King Croesus's golden brooch to be returned to Turkey
Lydian Hoard treasure in shape of winged seahorse, sold to pay gambling debts and replaced with a fake, to be taken home
The Guardian, Sunday 25 November 2012 08.45 EST
The original, left, and the fake golden brooch in the shape of a winged seahorse from the Lydian Hoard in Turkey.
For thousands of years it lay underground, part of the buried treasure of the legendarily wealthy King Croesus. But since being illegally excavated in the 1960s, it has been stolen, replaced by a fake, sold to pay off gambling debts and has allegedly brought down a curse on its plunderers.
Now the 2,500-year-old golden brooch is to be returned home to Turkey, where it will be given a special place in a new national museum.
The Turkish culture minister, Ertugrul Günay, has announced that German
officials have agreed to return the missing artefact, a brooch in the form of a winged seahorse, possibly as early as this year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/25/king-croesus-treasure-returning-turk\
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