The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that hundreds of unique artifacts that had been smuggled abroad during the years of conflict in the country were now returned
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2020) The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that hundreds of unique artifacts that had been smuggled abroad during the years of conflict in the country were now returned.
The artifacts were handed over to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and Tourism with the assistance of the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and South Korea, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, posted on Facebook.
The antiquities in question include 156 cuneiform tablets and about 250 documents dating to the 2nd century AD, which were handed over to Baghdad by the British Museum and the Saudi authorities respectively. In addition, Iraq has managed to get back artifacts that were kept in private collections in South Korea and Switzerland.
A significant portion of Iraq's antiquities were destroyed or smuggled out of the country after the US invasion and Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003.
