--- description: Hobby Lobby will return nearly 4,000 Iraqi antiquities to Baghdad on Wednesday, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement title: Hobby Lobby Returns Thousands of Smuggled Iraqi Artifacts image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d56a7c2e6b31720/69892f52bc6cfc4f953e5d6c/gettyimages-535059761.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [justice](/tag/justice/) ## justice Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hobby Lobby Is Returning Thousands of Ancient Artifacts that Were Smuggled out of Iraq by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2018 6:33 AM CUT  Hobby lobby storefront in the Polaris area of Columbus, Ohio. Nearly 4,000 ill-gotten artifacts will be returned to Iraq on, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says. Hobby lobby storefront in the Polaris area of Columbus, Ohio. Nearly 4,000 ill-gotten artifacts will be returned to Iraq on, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says.Holly Hildreth—Moment Editorial/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2018 6:33 AM CUT Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby will return thousands of illegally purchased Iraqi antiquities to Baghdad on Wednesday, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Oklahoma-based retailer will [return 3,800](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/01/607582135/hobby-lobbys-smuggled-artifacts-will-be-returned-to-iraq "undefined") of the more than 5,500 ancient artifacts that it purchased in 2010 for $1.6 million, NPR reports. Hobby Lobby bought the artifacts despite being warned by an “expert on cultural property law” that the objects [could have been looted](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-files-civil-action-forfeit-thousands-ancient-iraqi-artifacts-imported "undefined") from Iraqi archaeological sites, making their purchase a violation of federal law, according to a July 2017 statement from the U.S. Justice Department. “The acquisition of the Artifacts was fraught with red flags,” the statement said. > [](https://twitter.com/NPR/status/991505799489863680) The objects, which included cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals and clay bullae, were shipped out of Iraq via the United Arab Emirates and Israel falsely labeled as tile “samples.” Last year, Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a [$3 million fine](http://time.com/4846516/hobby-lobby-department-of-justice-iraq-artifacts-smuggle/ "undefined") to settle a civil lawsuit from the Justice Department over the acquisition. “We should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled,” the company’s President Steve Green in [a statement ](https://newsroom.hobbylobby.com/articles/artifact-import-settlement/ "undefined")last July. Hobby Lobby made headlines in 2014 over a [landmark challenge](http://time.com/4168895/hobby-lobby-women-congress-white-house/ "undefined") to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, in which the Supreme Court ruled that [requiring employers](http://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/ "undefined") to cover employees’ contraception violated religious freedom protections. The company also helped fund a $500 million museum in Washington, D.C. The Museum of the Bible received [$201 million](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/will-money-from-conservative-christians-sway-bible-museums-professed-mission/2017/11/02/5d8b7a18-ba86-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98%5Fstory.html "undefined") worth of artifacts from Hobby Lobby and the Green family’s large collection of Christian pieces, the Washington _Post_ reported. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/"},"headline":"Hobby Lobby Is Returning Thousands of Ancient Artifacts that Were Smuggled out of Iraq","datePublished":"2018-05-02T06:33:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:09:05.963Z","description":"Hobby Lobby's purchase of 5,500 ancient artifacts was \"fraught with red flags,\" according to the Justice Department","url":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/","keywords":["justice","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d56a7c2e6b31720/69892f52bc6cfc4f953e5d6c/gettyimages-535059761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d56a7c2e6b31720/69892f52bc6cfc4f953e5d6c/gettyimages-535059761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Retail Signs","caption":"Retail Signs","creditText":"Holly Hildreth—Moment Editorial/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/","name":"Hobby Lobby Is Returning Thousands of Ancient Artifacts that Were Smuggled out of Iraq"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Hobby Lobby Will Give Back 5,000 Smuggled Ancient Iraqi Artifacts","description":"Arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby will forfeit more than five thousand ancient Iraqi artifacts and pay a $3 million settlement after the U.S. Justice Department sued the company Wednesday for importing what the federal government says are \"smuggled\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RNf2TWyc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-07-06T01:46:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RNf2TWyc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5262460/hobby-lobby-return-smuggled-artifacts-iraq/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```