Athens - Switzerland returned a 2,400-year-old funerary urn to Greece on Monday after discovering that it had been taken out of the country illegally, the Culture Ministry said. The ancient marble oil flask or lekythos was returned to Greece by a Swiss art dealer, who had it in his private collection, after rounds of negotiations.
The funeral lekythos depicts a farewell banquet for the deceased in a classic farewell scene and will be taken to the conservation workshop of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Greece has launched a campaign to reclaim illegally excavated and exported antiquities from museums and art dealers all over the world.
