"They were purchased with scant descriptions," Kloha says. Kloha describes them as "nothing remarkable." None of these has been displayed in the museum. Another 5,000 items, Egyptian papyri and textiles, acquired during the same period, also lack proper documentation. Kloha says Hobby Lobby acquired the items, most of them clay tablets, between 20 from sources in the U.S., the U.K. invaded Iraq in 2003 and troops failed to protect cultural sites.
Hobby Lobby acquired them so haphazardly for the museum, he says, that it may never be known how they came onto the market.Īrchaeologists say some of these items may have even come from Iraq's national museum, which was looted after the U.S.
Furthermore, if I learn of other items in the collection for which another person or entity has a better claim, I will continue to do the right thing with those items."Įven so, fresh controversies - over previously acquired objects, including Dead Sea Scroll fragments found to be fake and items from Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt - have continued to dog the museum.Ĭhief curator Jeffrey Kloha, who was hired in 2017, after the controversial acquisitions were made, tells NPR that the museum is discussing the return to Iraq of another 8,106 pieces. "After some early missteps," Green said in March, he decided he "would only acquire items with reliable, documented provenance.