Iraq recovers a 2,700-year-old artifact stolen during U.S invasion

Iraq recovered an artifact, dating back nearly 2,700 years, which is believed to have been stolen during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced in a statement that it returned the piece to the Iraqi authorities, which is believed to have been stolen during the looting of the Iraqi museum in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The artifact is made of ivory and was displayed at the Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which the museum purchased in 2006, based on misleading information, according to the FBI.

The FBI believes that the piece is the first stolen antiquity from Baghdad to be found inside an American museum.

FBI Boston assisted FBI Atlanta in identifying and repatriating a 2,700-year-old artifact named ‘Furniture Fitting with Sphinx Trampling a Youth’ to the Iraqi government. Investigators believe it was stolen from the Iraq Museum in Baghdad in 2003, a statement issued by the FBI mentioned.

During a ceremony hosted by the Iraqi embassy in Washington, D.C., an FBI agent handed the piece over to the embassy to be return to Baghdad, according to the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Office, Joseph Bonavolonta.

“We are incredibly grateful and honored to have identified and participated in the return of this historic artifact to the people of Iraq, after it was looted from Iraq’s National Museum 20 years ago, along with thousands of other priceless antiquities,” Bonavolonta said via Twitter.

Bonavolonta explained that this specific piece is distinct because it is the first relic that was looted from Baghdad to end up in a United States museum collection and FBI Boston is extremely proud to have played a role in helping to recover it.