Hobby Lobby’s illicit artifacts are returned to their Iraqi homeland

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will return several thousand ancient artifacts, including cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, and clay bullae, to the canada goose black friday sale Republic of Iraq. The cheap Canada Goose artifacts were smuggled into the United States in violation of canada goose federal law and shipped canada goose outlet new york city to Hobby Lobby stores, a nationwide canada goose outlet online canada goose clearance sale uk arts and canada https://www.gofind.ca goose coats crafts retailer. The shipping labels canada goose factory sale on these packages falsely described the cuneiform tablets as tile samples.

On Wednesday, those artifacts nearly 4,000 in Canada Goose Online all were canada goose outlet uk returned to the Republic of buy canada goose jacket cheap Iraq at canada goose jacket outlet a canada goose coats on sale celebration at the residence of Iraqi Ambassador Fareed Yasseen.

Calling the repatriation an act of “historic justice,” Yasseen Canada Goose Jackets canada goose outlet parka thanked the federal canada goose outlet store agents responsible for recovering the smuggled antiquities, items he described canada goose outlet canada as “part of our soul.”

“Iraqis have long memories. We have a kinship with these artifacts,” Yasseen canada goose black friday sale said.

The event marked the end of the international investigation of black market antiquities and the canada goose factory outlet Green family, the evangelical owners of Hobby Lobby crafts stores and collectors of biblical artifacts who were a driving force behind the opening of Washington’s Museum of the Bible last November. The museum was not involved in the settlement, and the returned objects were canada goose outlet black friday not part of its collection. will uk canada goose outlet be turned over to Iraq’s Ministry of Culture and to museums and universities for study and exhibition, the ambassador cheap canada goose uk said. attorney for Canada Goose sale the Eastern District of New York. “Hobby Lobby’s expert advised them to be careful about acquiring Iraqi cultural property because hundreds of canada goose outlet shop thousands of objects had been looted from Iraqi archaeological sites.”

[Hobby Lobby fined $3 million for smuggled Iraqi artifacts]

Company officials ignored the canada goose uk black friday warnings. “The story should have ended there. Instead Hobby Lobby went Canada Goose Outlet ahead and bought the artifacts for $1.6million,” canadian goose jacket Donoghue said. The Greens began collecting biblical material in 2009, and have amassed about 40,000 items, the family canada goose outlet says. A few hundred are on display in the Washington museum.

Donoghue’s canada goose outlet store Canada Goose Coats On Sale uk office reached a settlement with Hobby Lobby last July that required the canada goose outlet canada goose clearance toronto factory company to forfeit the artifacts, pay a $3million fine and canada goose outlet reviews submit to federal oversight for 18 months, Donoghue said, canada goose uk shop adding that the agreement canada goose outlet uk sale “served as canada goose outlet sale a deterrent” to others considering making deals on the black market.

Hobby Lobby officials did not canada goose store respond to messages on Wednesday. uk canada goose Frahm was able to trace canada goose outlet in usa some to canada goose outlet Canada Goose Parka jackets Irisagrig, an ancient city on the Tigris River.

“The new texts from Irisagrig cast some fascinating light canada goose outlet nyc on what is, indeed, quite literally a ‘lost city,’ and help us reconstruct the social and economic life in a 4,000 year old Mesopotamian settlement,” Frahm said.

[‘I had to be there:’ The Bible Museum opens in Washington]

Frahm said the early tablets document everything from the food fed to the palace dogs to a Canada Goose online royal visit.

“You can reconstruct history on a very detailed level. You can see who was sent where on a certain day to supervise work on a canal, repair a royal canada goose outlet online road, or visit a palace. You can establish how much soup the female palace buy canada goose jacket weavers received in a given month,” Frahm said.

Yasseen emphasized Iraq’s canada goose uk outlet strict laws protecting its cultural heritage, and he expressed gratitude to the American officials for their efforts. “They serve a sense of historic justice official canada goose outlet because they are returning items to their natural homes, and to a nation that goose outlet canada canada goose uk is very attached to its cultural heritage,” he said.