The Cyprus University of Technology's (CUT) Digital Heritage Research Lab, holding a UNESCO Chair on Digital Cultural Heritage, is set to digitize more than 20,000 Cypriot antiquities currently housed in Sweden.

Dr. Marinos Ioannides, Director of CUT’s Digital Heritage Research Lab, shared with Cyprus News Agency that this initiative marks the first instance where a foreign nation has requested another country to digitize its archaeological treasures located abroad.

According to Ioannides, these artifacts were moved to Sweden during the British colonial era, as part of archaeological excavations conducted between 1927 and 1931. These excavations saw the participation of archaeologist Prince Gustav VI before he ascended the throne as the King of Sweden.

He further mentioned that the Swedish Ambassador to Cyprus, Martin Hagström, is scheduled to visit the University on December 19. The visit aims to discuss collaboration between the Swedish Embassy and the Digital Heritage Research Lab concerning the digitization of these Cypriot antiquities, which are currently on display in Stockholm.