Many of Iraq’s looted artifacts have been recovered from the United States and few other countries that have made their way home. Over 17,000 looted ancient artifacts have been handed over to Iraq’s Culture Ministry, restitution described by the government as the largest in the country’s history.

In a recent trip by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the ancient objects were recovered from the US wherein, majority of the artifacts date back 4,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia. Few other pieces were also returned from Japan, Netherlands and Italy, shared Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in a joint press conference with Culture Minister Hasan Nadhim.

The recovery was the ‘largest in the history of Iraq’ said Hasan Nadhim and a result of months of effort between the government and Iraq’s Embassy in Washington.

The artifacts came to Iraq in large wooden crates on Tuesday and were handed over to the Culture Ministry. A few of them were displayed, but the ministry said the most significant pieces will be examined and later displayed to the public in Iraq’s National Museum.

“There’s still a lot of work ahead in this matter. There are still thousands of Iraqi artifacts smuggled outside the country,” Nadhim said during the conference, adding, “The United Nations resolutions are supporting us in the international community and the laws of other countries in which these artifacts are smuggled to are on our side.”

He also said that the smugglers are being caught day after day by the lawmakers and forced to hand over these artifacts.

Antiquities from Iraq have been looted throughout decades of war and instability since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. When government forces lost control of parts of southern Iraq in 1991, in the aftermath of the Gulf War, widespread looting occurred at unexcavated sites.

Now, with the return of Iraq and, previously, of other suspect holdings from these countries, the museum has now laid its focus on domestic acquisitions with much clearer provenance.