British Museum

The British Museum said on Wednesday it was holding "constructive discussions" with Greece over the Parthenon Sculptures amid renewed speculation that the 2,500-year-old marbles could soon be returned to Athens.

The British Museum and Athens' Acropolis Museum are nearing a deal that would see the Parthenon Sculptures returned to Greece over time as part of a cultural exchange, according to a report by Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The deal would put an end to a battle over the ancient treasures that stretches back to the 1800s.

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which is one of the seven wonders of the world and whose ruins were looted after being destroyed by the Goths in 263 and which no one could see as a whole, has been revived in the digital world.

Decorated glazed bricks almost 3,000 years old are on display at Iran's National Museum after a four-decade search disrupted by war and an international legal battle.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has once again issued a call for the return of the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum to Athens, so that they may be displayed at the Acropolis Museum at the foot of the Acropolis, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph published yesterday.

In a milestone move, UNESCO has issued a separate decision on the need for the sculptures to return to their home beyond the positive recommendations that it has issued for years.

The decision issued at the 22nd Session of UNESCO's Inter-Governmental  Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property asks the British government to urgently review its policy.

Greece on May 23 urged Britain to return the Parthenon Marbles- often known as the Elgin Marbles- as one of the world's greatest ancient sites the Acropolis re-opens after the coronavirus shutdown.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni on Saturday reiterated a long-standing request for the British Museum to return the Parthenon Marbles, ahead of the 11th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum, which was purpose-built to house the antiquities found on Athens' namesake hill.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has described comments in an op-ed in the Sunday Times by British Museum Director Ηartwig Fischer about the Parthenon Marbles as "unfortunate, if not outright unacceptable."

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has described comments in an op-ed in the Sunday Times by British Museum Director Ηartwig Fischer about the Parthenon Marbles as "unfortunate, if not outright unacceptable."