Yemen Identifies 28 Looted Artifacts at British Museum, London Auction Houses

Yemen’s Antiquities Authority said it had identified 28 allegedly looted Yemeni artifacts in overseas collections, including eight pieces recently offered for sale at auction houses in London and 20 held by the British Museum.

According to Yemen’s General Authority for Antiquities and Museums, the first group of objects appeared in antiquities sales held around July 2 at Bonhams in London and at Apollo Art Auctions. The group comprises statue heads, a statue, an inscription, and funerary stelae (tombstones). It’s common practice in auction catalogues to describe objects originating from present-day Yemen as “South Arabian” or “Ancient Arabian.” In line with this convention, two South Arabian alabaster heads—depicting male and female figures—were included in the Bonhams catalog and were reported as sold in the auction results.

The Apollo sale comprised several hundred lots drawn from across the ancient Mediterranean, the Near East, and the Arabian Peninsula. It likely included the remaining objects identified by the Yemeni authority, although individual lot identifications have not been publicly confirmed.

ARTnews has contacted both auction houses for comment.

The British Museum’s catalog of ancient South Arabian artifacts offers clear contenders for the approximately 20 artifacts that Yemen’s antiquities authorities describe as looted. The collection includes stone slabs and funerary stelae from the ancient city of Shabwa, as well as alabaster sculptures ranging from busts and votive heads to full-bodied figurines that are often characterized by stylized wigs and headdresses. Also represented are smaller artifacts, including beads, amulets, and incense burners.

Many objects are recorded as entering the collection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, often via individuals associated with British administration in Aden, a key port within the patchwork of treaties and protectorates that characterized the British presence in southern Arabia, including William Francis Prideaux and his son, Lieutenant L. A. R. Prideaux. One limestone slab with a Qatabanian inscription dedicated to the deity Anbay, for example, was acquired in 1907. The collection also includes material associated with British antiquities dealers Henry Oppenheimer and Maurice Rosenheim, who are recorded as having donated objects from the wider Arabian region in 1919.

The British Museum has not responded to a request for comment regarding the objects identified by Yemen as looted.

Yemen named the 28 artifacts as part of its “Our Looted Heritage” project, which traces looted cultural heritage to museums, auction houses, and private collections abroad. The findings are published as part of a rolling series of lists; this month’s marks the 34th list of Yemeni artifacts identified outside the country. The authority has previously estimated that more than 13,000 antiquities have been smuggled out of Yemen since 1994, including around 8,000 during the past decade of conflict.