3 dozen swords, 50 arrowheads dating back 4,000 years seized in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — Three dozen swords and 50 arrowheads dating back nearly 4,000 years to the Bronze Age were seized in Philadelphia by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection earlier this month.

CBP officers confiscated 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads on Feb. 18 at the Port of Philadelphia, the federal law enforcement agency announced Friday.

The federal law enforcement agency said the shipment arrived in Philadelphia from the United Arab Emirates on Oct. 16 and was destined for Jacksonville, Florida. They said officers X-rayed the shipment, which detected sword-like objects. Officers then opened the shipment and found the swords and arrowheads, according to CBP.

With the help of an archaeologist from a Philadelphia university, the short swords and arrowheads were authenticated as antiquities dating back to 1600-1000 BCE from the southwestern Caspian Sea near the Talish Mountains region of Iran, CBP said.

CBP said the items likely were obtained from illicit excavations of burial sites. They said the swords and arrowheads will be safeguarded until a disposition takes place.

“Customs and Border Protection officers strive to rescue cultural artifacts from the grips of illicit international traders who plunder and exploit another nation’s heritage for profit,” Elliot Ortiz, the acting area port director in Philadelphia for CBP, said in a press release. “The deceptive practices used to smuggle these treasures into the United States not only violate our import laws but also undermine efforts to preserve and protect the integrity of cultural history.”