Macron in Damascus: 23 Syrian artworks held in France since 2011 returned to Syria

Emmanuel Macron President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday, July 6, becoming the first head of state from a Western power to visit Syria since the Islamist coalition seized power and overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Among his belongings was a symbolic restitution: 23 Syrian archaeological artifacts, housed for 16 years at the Arab World Institute in Paris, were returned to their country of origin. These pieces, loaned to France in 2010, should have been returned to Syria in 2013, but the war prevented their return. "The president is bringing back to Syria archaeological objects that were loaned to the Arab World Institute in 2010 and which, for obvious reasons, could not be returned to Syria," the French presidency stated.

From the goddess al-Lât to the 8th century Umayyad period: pieces that will join the museums of Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra and Latakia

Among the returned works are the goddess al-Lat mounted on a camel, dating from the 1st century, and an Umayyad statuette of a crowned woman from the 8th century. The collection spans a period from prehistory to the Abbasid era, encompassing the Mesopotamian, Canaanite, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Roman, and Byzantine civilizations. The pieces will be exhibited in the museums of Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, and Latakia. "These works were perhaps, probably, saved, because there was a great deal of destruction," Djamila Chakour, curator at the Arab World Institute, who was present during their installation in 2011, told France Inter. For Ammar Kannawi, head of Syrian museums, "their return symbolizes the resumption of relations between Syria and France." Anne-Claire Legendre, president of the Arab World Institute, who accompanied Macron, described the moment as "very moving": "It's about giving back to the Syrians elements of their history that have been threatened for all these years." The Arab World Institute is also preparing a major exhibition dedicated to Syria to coincide with the country's return to the international cultural stage.