Iraq returns 27,000 looted antiquities to National Museum

BAGHDAD — In a statement, Iraq’s General Authority for Antiquities and Heritage announced the recovery of 27,000 looted relics from inside and outside Iraq. After months of diligent work, Iraq successfully recovered 27,000 historical artifacts, many of which were discovered in some of the oldest ancient Iraqi cities.   

These artifacts were transferred to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. Among them, 7,000 were recovered from outside Iraq, while the rest were retrieved from within Iraq. 

Iraqi artifacts have been vandalized and looted for years, especially following the 2003 war and after the 2014 ISIS occupation of northern Iraq. 

Through intensive international cooperation, Iraqi authorities have managed to recover artifacts from Italy, Japan, Lebanon, the Netherlands and other countries.  

In 2021, the U.S. returned a prized 3,500-year-old clay tablet featuring part of the Epic of Gilgamesh to Iraq. The tablet had been stolen from an Iraqi museum and trafficked illegally to the U.S.