ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The United States returned 36 antiquities worth over $5 million to Syria during a ceremony in New York, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and Syrian state media announced. 

The artifacts include “one monumental stone relief” looted from the ancient city of Palmyra in Deir ez-Zor province during the reign of the Islamic State (ISIS) and 14 “extraordinary mosaics looted from a Syrian Roman villa,” the attorney’s office said.

“This was an incredibly complicated, multi-faceted investigation that could only have been accomplished through close partnerships that spanned the globe,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Repatriation ceremonies are a powerful reminder that preserving cultural heritage transcends any border or nationality.” 

Mohammad Qanatri, charge d’affaires of the Syrian embassy in Washington, hailed the return as an achievement that “demonstrates how mutual respect and a shared commitment to protecting cultural heritage can build lasting bridges between our two countries.” 

“Through Syrian-American cooperation, a part of Syria’s history is finally returning home,” Qanatri said. 

Additionally, 13 of the antiquities were seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), according to the attorney’s office. 

A large number of artifacts in Syria were looted and smuggled outside the country during the brutal civil war, which lasted for over a decade. Various armed groups, including ISIS jihadists, earned large sums of money from the lucrative, illicit trade of antiquities. 

In July, France returned 23 Syrian artifacts that had been kept in Paris for 15 years, coinciding with President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Syria, where he met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.