Britain to Repatriate Seized Artifacts to Uzbekistan

LONDON, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that Britain will repatriate to Uzbekistan six glazed tiles seized by the UK Border Force from a traveler’s suitcase at Heathrow Airport. The tiles, which feature Koranic inscriptions and are glazed in white, turquoise, and cobalt, have been identified by an international team of experts as medieval artworks from the Shah-i-Zinda memorial complex, which is located near Samarkand. The tiles were documented in 1996 and 2000 during restoration work. Additional tiles from the site remain missing. The traveler, who claimed the tiles were replicas, arrived in London on a flight from Dubai. To read about excavations of a satellite city of Samarkand in Tajikistan that was ruled by merchant princes from the fifth to the eighth century A.D., go to "A Silk Road Renaissance."