使用。

Stamped with the image of an owl, the Athenian relics were also used locally to pay tribute to the Persian Empire, and Persian governors used them to reward their troops, she said.

她說，這些雅典文物上印有貓頭鷹的圖案，當地也用它們來向波斯帝國進貢，波斯總督也用它們來獎勵他們的軍隊。

Other coins came from Cyprus, the islands of Aegina and Milos, from Asia Minor cities founded by Greek settlers, the Iron Age kingdom of Lydia, and Phoenicia in modern-day Lebanon, officials said.

官員稱，其他硬幣來自塞浦路斯、埃伊納島和米洛斯島、希臘定居者建立的小亞細亞城市、鐵器時代的呂底亞王國以及現代黎巴嫩的腓尼基。

Mendoni on Thursday also thanked Turkey for supporting Greece's campaign to secure the return of the Parthenon Marbles from London.

門多尼週四也感謝土耳其支持希臘確保從倫敦歸還帕台農神廟大理石雕像的運動。

The British Museum has long maintained that the Marbles were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by royal decree granted to Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

大英博物館長期以來一直堅稱，這些大理石浮雕是根據英國駐奧斯曼帝國大使埃爾金勳爵的皇家法令從雅典衛城移走的。

But in June, Zeynep Boz, the head of the Turkish Culture Ministry's anti-smuggling committee, told a UNESCO meeting in Paris that no such document had been found in Ottoman archives.

但今年六月，土耳其文化部反走私委員會主席澤伊內普·博茲(Zeynep Boz)在巴黎舉行的聯合國教科文組織會議上表示，在奧斯曼檔案中沒有發現此類文件。

Her statement was "decisive" in favour of Greece's position, Mendoni said Thursday.

門多尼週四表示，她的聲明「決定性」支持希臘的立場。

Ersoy through a translator said Turkey wanted "with all its heart" to see the Marbles return to Athens.

埃爾索伊透過翻譯表示，土耳其「全心全意」希望看到大理石雕像返回雅典。

"The Greek people should have them, they belong to them," he said.

「希臘人民應該擁有它們，它們屬於他們，」他說。

Boz, who attended Thursday's ceremony in Athens, told AFP that the timing of the coins' return by Greece was not related to her report in June.

參加週四在雅典舉行的儀式的博茲告訴法新社，希臘歸還硬幣的時間與她六月的報告無關。

The five-year delay was caused by the time required by the Greek justice system to authorise the coins' repatriation, she said.

她說，延遲五年的原因是希臘司法系統授權返還硬幣所需的時間。