Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the return of three antiquities to the people of Iraq collectively valued at $500,000. The objects were recovered pursuant to multiple criminal investigations, including one into previously convicted London-based trafficker Robin Symes, who passed away in 2023. Throughout the ongoing investigation into Symes, the Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has seized 135 antiquities valued at more than $58 million that had allegedly been trafficked by Symes into and through Manhattan.

“We continue to recover and return antiquities that were trafficked by Robin Symes,” said District Attorney Bragg. “That is a testament to the hard work of attorneys, analysts and investigators who are committed to undoing the significant damage traffickers have caused to our worldwide cultural heritage.” 

“This achievement would not have been possible without the sincere partnership and close coordination between the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Washington, D.C., the Office of the District Attorney in New York, and the dedicated team of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit. We deeply appreciate and commend these noble efforts, expressing our profound gratitude to all who contributed to this meaningful endeavor,” said H.E. Nazar Al Khirullah, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the United States of America.

Key pieces being returned today:

• The Head of a Male is a votive terracotta head that dates to ca. 2000-1600 B.C.E. The Head, along with at least a dozen other terracotta heads and dog figurines, were looted from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Isin in the late 1960’s. The Head was then smuggled out of Iraq and was in Symes’ possession in London by 1971. Symes then sold the Head to The Metropolitan Museum in New York the next year and it remained in The Met’s collection until it was seized by the ATU earlier this year.
• The Vessel supported by two rams is an alabaster container dating to ca. 2600-2500 B.C.E. that would have been used to store expensive goods, such as ointment or perfume. The Vessel was first offered to The Met in 1956 by Swiss-based antiquities dealer-trafficker Nicolas Koutoulakis, who informed the museum that the Vessel had been found at a site near the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. The Vessel then passed through multiple private collectors and dealers, including Symes, before permanently entering The Met’s collection in 1989. The ATU seized the Vessel from the museum earlier this year.

Pictured: Vessel Supported by Two Rams

During District Attorney Bragg’s tenure, the ATU has recovered more than 2,350 antiquities stolen from 42 countries, valued at more than $250 million. Since its creation, the ATU has convicted 17 individuals of cultural property-related crimes, recovered more than 6,000 antiquities valued at more than $470 million, and has returned more than 5,500 of them so far to 30 countries.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel, conducted the investigation, assisted by Assistant District Attorney Christine DiDomenico, Investigative Analyst Michael Chapin, District Attorney Investigator John Paul Labbat, and Special Agent Robert Mancene of Homeland Security Investigations. The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their cooperation with our investigation.

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