Iraq
Assyrian antiquities dated around 3000 BC displayed in the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad on November 28, 2018. Photo: Sabah Arar/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it has succeeded through “diplomacy” to return over 34 thousand artifacts to the country since 2019 from various countries around the world.
Iraq’s artifacts have been subjected to frequent looting and vandalism since the invasion by the United States in 2003, with the theft worsening after the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group swept through large swathes of the country in 2014. The country has in recent years taken strides to return the lost antiquities.
“Iraqi diplomacy has succeeded in returning 34,502 artifacts since 2019 until now,” foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf told state media. “These artifacts were returned from the countries of the United States, Britain, South Korea, Spain, Lebanon, as well as the cities of Bern, Tokyo, The Hague, Berlin, and Rome.”
Baghdad is currently coordinating with ten countries to return antiquities taken away from Iraq, according to Sahaf.
On Sunday, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid arranged for the return of 6,000 artifacts that were taken by Britain a hundred years ago during his visit to London to attend the coronation of King Charles III.
Iraq re-inaugurated its national museum in March 2022 after years of conflict, showcasing Iraqi artifacts recovered from various countries, including the US, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, and Lebanon.
In December, the US returned a prized 3,500-year-old clay tablet featuring a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh to Iraq. The tablet was stolen from an Iraqi museum and illegally trafficked to the US.
Around 18,000 antique artifacts have been returned to Iraq, mostly from the US, since last July, most of which date back to the Sumerian period around 4,000 years ago, one of the oldest civilizations in Mesopotamia.
Nevertheless, cultural property theft as surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as per an International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) survey, and issues remain in the quest to restore historical Iraqi antiquities.
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