In 2013, a fisherman from Gaza netted a 2000-year-old statue of the ancient Greek god Apollo from the waters near the Egyptian border.
Sensing the opportunity to drag themselves out of destitution, the fisherman’s family put the 300kg bronze relic on eBay for $500,000, only for the ruling Hamas authorities to confiscate it for themselves.
Statue fingers were reportedly severed (one to take to a metals expert, the other melted by a jeweller) and allegations were fired back and forth about its authenticity.
But barring a few photos of Apollo lying — bizarrely — on a Smurfs blanket, little has been seen of the archaeological haul since.
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