 | MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) – The authorities of Kyrgyzstan suspect that a 5th-century Eastern Hunnic gold collar sold by Sotheby’s was taken from the country illegally, the local 24.kg news agency reported on Friday, citing the Ministry of Culture. The Umutkor collar was sold for £242,500 ($380,215) in London on December 3. The royal collar and beads set with garnets and glass belonged to Sansyzbay Umutkor, who bought it circa 1890-1895. The collar was handed down by family descent until it was exported to Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2013.  |
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 | The previously unrecorded fifth century gold royal collar set with garnets and glass is from the time of Attila the Hun. This magnificent collar would have been worn only by those of the highest social status. Attila and his Huns are seen in the West as barbarians. In the late fourth and fifth centuries they viciously subjected all of the European tribes and forced Rome and Constantinople to pay vast sums of gold just to keep the Hunnic horde out of their cities. |  |
 | Attila led many military raids on both the Eastern and Western Roman Empires provoking what has become known as the Barbarian Invasions, a large movement of Germanic populations that greatly accelerated the fall of Rome. He is considered by most Hungarians as the founder of the country. According to ancient records, Attila died in his palace across the Danube after a feast celebrating his marriage to a beautiful young gothic princess named Ildico. Legend says that his men diverted a section of a river, buried the coffin under the riverbed, and were then killed to keep the exact location a secret. |  |
