(Phnom Penh): The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia welcomed the return of two further Khmer antiquities from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET) in New York, following the seizure by the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney of the two artefacts from the MET, according to a press release seen by Fresh News on Thursday (Jun. 11).

A formal ceremony marking the transfer of the two works took place at the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney in New York on 10 June 2026.

This repatriation followed a significant milestone in December 2023, when the MET returned 14 Khmer artifacts to Cambodia after several years of negotiations.

The two artefacts being returned are: (1) a sandstone lintel depicting a kala motif from the pre-Angkorian period, dated to the seventh or eighth century; and (2) a tenth-century Angkorian sandstone sculpture identified as the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu originating from the temple of Prasat Chen at Koh Ker.

The Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office presented evidence to the MET tying both works to the trafficking network of Nancy Wiener. After reviewing that evidence, the MET consented to the Manhattan District Attorney's repatriation of the two artefacts to Cambodia.

The Office of the Manhattan District Attorney has been a steadfast partner in Cambodia's repatriation work. Over the past decade, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit's evidentiary investigation into the network of Nancy Wiener and into the wider trafficking architecture in which Wiener, Douglas Latchford, and Spink & Son operated has resulted in the return of dozens of Khmer antiquities to Cambodia. Nancy Wiener was convicted of cultural property trafficking.

The ministry expressed its gratitude to District Attorney Alvin Bragg and to the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, in particular to Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos and the unit's investigators, for their continued commitment to the principle that the trade in looted cultural property is not only a crime against the source country but a crime under the laws of the State of New York.

The ministry also commended the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its decision to acknowledge the evidence presented and to agree to return these two artworks to Cambodia.

At the same time, the ministry welcomed and supported the Museum's ongoing efforts, undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry, to further review portions of its collection with respect to other Khmer antiquities originating from Cambodia.

The ministry also expressed its appreciation to the Cambodian expert team of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, as well as to international experts, including Bradley J. Gordon of Edenbridge Asia and Malina Antoniadis of NOSTOS Strategies, for their invaluable assistance in securing the recovery and repatriation of Khmer cultural property that was illicitly removed from Cambodia.

The ministry further extended its thanks to the historian and archaeologist Éric Bourdonneau of the French School of the Far East (EFEO) in Cambodia for his research on the Hiraṇyakaśipu sculpture from Koh Ker.
=FRESH NEWS