US returns looted artifacts seized from billionaire collector to Jordan

U.S. officials said they have returned nine looted artifacts that were seized from a U.S. billionaire collector to Jordan, The Associated Press reported. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Jordan along with Jordan’s Antiquities Ministry said the artifacts were among 180 items seized by the U.S. Manhattan District Attorney’s office as a part of an agreement with collector Michael Steinhardt to surrender his trafficked items to avoid prosecution.

Authorities said the items seized were “illegally smuggled from Jordan and obtained by an antiquities collector in the United States,” also seven of the artifacts that appeared in the ministry’s published photos matched the description of Jordanian items in court documents, according to the AP. 

“This is a testament to the United States’ commitment to help protect Jordan’s cultural heritage. With today’s repatriation of Jordanian antiquities, we are keeping this promise,” U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Henry T. Wooster said in a statement. 

Two of the artifacts that were purchased by Steinhardt from an Israeli-based antiquities dealer did not appear in photos from the news conference. 

Israeli authorities also said more than two dozen artifacts stolen from the country and the occupied West Bank are expected to be returned later this month, the AP reported.

Since the December agreement, U.S. officials have returned Steinhardt’s stolen artifacts to six international countries.

Steinhardt, the founder of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life and Birthright Israel, was not accused of stealing any items himself and has said he did not commit any crime, but authorities said the billionaire should’ve known the antiquities were stolen, the AP noted.