The Metropolitan Museum in New York has announced that the ownership of two objects in their collection is being transferred to the Republic of Yemen. In what has been described as a “custodial agreement”, the objects will remain on loan to the Met, given the civil war in Yemen.

The two objects date from 3,000 BCE. One is a sandstone sculpture of a female figure wearing a strap and necklace. The other is a rectangular marble mortar. Both entered the museum’s collection in 1999 and recent research by the Met has revealed that they were illegally removed from an archaeological site near the ancient city of Marib in 1984. The decision to not actually physically return the objects to Yemen follows a historic agreement made between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art and Yemen earlier this year, in which 77 cultural objects looted from Yemen – which had been tracked down by the US Department of Homeland Security – were repatriated to Yemen, but have been sent to the Smithsonian museum for storage and care until a date at which they can be safely returned.

Mohammad Al-Hadhrami, the ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the United States, said “due to the current situation in Yemen, it is not the appropriate time to return these artifacts back to our homeland”. Earlier this year, with regard to the 77 repatriated objects, Al-Hadhrami spoke enthusiastically about the agreement: “on behalf of the people and Government of Yemen, we are thrilled to see Yemen retaking ownership of its cultural heritage […] The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is a global leader in the field of cultural heritage and preservation. We are pleased to see these objects in their care.”

In 2016, Yemen’s National Museum was damaged by shellfire, destroying many important cultural objects and resulting in the looting of others. The agreements made between Yemen and the US regarding repatriation has thus been celebrated by historians and archaeologists concerned about the safety of cultural heritage. Lamya Khalidi, an archaeologist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said that the agreement “gives me hope” as “it is difficult to send back artifacts because the museums are still trying to evaluate what the extent of the damage has been after so many years of bombardment.”

While the Met has celebrated this new arrangement, with director and CEO Max Hollein saying “we are grateful to have established such a collegial and sincere commitment to spotlighting these important works and look forward to working with the large Yemeni-American community in New York City to host a celebration of our new collaboration later this fall”, the Met has come under criticism in recent years for the amount of alleged looted objects in its collection.

The Met now have a section of their website dedicated to their provenance research which includes a list of repatriated objects. They state that the museum “welcomes and takes very seriously any new information about objects in the collection and is dedicated to seeking resolutions as appropriate.”