New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art brings back thousands of years old artifacts to Mesopotamia

NEW YORK—– The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announced in a statement on May 19 that it is returning three ancient artifacts of art to Iraq. The three works concern a Sumerian vessel made of gypsum alabaster, and two Babylonian ceramic sculptures—a head of a male and a head of a female. The works range in date from the third to second millennium BC. 

The Metropolitan says the return follows the launch in 2023 of its Cultural Property Initiative, which includes a review of art works in its collection by a team of dedicated provenance researchers. In 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art initiated the repatriation of a third-millennium BC Sumerian sculpture, also to Iraq, after provenance research established that the work rightfully belongs to Iraq. Earlier this year, it returned a seventh century BC Bronze Head of a Griffin to Greece. 

In its statement, the Metropolitan says that it returned the three works “in cooperation with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office,” and that the return came after the museum received “new information” in the midst of its investigation into Robin Symes, a British dealer accused of belonging to a network that traffics in looted artifacts. 

The Vessel supported by two rams (ca. 2600–2500 BC) and the Head of a female (ca. 2000-1600 BC) were gifted to the Museum in 1989 by the Norbert Schimmel Trust; the Head of a male (ca. 2000-1600 BC) was purchased by the Museum in 1972. The Head of a male and the Vessel supported by two rams were at one point sold by disgraced London dealer Robin Symes, The Metropolian states. 

Both the Head of a male and Head of a female sculptures are thought to be from Isin, an archaeological site in Iraq. While the Vessel supported by two rams is not known to be associated with a particular site in Iraq, it appeared on the Baghdad art market, was purchased by Swiss dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis by 1956 and later acquired by Cecile de Rothschild.  

Through the Museum’s cooperation with the Manhattan DA’s office, and as a result of its investigation into Robin Symes, the museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution.