Smuggled Iranian antiquities return home, displayed at Iran Natl. Museum

The collection of enameled clay bricks and manuscripts had been kept in a warehouse on the border between Italy and Switzerland.

The pottery is estimated to date back more than 3,000 years.
The illegal owner of the antiquities intended to sell them to the Louvre Museum or the Museum of London.

After examining the antique items, experts realized that they originally belonged to Iran, and that they had been smuggled out of the country.

Accordingly, a lawsuit was filed to look into the matter.

Iranian authorities assisted by experts at the Louvre Museum and the Museum of London have been pursuing the case through legal channels in recent years.

The bricks bear images of winged creatures or geometric shapes.

Studies have revealed that the patterns date back to the pre-Achaemenid era.
Archeologists believe the clay bricks were originally part of a building in what is today known as Bookan.