The Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology announced a landmark agreement on Tuesday with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism through which it will indefinitely loan a collection of 24 gold jewelry pieces to Turkey.
The Penn Museum acquired the jewelry in 1966. In 2009, scholars identified the jewelry as “Troy gold,” meaning that it came from the historic city of Troy.
In exchange for the gold, the Turkish government plans to supply artifacts for a future exhibit on King Midas.
The Penn Museum is in the midst of celebrating its 125th anniversary, and has been pushing recently to strengthen its international partnerships.
“It will lead to great opportunities — for Penn, for Philadelphia and for the wider archaeological community — to experience more of Turkey’s rich cultural history and heritage in the future,” Penn Museum director Julian Siggers said.
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