FBI agents returned an artifact on March 8 that was believed to have been stolen from an Iraq museum in Baghdad in 2003.
The artifact, named "Furniture Fitting with Sphinx Trampling a Youth,” had been on display at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta. According to a release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, agents have been investigating the art crime since Jan. 2022.
In a ceremony earlier this month at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C., special agents with the FBI Art Crime Team presented the artifact to the Iraqi Charge d’Affaires for repatriation.
"While realize there was no ill intent on behalf of Emory University, we are glad our agents could return a small part of history back to where it belongs in Iraq," Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Keri Farley said. "Our agents work diligently with our law enforcement partners around the world to return artifacts to their rightful owners."
Officials said FBI Atlanta was assisted in the case by FBI Boston in coordination with the Art Crime Team.
"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 twenty years ago, along with thousands of other priceless antiquities,” representatives with FBI Boston said. “This specific piece is distinct because it is the first artifact 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. This case represents our ongoing commitment to pursue justice for victims of art crime here and abroad, and to rectify such losses to the historical record."
The artifact is dated by historians back to the Iron Age and the seventh century BC. It is 2.25 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide, made from ivory, pigment and gold leaf.
Officials report the artifact was stolen during the looting of the Iraq Museum in 2003. The Carlos Museum purchased the item from a third party three years later in 2006. At that time, it is believed museum administrators were shown a fake provenance — or the recorded history of ownership of the artifact. The fake provenance stated the artifact entered the United States in 1969.
One expert discovered photographs of the artifact in the Baghdad Museum in 1983, where it was then determined it belonged to Iraq. Carlos Museum officials cooperated with agents and voluntarily handed over the artifact to FBI agents in Dec. 2022.
"The protection of the world's cultural heritage is a priority for the U.S. Government," Special Agent Rafael Jimenez said. "The FBI Atlanta Field Office is honored to have the opportunity to do its part by returning this important piece of cultural heritage to the people of Iraq. The FBI is also grateful to the Michael C. Carlos Museum for its cooperation in this matter."
Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania also provided assistance to the FBI in confirming the authenticity of the artifact.
