US border officials in Philadelphia have seized a cache of 4,000-year-old Bronze Age swords and arrowheads believed to be looted antiquities from Iran. The ancient weapons were intercepted from a shipment thought to contain items plundered following recent turmoil in the Middle Eastern state.
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) team confiscated 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on 18 February, saying they had been unlawfully imported into the United States. The consignment arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates on 16 October, addressed to a location in Jacksonville.
Officers grew suspicious after X-raying the shipment, which had been falsely declared as 'metal decorative articles', revealing sword-like shapes. Upon opening the package, the ancient weapons were discovered. Suspecting cultural artefacts, officers detained the consignment for further investigation.
Specialists from the National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit were consulted, alongside an archaeologist from a Philadelphia university with extensive Middle East experience. On 13 February, the archaeologist authenticated the weapons as antiquities from the later second millennium BCE, dating between 1600 and 1000 BCE. They were identified as originating from Iran's Talish Mountains region, near the south-western Caspian Sea coast.
Officials suspect that the weapons were plundered from illicit excavations of ancient burial sites. CBP has said it will safeguard the antiquities, pending a decision on their final disposition. Elliot N Ortiz, CBP’s acting area port director in Philadelphia, said: '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.'
