A centuries-old, rare bronze of statue of the Greek god Apollo has mysteriously surfaced in the Gaza Strip. Although it's since been seized by authorities and disappeared from the public eye with little explanation, there's a lot of speculation on the worth and origins of the statue.
According to the Independent, Jouda Ghurab local fisherman netted the 500 kg, life-size statue last August and took it to his home on a donkey cart. He claims he was unaware of the statue's historical significance.
After others guessed at its value, the Palestinian fisherman posted it to Ebay for $50,000, well below its true value. Police from the Islamist group Hamas investigated, leading to its seizure by the group and, subsequently, government officials of Gaza's tourism sector.
The statue hasn't been seen since.
With little to go on and without the chance to examine it, archaeologists are left only with a few blurred photographs to draw conclusions about the statue. The pictures released show the statue, green from age, lying over a Smurfs-emblazoned blanket.
"It's unique," Jean-Michel de Tarragon of the French Biblical and Archaeological School said, according to the Huffington Post. "In some ways I would say it is priceless. It's like people asking what is the [value] of the painting La Gioconda [the Mona Lisa] in the Louvre museum. ... It's very, very rare to find a statue which is not in marble or in stone, but in metal."
Some experts believe the statue may be up to 2000-years-old and worth tens of millions of dollars if auctioned. That remains to be seen though, as there is still the possibility that it isn't as old or as valuable as some are claiming.
Indeed, the whole story surrounding the statue is still under scrutiny, as Tarragon argued that the statue couldn't have been found at sea because of how clean it is, directly conflicting with Ghurab's version of the events.
The origins and fate of the statue are still undetermined.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
