Melqart stays "home": politics beats bureaucracy and secures an extension for the Salinas Museum

The Phoenician statuette Reshef/Melqart will continue to be displayed at the Sea Museum of Sciacca until August 31, avoiding an early return that, until a few days ago, seemed inevitable.

The extension, in fact, was not at all taken for granted: on a technical level, the “Salinas” Museum of Palermo – owner of the artifact – had already claimed its return, suggesting a negative outcome.

The new museum space at Palazzo Fazello, inaugurated on November 7 thanks to the collaboration between the Municipality, the Archaeological Park of the Valley of the Temples, and the Sicilian Region, was designed to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the discovery of the statuette in the waters of Sciacca.

However, the artifact's stay was contingent on a temporary loan, and the request for an extension risked not being accepted.

What turned around a situation that seemed compromised was an intense political and institutional effort.

A long dialogue with the regional assessor for Cultural Heritage Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, constant pressing, and the formal request made by the director of the Park, Roberto Sciarratta, allowed for a result that, just a few hours earlier, seemed unlikely.

This was confirmed by city councilor Calogero Filippo Bono, who, due to party affiliation with the assessor, followed the entire affair step by step: “The statuette will remain in Sciacca thanks to a silent effort that lasted for weeks.

The initial request aimed to obtain an extension until December 31. For now, a compromise has been reached, but the goal remains clear: to make the presence of Melqart in Sciacca permanent, in the place that more than any other preserves its memory.”