Lydia Epp Schmidt
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Tunisia has returned the Mask of Gorgon to Algeria, the Art Newspaper reports. The artifact was found sitting beside a swimming pool in the villa of Sakher el-Materi, the son-in-law of Tunisia’s ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The white marble mask was originally discovered in the east Algerian city of Annaba but disappeared in 1996.
The Mask of Gorgon is among 165 archaeological objects found in el-Materi’s villa following Tunisia’s revolution in 2011. El-Materi has sought asylum in the Seychelles and since been convicted in absentia of corruption and property fraud. The mask was held in Tunisia for nearly three years as the legal procedures for its return to Algeria were being finalized.
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