In the shadow of a Hittite sphinx. Big politics and the return of artifacts to their countries of origin

Complex questions about national identity and rightful ownership are raised by cases of world cultural property being returned to its place of origin and the repatriation of archaeological heritage after years of having been under the stewardship of museums abroad. This paper focuses on the story of a Hittite sphinx once flanking the Sphinx Gate in the fortifications of the Hittite capital of Hattusa (now Boğazkale, about 150 km east of Ankara, as the crow flies), discovered by German archaeologists and kept for 94 years in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and the way in which the Turkish request for its restitution was processed in the last stages of the negotiations. Measures adopted by the Turkish government, on the verge of political blackmail, were effective, but they caused particular distress among European museums and archaeological missions working in the Middle East. The case of the Hittite sphinx from Hattusa is a good illustration of the new Turkish archaeological heritage repatriation policy, inextricably linked to the development of the tourism industry, and is particularly useful for understanding the Turkish dream of becoming a new political and economic power in the international arena.