Cornell returns artifacts to Iraq

More than 5,000 ancient clay tablets and seals have been returned by Cornell University to the Iraqi government. As the New York Times reports, the repatriated objects had been donated to the university by an American collector in 2000.

Also returned to Iraq were thousands of objects held by the Museum of the Bible, a four-year-old Washington museum founded by the evangelical family that owns Hobby Lobby craft stores. Hobby Lobby was fined $3 million four years ago by the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to investigate the origin of thousands of artifacts, including some of those that were recently returned.

Cornell issued a statement thanking the Republic of Iraq for cooperating with scholars working to preserve the cuneiform tablets. Iraqi officials visited the conservation lab in 2012 and expressed encouragement for continued preservation efforts .

As the Times noted, such holdings “underline a thriving market in stolen antiquities and highlight the plight of countries like Iraq, which has been subjected to three decades of antiquities looting.”