The Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures (made mostly by Phidias and his assistants), inscriptions, and architectural pieces that were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens.  Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin obtained in 1801 a controversial permit from the Sublime Porte, which then ruled Greece.