The U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh, including the Public Affairs Section (PAS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, has facilitated the return of two Cambodian statues from the United States following seizures in 2005 and 2017.

 

The statues arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport on Friday, April 3, 2020. Representatives of the Embassy and the Ministry attended a Buddhist blessing ceremony held at the National Museum after the official handover of the statues. Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy praised the statues’ return, saying, “As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of U.S. – Cambodia diplomatic relations, today’s return of these two statues serves as a reminder of what our two countries have achieved together”.

 

The repatriation of the statues is part of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2018  between the Government of the United States of America and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning “the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Categories of Archeological Material of Cambodia”. The MoU is intended to reduce the incentive for the pillage of irreplaceable archaeological materials representing Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage.

 

read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50709560/two-priceless-statues-from-the-10th-and-11th-century-seized-in-united-stated-returned-to-cambodia/

 

Went to see Anchor and the other temples yrs ago ...

Very impressive , not only the temples with their giant smiling faces , but also the statues of Apsara dancers and the lingams .

Could almost hear the drums beating , see the fires burning and the girls dancing half naked around giant lingams ... enough ... time to wake up .

I just put a few photos , in case somebody wants to see ...

Yes the truly wonderful Angkor Wat.  I applaud the return of the pieces but to call hem priceless is a bit of a stretch.  There are thousands of pieces that have been exported over the years of varying rarity and value.  These pieces are obviously genuine and not the usual fakes and it is good that they are back in the country of their origin.