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and methods for modernizing, harmonizing, and co-coordinating
private and, in particular, commercial law as between States and groups Examples of the
of States, and to formulate uniform law instruments, principles and seized artifacts
rules to achieve those objectives. UNIDROIT and its Academic Project taken from the
(UCAP) provide tools for the authorities in charge of the Museum of the
investigation of crimes against cultural heritage, with a special focus on Bible, stolen
illicit trafficking in cultural property. artifacts
shipped by
Hobby Lobby dealers and
labeled as
Perhaps one of the most complex “clay tiles”
and intriguing examples of misplaced with fabricated
antiquities is the case of Hobby Lobby invoices and
and its President Steve Green making notices of
acquisitions for the family’s personal provenance.
collections and later for the creation of
the Museum of the Bible in
Washington, D.C. Investigations and Results
According to an article in a 2016 Over the course of the next six short years, the Greens had amassed
article in The Atlantic, “The Greens one of the world’s largest private collection of biblical artifacts. Their
didn’t originally intend to build a acquisition pace raised difficult questions, and brought about a multi-
museum. Nor did they originally departmental, multi-organizational, multi-governmental investigation.
intend to collect biblical artifacts. The U.S. government’s 2017 complaint against Hobby Lobby notes
But in the mid-2000s they began col- that Green was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in
laborating with Johnny Shipman, an 2010 while carrying a $1 million Bible without a customs declaration.
eccentric Dallas businessman who That raised many eyebrows, and the following year U.S. Customs
walked around town in a full-length fur agents seized misidentified cuneiform tablets being shipped to Hobby
coat, carried a firearm, and, as a Baptist, Lobby from the United Arab Emirates.
felt called to build something greater “From late 2010 to early 2011, the government seized several of the
Steve Green, president and than himself: a national Bible Museum. shipments to [Hobby Lobby] ... yet we find out they continue to buy
chairman of the Museum of the Shipman enlisted the support of Scott more things, they continue to ship them in,” said Gerstenblith. “Here
Bible in Washington, D.C. Carroll, a former academic with a you are in the middle of an investigation by the government for illegally
photo: Wall Street Journal
doctorate in ancient studies who had importing artifacts — and yet you continue to do the same thing.”
made a career out of helping collectors track down and acquire items, After further seizures and investigation into the purchases being
especially rare manuscripts. Shipman had the idea, Carroll had the made by the Green family and Hobby Lobby, a May 2, 2018, News
expertise—and the Greens, Shipman recognized, had the money. Release from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
“A few years later, the Greens made their first purchase: a very early issued this statement:
English translation of the Book of Psalms. Soon they were making “Today, the United States will return approximately 3,800 Iraqi
acquisitions all over the world, and in 2010, they decided—as Steve artifacts to the Republic of Iraq at a repatriation ceremony at the
Green delicately put it to us—to ‘take more ownership of the project.’ residence of the Republic of Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States in
Shipman was out; Dallas was left behind.” Washington, D.C. The artifacts were smuggled into the United States
Upon returning to the U.S. after the first purchases made in 2010, for delivery to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (“Hobby Lobby”), a nation-
Patty Gerstenblith, the director of DePaul University’s Center for Art, wide arts-and-crafts retailer based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and
Museum, and Cultural Heritage, was asked by Hobby Lobby’s chief two of its corporate affiliates. Hobby Lobby agreed to forfeit these
counsel to brief him about the laws on importing antiquities. She
pointed out that these goods were most likely to have been looted from
Iraqi archaeological sites and could be subject to seizure by the Customs
and Border Protection, and warned that importing anything of Iraqi
origin would incur considerable risk, given that up to 500,000 objects
had been looted from Iraq since the 1990s.
Gerstenblith specifically pointed out that cylinder seals were easily
looted. Up to 5,000 were believed to have been stolen from the Iraqi
national museum in 2003. “They are small. They are lightweight.
They are easily portable,” she said. As reported by NPR in June of
2020, “Gerstenblith's report was never shared with Green or other
Hobby Lobby management — something she didn't learn until
she read the complaint.”
Despite the many warnings,
Hobby Lobby went ahead and
purchased 5,548 artifacts later that
same year for an estimated $1.6 One item of the original
million. According to the ensuing 3,800 artifacts seized by
investigation, “Two-thirds of these ICE in 2011. Soon after,
artifacts were shipped in 2010 and Hobby Lobby agreed to pay a
2011 by foreign antiquities dealers $3 million fine and surrender
who made false statements on ship- its cache of artifacts that the
ping labels, failed to file formal entry company had bought in 2010
papers with U.S. Customs and Border through dealers based in the
United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Protection, and supplied fabricated Hobby Lobby had purchased more than 5,500 artifacts for
Patty Gerstenblith, director of provenances and sham invoices.” $1.6 million dollars and imported these historical antiquities
DePaul University’s Center for Art, Many of the labels on the forms and against federal law.
Museum, and Cultural Heritage boxes said “ceramic tiles” or “clay tiles.” photo: pbs.org

28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles