New York returns Syrian antiquities valued at $5 million
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Prosecutors in New York City returned 36 antiquities to the Syrian government, items valued at over $5 million. This action followed an investigation into illicit trafficking, with one significant piece being a monumental funerary relief stolen from the ancient site of Palmyra when the Islamic State controlled the area.
Authorities linked the smuggling to Georges Lotfi, a Lebanese pharmacist now wanted by Interpol.
Thirteen of the recovered items came from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), which has returned 402 antiquities worth nearly $99 million since 2017. Another four pieces belonged to Michael Steinhardt, a major art collector who agreed to return 180 antiquities valued at $70 million in 2021. Researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire used satellite imagery to study damage to 200 archaeological sites in Syria.
Their 2025 study revealed that 59% of these sites had been looted between 2015 and 2025, a significant increase from the 13% looted between 2011 and 2016. UNESCO identified sites like Doura-Europos, Apamea, and Mari as heavily damaged, noting a large number of illegal excavations.
While some believe looting primarily funded the Islamic State, others, like Syrian archaeologist Cheikhmous Ali, point to a longer history of looting driven by economic hardship, with the Islamic State later imposing taxes on the practice.
