Artifacts include an alabaster ram dating to the 5th century BC that was looted during the Yemeni Civil War in 1994. The items were confiscated from the Manhattan apartment of Shelby White, administrator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
White’s investigation, led by the Manhattan Antiquities Trafficking Unit, “resulted in dozens of artifacts looted from their countries of origin being sent home,” Bragg said. “These are just three of the 1,000 artifacts we have repatriated over the past 16 months.”
The attorney general’s office thanked Shelby for his cooperation in the investigation.
In December, the Art Newspaper reported that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had seized $24 million worth of antiques from White’s apartment.
The Yemeni coins are on temporary display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington until Yemeni authorities can safely retrieve them.
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