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Ancient Roman Bust Seized from Massachusetts Museum in Looting Probe 

The bust known as “Portrait of a Lady” was acquired in 1966 by the Worcester Art Museum. (Worcester Art Museum)
The bust known as “Portrait of a Lady” was acquired in 1966 by the Worcester Art Museum. (Worcester Art Museum)
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Ancient Roman Bust Seized from Massachusetts Museum in Looting Probe 

The bust known as “Portrait of a Lady” was acquired in 1966 by the Worcester Art Museum. (Worcester Art Museum)
The bust known as “Portrait of a Lady” was acquired in 1966 by the Worcester Art Museum. (Worcester Art Museum)

A bronze bust believed to depict the daughter of an ancient Roman emperor has been seized from an art museum in Massachusetts by New York authorities investigating antiquities stolen from Türkiye.

The seizure is the latest in an ongoing investigation into a smuggling network involving objects looted from Bubon in southwestern Türkiye and trafficked through Manhattan. A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not provide further details of the investigation.

The bust known as “Portrait of a Lady” was acquired in 1966 by the Worcester Art Museum about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Boston. The seizure comes weeks after the Manhattan district attorney’s office seized a statue thought to portray the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius from a Cleveland, Ohio, museum.

Worcester Art Museum officials said in a statement that the bust taken from their possession dates from A.D. 160 to 180 and is believed to be a life-sized portrayal of a daughter of Marcus Aurelius or another Roman emperor, Septimius Severus.

Museum officials said they had “limited information” about the bust’s history when they acquired it nearly six decades ago.

“We are very thankful for the new information provided to us,” said Matthias Waschek, the museum’s director. “The ethical standards applicable to museums are much changed since the 1960s, and the Museum is committed to managing its collection consistent with modern ethical standards.”

The bust shows a young woman with a heavy-lidded gaze and hair carefully combed into waves.

Marcus Aurelius ruled as Roman emperor from A.D. 161 to 180 and was a Stoic philosopher whose “Meditations” have been studied over the centuries. Septimius Severus’ reign from A.D. 193 to 211 was marked by his efforts to convert the government into a military monarchy.

Türkiye first made claims about the Marcus Aurelius statue in 2012 when it released a list of nearly two dozen objects in the Cleveland museum’s collection that it said had been looted from Bubon and other locations. Museum officials said at the time that Türkiye had provided no hard evidence of looting.

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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
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Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center Reveals Shortlists for Sard Al Thahab Award

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM
A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories. WAM

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has unveiled the shortlists for the second edition of the Sard Al Thahab Award, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Wednesday.

A total of 15 works from eight countries have been selected to compete across four categories: ‘Short Story for Published Stories’, ‘Popular Narratives’, ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’, and ‘Illustrated Story,’ WAM said.

In addition to these, the center will announce the winners in the ‘Narrators’ and ‘Emirati Narration’ categories, along with the winners in the four categories, over the coming months.

The shortlist features works from the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The increase in the number of participating countries highlights the award's rapid expansion and its capacity to attract creative talents across its six categories.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Published Stories’ category is: ‘The Two Sisters’ by Ali AlAbdan from the UAE, published in 2023 by the Emirates Writers Union; ‘The Last Storyteller in This Time’ by Abdulrahman Abbas from Sudan, published in 2023 by Rwafead Publishing & Distribution; and ‘The Green Dragon’s Wife and Other Colourful Tales’ by Rawaa Sunbol from Syria, published in 2019 by Alaan Publishers & Distributors.

The shortlist for the ‘Popular Narratives’ category features: ‘Bahraini Folktales: One Thousand and One Tales’ by Dr. Dheya Abdulla Khamis AlKaabi from Bahrain, published in 2018 by the Arab Institute for Research & Publishing; ‘Encyclopedia of Folktales: One Thousand and Eighty Tales from Northern Upper Egypt’ by Dr. Sayed Fares from Egypt, published in 2023 by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage; and ‘The Hidden Heritage: The Sumerian Legend and the Gulf Novel of the Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah’ by Fathy Abdelsamie from Egypt, published in 2024 by Dar Waad for Publishing and Distribution.

The shortlist for the ‘Short Story for Unpublished Stories’ category has five entries: ‘Rooms with People Running Underneath Them’ by the Iraqi writer Yas AlFahdawi; ‘Biography of a Creature’ by the Moroccan writer Said Alfellak; ‘Suspended Souls’ by the Egyptian writer AbdelHady Ibrahim; ‘Judeilah Weather’ by the Egyptian writer Aida Deraman; and ‘Al Hashashat’ by the Tunisian writer Nasr Sami.

The shortlist for the ‘Illustrated Story’ category has four works: a documentary film titled ‘Tifan’ by Aaesha Alteneiji from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Grandma’s Stories’ by Nuwair Alhajeri from the UAE; a photograph titled ‘Wife’s Loyalty’ by Issa Mohamed from Bahrain; and a drawing titled ‘Antara and Abla’ by Mahmood Shubbar from Iraq.

The jury selected the nominated works based on their alignment with the award's standards and objectives, reinforcing the award's commitment to excellence and fostering creativity in the literary field.

The Sard Al Thahab Award is an annual initiative launched by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center. Its objectives are inspired by the poetry of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Father of the Nation. The award aims to serve as a platform that merges creativity with intellectual thought, fostering an artistic movement that draws upon Sheikh Zayed’s creative legacy as a foundation for new forms of creativity.