Pieces of a renowned Roman mosaic that were looted and eventually sold to an American university are to be returned to Turkey.

The twelve fragments once formed parts of the border of the “gypsy girl” mosaic in the ancient Roman settlement of Zeugma, close to the modern Turkish city of Gaziantep, and depict human faces and birds.

The near-complete main part of the mosaic, which has remained in Turkey, depicts a girl with windswept hair and an intense stare. It is on display in Gaziantep’s Zeugma mosaics museum and has become an unofficial symbol of the city. The mosaic dates back to AD200-300.

It was initially thought the fragments in the US came from a site in the ancient city of Antioch.

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