ATHENS: Greek police have arrested a woman suspected of antiquity smuggling after discovering a hoard of over 100 ancient Greek and Egyptian objects in houses owned by her and her two sons, police said Thursday.
Acting on a tip, officers arrested the 72-year-old woman at the coastal village of Karavomylos in central Greece, and are currently seeking her sons who live in London, the semi-state Athens News Agency (ANA) reported.
Among the items discovered is an alabaster vessel topped with the likeness of Horus, the falcon-headed ancient Egyptian sky god, two dozen semi-precious pearls, a stone seal bearing the form of the ancient Greek love goddess Venus, and a collection of prehistoric shells.
Greek law forbids the unauthorized possession, purchase or display of antiquities. Police identified the woman as Parisatis Tsakos, sister to Zurich-based antiquities collector Frida Tchacos Nussberger, who was involved in recent efforts to restore and publish the Gospel of Judas .
A heretical Christian text that portrays Judas as Jesus’s faithful servant, the manuscript is known as the Tchacos Codex after Frida Tchacos Nussberger, who bought it in 2000 and subsequently sold it to the privately owned Maecenas Foundation in Basel, Switzerland.