Global strategies are shaping the way museums, collectors and locals preserve history. The 5,500 artifacts from modern-day Iraq were intentionally mislabeled as clay tiles and smuggled, traveling thousands of miles to the U.S. There, they landed with their waiting recipients — the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby, and its owners, the Green family, who hoped to spotlight the ancient valuables in their pet project, the Museum of the Bible. Rampant looting from war-torn Iraq was nothing new, but international condemnation of Hobby Lobby’s move was. Since then, the firm has agreed to a fine of $3 million, and there's been a striking uptick in collaborative efforts internationally to seize dealers of antiquities and return smuggled pieces to where they belong. |