565 items, including Scythian and Sarmatian jewelry and sculptures, were brought to Kyiv from the Netherlands.
Scythian gold – a historical collection of ancient treasures from Crimean museums returned to Ukraine after almost 10 years of dispute with Russia. 565 items, including Scythian and Sarmatian jewelry and sculptures, were brought to Kyiv from the Netherlands.
The collection, mostly from Crimean museums, was on loan from Amsterdam’s Allard Pearson Museum when Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.
Both Ukraine and Russia claimed this collection, but the Dutch courts supported Kyiv.
How did you end up abroad?
For many years, the partners of Ukrainian archaeologists who explored ancient settlements and graves in Crimea were German specialists. They initiated the holding in Europe of a major exhibition of finds from the Late Scythian, Greek, Sarmatian and Gothic cultures.
The Minister-President of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Hannelore Kraft acted as patron of the project. An exhibition entitled Crimea – a golden island in the Black Sea opened at the Rhineland Regional Museum in Bonn on July 4, 2013.
“More than two thousand unique exhibits will be shown outside of Ukraine for the first time. Among them are archaeological finds – examples of Greek architecture found in southern Ukraine and Crimea, Chinese boxes, Sarmatian gold, Roman coins, Egyptian scarabs, jewelry of the Huns and Goths, which was built in the 5th century BC. to the 5th century AD,” reported the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine at the time.
The exhibition in Bonn lasted until January 19, 2014; according to German estimates, more than 53 thousand people visited it. After that, according to the contract, he moved to the archaeological museum of Amsterdam (Netherlands), named after the art historian Allard Pearson. The collection called Crimea: gold and secrets of the Black Sea was opened for inspection on February 7.
In June 2014, it was planned to return the exhibits to Ukraine, but at that time the situation in the state changed.
Long test
On January 21, 2015, the first formal meeting took place at the Amsterdam District Court in the legal process that the museums of the temporarily occupied Crimea, which recognizes the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, started against the University of Amsterdam, the owned by the museum. , Allard Pearson.
At that time, the museum returned 19 exhibits to Ukraine that were taken from the museum in Kyiv. This is almost all Scythian gold that was discussed in the media: a Scythian gold helmet, a gold sword and its scabbard, as well as Sarmatian jewelry, including the famous hryvnia with griffins and a fibula in the form of a dolphin.
Another 565 exhibits, or 2,111 storage units, remained in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam District Court handled the Scythian gold case very carefully. Here is a brief chronology. On December 14, 2016, the court recognized that all exhibits of the exhibition are part of the Museum Fund of Ukraine and should be returned to this country. In addition, Ukraine has to pay the cost of storing exhibits in museum warehouses – about 111.5 thousand euros.
A month after the decision, the Russians filed an appeal. For a long time, the Court of Appeal was unable to proceed with the study of the case on its merits. On June 9, 2023, an end to all proceedings was set. After another six months, the artifacts finally returned to their homeland. The Netherlands Museum refused to collect money from Kyiv for their storage.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.