Published 13:00 IST, February 21st 2020
Rare crown returned to Ethiopia from The Netherlands after 21 years
Sirak, a political refugee who fled Ethiopia in the 1970s during “Red Terror” purges, had concealed the ornate bronze crown in an apartment in Dutch port City.
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A rare crown dating back to the 18th century has reportedly been handed to Ethiopia in a ceremony in Addis Ababa. Prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, assumed the custody of the historic artifact returned to him by Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation.
Sirak, a political refugee who fled Ethiopia in the 1970s during “Red Terror” purges, had concealed the ornate bronze crown in an apartment in Dutch port City, Netherlands. The Ethiopian authorities said that the priceless crown had been missing since 1993, confirmed reports. Abiy reportedly expressed gratitude to the Dutch officials who facilitated the search for the precious crown and arranged for a handoff ceremony. He thanked Sirak Asfaw, who found the crown and felt comfortable giving it away.
Today #Ethiopia receives a precious crown stolen several years ago and taken to the #Netherlands. I am grateful to Sirak Asfaw and the Netherlands government for facilitating its return. @NLinEthiopia @Landoforigins pic.twitter.com/BDwdaoo7io
— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) February 20, 2020
Crown had "disappeared" from the Holy Trinity Church
The Dutch government confirmed Thursday that the crown had "disappeared" from the Holy Trinity Church in Cheleqot, a village in northern Ethiopia, said reports. Sirak reportedly said last year that the missing crown was recovered in April 1998, while he was looking for a document in a suitcase an unknown guest had handed him. He said that he was shocked to find the glistening crown after years, he then confronted the visitor, who he maintains anonymity for, and held on to the crown for more than two decades.
According to the reports, Sirak didn’t trust the authorities in power in Ethiopia until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. He said that he wasn’t comfortable handing over such priceless cultural heritage onto strange hands or officials of the authoritarian regime that governed Ethiopia at the time.
The Ethiopian government contacted Arthur Brand, a renowned Dutch stolen art detective dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the art world" for his discoveries of missing works, who brought the word to the Dutch government. The crown is a unique artifact that features images of Christ and twelve Apostles.
13:00 IST, February 21st 2020