Photos: US returns treasure trove of antiquities to Iraq

The United States will return to Iraq some 17,000 archaeological treasures dating back 4,000 years and looted in recent decades, an "unprecedented" restitution, the culture minister in Baghdad said earlier on Wednesday. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi was set to take back the artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia on his aircraft, when he returns Thursday from Washington where he met US President Joe Biden. Above, a man visits the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, March 1, 2015.

"This is the largest return of antiquities to Iraq," said Iraqi Culture Minister Hassan Nazim, hailing it as "the result of months of efforts by the Iraqi authorities in conjunction with their embassy in Washington". Most of the ancient pieces document "the commercial exchanges during the Sumerian period", his ministry said in a statement. Above, an Assyrian artefact of the head of a winged bull made out of limestone is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad.

Mesopotamian treasures on display at the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad. The National Museum, known as the Cradle of Civilisation Museum, reopened at the end of February 2009 after its ancient treasures were looted in the aftermath of the US-led invasion in 2003.

Iraq's antiquities have been extensively looted during decades of war and insurgency, often by organised crime groups, since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

A statue is lifted out of its protective case as hundreds of archeological treasures were brought back to Baghdad by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry from the United States.

Recovered smuggled artifacts that have been handed back by the United States are seen at the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq, July 15, 2015.

Mesopotamia treasures on display at the opening ceremony of the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad in 2009.

U.S. President Joe Biden greets Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S.

Ancient artifacts, smuggled into the U.S. in violation of federal law and shipped to Hobby Lobby stores, are shown at an event returning the artifacts to Iraq May 2, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Thomas Homan and Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Fareed Yasseen signed an agreement returning the artifacts to Iraq that were seized. The artifacts include many tablets from the ancient city of Irisagrig, primarily from the Ur III and Old Babylonian period, are mostly legal and administrative documents, but also include a collection of Early Dynastic incantations and a bilingual religious text from the Neo-Babylonian period. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP