Lebanon's Ministry of Culture handed over to Iraq on Sunday 337 ancient artifacts that had been on display in a Lebanese museum for years.
The items, which included clay tablets, were returned by Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut.
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Iraqi antiquities are put on display during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi antiquities are displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi antiquities are put on display during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi antiquities are displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi experts inspect antiquities during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Murtada told Iraq’s state-run news agency in a Saturday report that a Lebanese committee had been investigating the items since 2018.
Iraqi antiquities are put on display during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
The artifacts had been stored most recently at the private Nabu Museum in northern Lebanon. The report gave no further details about the artifacts' provenance.
“We are celebrating the handing over of 337 artifacts that are of different eras of civilizations in Mesopotamia,” Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon Haider Shyaa Al-Barrak said at the ceremony. This will not be the last handover, he added, without elaborating.
Many of Iraq’s antiquities were looted during the country's decades of war and instability, mostly since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi antiquities are displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraq’s government has been slowly recovering the plundered antiquities since then. Archaeological sites across the country however continue to be neglected due to lack of funds.
At least half dozen shipments of antiquities and documents have been returned to Iraq’s museum since 2016, according to Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi antiquities are put on display during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
An Iraqi clay tablet is displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi antiquities are displayed during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)
Iraqi experts inspect antiquities during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut before 337 artifacts were handed over by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Until they were handed over, the artifacts had been kept at the private Nabu Museum in north Lebanon. (AP PhotoBilal Hussein)