An eye-popping discovery was made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when customs officers confiscated a shipment of dozens of swords and arrowheads that date back 4,000 years to the Bronze Age.
Customs and Boarder Protection officers seized 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on Feb. 18 that they have determined were unlawfully imported to the United States.
The shipment initially arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates on October 16 and was destined to an address in Jacksonville, Florida.
According a CBP announcement on Friday:
CBP officers x-rayed the shipment, which was manifested as metal decoration articles, and detected sword-like objects. Officers then opened the shipment and discovered the swords and arrowheads. Officers suspected the items to be cultural artifacts and detained the shipment for further investigation.
CBP officers contacted the National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit, which solicited assistance from an archaeologist affiliated with a local Philadelphia university with extensive experience working in the Middle East. On Feb. 13, the archaeologist authenticated the short swords and arrowheads as antiquities dating back to the later 2nd millennium BCE, 1600-1000 BCE, from an area along the southwestern Caspian Sea near the lush Talish Mountains region of Iran.
The antiquities are suspected to have been derived from illicit excavations of burial sites, according to the customs agency.
Federal authorities released video of the find to news outlets:
“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.
He continued, “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.”
Most countries protect their cultural property with a variety of laws, including export controls and nationwide ownership, federal officials said.
“Even if purchased from a business in the country of origin or in another country, the purchase does not necessarily confer ownership for lawful importation into the United States,” CBP said in its statement.
CBP added that importation of such items is permitted only when an export permit issued by the country of origin is presented with the article, though smugglers of such items are known to offer phony documents.
Authorities safeguard the antiquities until a disposition is ordered so they can be returned to a rightful owner. No arrests connected to the ancient haul were announced.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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