Fri 03 September 2021:
Police in Norway have seized nearly 100 Mesopotamian archaeological artefacts, reported missing by Iraqi authorities, from a collector.
“The seizure involves what are presumed to be cuneiform tablets and other archaeological objects from Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq … considered important to the world’s historical cultural heritage,” the police said in a statement.
Authorities said they would now be examined to determine their authenticity and establish their provenance if possible.
They are the subject of a restitution request from Iraqi authorities to the Norwegian Ministry of Culture.
“A restitution procedure has been initiated, but an expert review must first be carried out to determine the origin and authenticity of these objects and the Iraqi authorities must document their request,” prosecutor Maria Bache Dahl told AFP news agency.
The collector in question is contesting the Iraqi request, she said, adding that he was not a suspect of a crime and had not been arrested.
The police did not say when the items may have arrived in the northern European country, or how they ended up there.
Iraq, previously home to the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, is a popular destination for antiquities smugglers.
Trafficking, according to Iraqi officials, sustains criminal networks in the country, where armed organizations have a stronghold.
When the ISIL (ISIS) armed group seized significant sections of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, it damaged dozens of pre-Islamic artifacts with bulldozers, pickaxes, and explosives, but it also exploited smuggling to fund its operations.
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