| Uşak Museum of Archaeology | |
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| Uşak Arkeoloji Müzesi | |
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Location of Uşak in Turkey
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| Established | May 23, 1970 |
| Location | Uşak, Turkey |
| Type | Archaeology |
| Collection size | 363 pieces of Karun Treasure and many other items from Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Ancient Roman Period. |
The Uşak Museum of Archaeology (Turkish: Uşak Arkeoloji Müzesi) is an archaeological museum in Uşak in western Turkey. Founded on May 23, 1970, the museum is best known for its exhibitions of Karun treasure.
In the museum, items are on exhibition like sculptures, pitchers with beaklike spout and stone axes from the Bronze Age, earthen dishes and glassware from the Hellenistic and Ancient Roman Period, stelae from the nearby Roman ancient ruin site of Blaundus. The most interesting items are of the so-called Karun treasure belonging to the Lydian Period.[1]
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The artifacts, making a collection of 363 pieces, are dating from the 7th century BC. They were illegally excavated by villagers in 1966 from the tomb of a Lydian noble woman, smuggled outside the country and sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York, USA. After their discovery in a catalogue of the museum in 1984, Turkish journalist Özgen Acar informed the Turkish government, which launched a judicial case against The Met. After a legal battle, the collection was returned in 1993 to Turkey.[2]
In 2006, it was discovered that two museum items were stolen and replaced by fake ones, a coin and a golden brooch in the form of a hippocamp, a winged horse-shaped sea monster. Kazım Akbıyıkoğlu, the director of the museum was accused of the theft and placed in custody.[3]