Ottoman shipwreck stirs the waters
A row has broken out between the Antiquities Department and a British company excavating ancient shipwrecks in the eastern Mediterranean, over a treasure of artefacts confiscated by Cypriot authorities back in 2015.
The row erupted after a British company, called Enigma Recoveries, unveiled news of spectacular treasures from 14 cultures including Chinese Ming dynasty bowls found in a dozen wrecks in the waters between Cyprus and Lebanon.
Hellenistic, Roman and early Islamic and Ottoman artefacts were on the list.
The fascinating collection of 588 artefacts was found in one Ottoman vessel dating from 1630, which had sunk in the Levantine Basin.
Cypriot authorities have accused Enigma Recoveries of illegally excavating ancient shipwrecks in the eastern Mediterranean and “violently extracting objects, causing destruction to their context”.
The artefacts in question were confiscated from a boat which had docked at the Limassol port after authorities said they were illegally excavated.
Enigma raised many questions such as who owned the finds and what would happen to them.
The items are at present impounded by the customs department, but the company claims that Cyprus is planning to auction them off.
Enigma Recoveries, which used Limassol as its base for the marine excavations which ended in 2015 under the codename Enigma shipwrecks Project, says the artefacts could be in a museum by now, to be appreciated by a wider audience.
But instead, they are being held by Cypriot authorities. The Department of Antiquities has denied the accusations saying the company is well known for its illicit underwater excavations and their intention to sell objects.
In a strongly-worded statement issued by the department said: “The company is well known both to Cyprus and other countries, as well as international organisations, including UNESCO, for its activities in illicit underwater excavations and their intention to sell objects is evident in the documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission”.
The department gave a link as proof of its claims which fails to connect to an active site.
“The Cypriot authorities will not, under any circumstances, be auctioning the objects as erroneously reported, since this does not only contravene the ethical code, but it is also prohibited by the antiquities law of Cyprus.” The department said.
The Antiquities Department when asked to comment further on the case by the Financial Mirror, refused to do so, stating that their statement was sufficient.
Enigma insists its actions were not illegal and says its research ship was entering and departing Cyprus multiple times.
Reportedly, the company said that the ship’s crew was not aware Cyprus required the cultural artefacts recovered to be listed as ‘cargo’ – which prompted the local customs department to seize the objects.
When approached by the Financial Mirror the Antiquities Department declined to explain why the artefacts were kept for five years in Cyprus, as Enigma argues “they were found in the Levantine Basin, in waters beyond any country’s territory”.