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At the Museums - Met Museum Surrenders Artifacts Thought Looted from Iraq

The New York Times May 19, 2025
Graham Bowley

Abstract

Two terracotta Babylonian heads, a male and a female, were two of three objects restituted to the Republic of Iraq on May19, 2025, by The Metropolitan Museum of Art following an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

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1Two Babylonian terracotta heads of a male and a female that were broken from larger sculptures were part of the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. They are now thought to have been looted and were returned on Monday to the Republic of Iraq, the Met and the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in statements. The artworks were recovered following criminal investigations into looted art, including one into the British antiquities dealer Robin Symes, the district attorney’s office said. Mr. Symes, who died in 2023, was long suspected by investigators to have been a trafficker. The heads were returned in an official ceremony at the district attorney’s office in Lower Manhattan that was attended by Met officials and representatives from Iraq. “Through the museum’s cooperation with the Manhattan DA’s office, and as a result of its investigation into Robin Symes, the museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution,” The Met said in a statement.

Fig. 1. Male head, broken from a full figure, 2000–1600, possibly from Isin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1972.

Fig. 1. Male head, broken from a full figure, 2000–1600, possibly from Isin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1972.

Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

2The male head (fig. 1) had been sold by Symes to The Met in 1972, while the head of a female was a gift from a private collector in 1989. Both heads are thought to have been from Isin, an archaeological site in Iraq. The district attorney’s office said the investigation into Symes by its antiquities trafficking unit had led to the seizure of 135 antiquities that it said had been trafficked by Symes into and through Manhattan. The investigators calculated the value of the artifacts at $58 million. “We continue to recover and return antiquities that were trafficked by Robin Symes,” the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg Jr., said in a statement. “That is a testament to the hard work of attorneys, analysts and investigators who are committed to undoing the significant damage traffickers have caused to our worldwide cultural heritage.”

3In a statement, H.E. Nazar Al Khirullah, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, said: “We deeply value our enduring partnership with key American institutions — foremost among them, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the DA’s Office, whose leadership has been instrumental in the recovery of Iraq’s looted heritage. We also appreciate our strong and ongoing partnership with The Met, whose commitment to cultural preservation complements our shared mission to safeguard the world’s antiquities.” Max Hollein, The Met’s director, said in a statement: “The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world’s cultural heritage and has made significant investments in accelerating the proactive research of our collection.”

4For more on this restitution from The Metropolitan Museum, see https://www.metmuseum.org/​press-releases/​iraq-return-2025.

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List of illustrations

Title Fig. 1. Male head, broken from a full figure, 2000–1600, possibly from Isin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1972.
Credits Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain
URL http://journals.openedition.org/acost/docannexe/image/4451/img-1.jpg
File image/jpeg, 153k
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References

Electronic reference

Graham Bowley, At the Museums - Met Museum Surrenders Artifacts Thought Looted from IraqLes Carnets de l’ACoSt [Online], 25 | 2025, Online since 18 December 2025, connection on 15 May 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/acost/4451; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/15efs

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About the author

Graham Bowley

The New York Times

graham.bowley@nytimes.com

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