The US-based, evangelical Christian-owned craft-supply company Hobby Lobby has agreed with the US Department of Justice to forfeit thousands of ancient artefacts illegally smuggled into the country from the Middle East.
Under the terms of the settlement filed in US District Court in Brooklyn, New York, Hobby Lobby Stores has agreed to forfeit the antiquities, which originated from the region of modern-day Iraq, as well as pay a $3 million fine.
'The protection of cultural heritage is a mission that (Homeland Security Investigations) and its partner US Customs and Border Protection take very seriously as we recognise that while some may put a price on these artefacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless,' Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York, said in the statement.
Prosecutors say that Hobby Lobby, which is based in Oklahoma City, began assembling a collection of historically significant manuscripts, antiquities and other cultural materials in 2009.
Because technically, the defendants in the civil-forfeiture action are the objects themselves, the case has an unusual name: The United States of America v. Approximately Four Hundred Fifty (450) Ancient Cuneiform Tablets; and Approximately Three Thousand (3,000) Ancient-Clay Bullae.
The case involves thousands of ancient artefacts that seem to have been stolen from Iraq, where the pillaging of antiquities has been rampant – and controversial.
Islamic State has reportedly made millions or billions of dollars by selling ancient goods.
According to The Atlantic, nothing in the Hobby Lobby case indicates that the objects were associated with any terrorist group. But the very nature of smuggled goods means their provenance is murky.
The Hobby Lobby chain is owned by the Green family, who are committed evangelical Christians, famous for their participation in a 2014 Supreme Court case, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which helped dismantle a number of birth-control-coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
The Greens are major collectors of ancient antiquities and the primary visionaries and contributors behind the Museum of the Bible opening in Washington, DC, this autumn.
