Of the sequence of events that led to the artefactsвЂ™ return, Dr McKenzie said: вЂMr DiegoВ LГіpez de AragГіn ofВ GalerГa LГіpez de AragГіn, a third-generation art dealer with an important presence in the international art market and who intended to sell these three particular items, contacted me in the summer of 2018 to ask for my opinion to clarify their provenance. It is thus important that the pieces be displayed in the Jordan Museum, along with the other pieces from Khirbet et-Tannur.вЂ™ вЂThe temple is famous in Jordan because the Vegetation Goddess panel from it is prominently displayed in the entrance of the Jordan Museum in Amman.One of the returned pieces joins the Fish Goddess bust from the altar platform in the museum. The temple flourished as a place of sanctuary from the second century BC until the middle of the fourth century AD.ДЇeaturing grape vine and vegetal motifs, the artefacts were saved from private sale after an art dealer in Spain contacted Oxford expert Dr Judith McKenzie, of the Faculty of Classics, who was able to identify the items as pieces of the Khirbet et-Tannur altar platform.Дr McKenzie, who has led international studies of the archaeological finds from Khirbet et-Tannur, resulting in two books, said: вЂKhirbet et-Tannur was first excavated in 1937, and the artefacts found at the site were split between Cincinnati Art Museum in the United States and the archaeological museum in Jordan. The pieces formed part of Khirbet et-Tannur, a temple complex 70km north of Petra, the rose-red rock-cut city of the Nabataeans.

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