Hobby Lobby turns over 245 more artifacts smuggled out of Iraq

HYPERALLERGIC
By Benjamin Sutton

On Wednesday, the arts and crafts chain store Hobby Lobby surrendered 245 cylinder seals that are believed to have been smuggled out of Iraq and were improperly imported into the US. This group of artifacts, which were handed over to prosecutors in New York, brings the total number of ancient objects seized from Hobby Lobby to 3,839, according to Newsweek. In July of last year, the company agreed to pay a $3 million fine and hand over 5,548 smuggled artifacts. “We have accepted responsibility and learned a great deal,” Hobby Lobby President Steve Green said in a statement at the time. Green is an evangelical Christian and the chairman of the recently opened Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, which is believed to have been the intended destination of the thousands of seized artifacts. [More]