Iraq receives 125 artifacts Germany borrowed

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi embassy in Berlin received 125 artifacts from the Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology at Freie Universität (The Free University) in Berlin, which were borrowed for the purpose of study since the 1990s, according to a press statement issued on Sunday by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The artifacts are from the site of Abu Salabikh, around 20 kilometers northwest of the site of ancient Nippur in Al-Qadisiyah governorate in the center-south of Iraq, and are dating back to the Uruk period (4000 to 3100 BC).

During the handover ceremony held at the embassy headquarters in Berlin, the representative of the Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology explained that the German side is interested in the civilization of Mesopotamia, and it is one of the priorities of the archaeological authorities in Germany, according to the statement.

The Iraqi Ambassador in Berlin, Luqman Abdul Rahim Al-Faili, valued the efforts of the Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology for completing this process, and expressed his hopes for continued cooperation with the German side in the cultural field and archaeological excavations.

Archaeological sites across Iraq witnessed destruction, theft and negligence during the wars the country went through in the past years, especially in the period that followed the invasion of the international coalition led by the United States to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

Around 15 thousand artifacts were stolen from Baghdad Museum alone, in addition to approximately 32 thousand artifacts stolen from archaeological sites in Iraq after the American invasion.

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in January 2022 that Baghdad recovered five precious artifacts from the United States in a step that was part of the efforts of concerned Iraqi authorities to recover artifacts smuggled during the past 30 years.