The looted antiquities trade

Conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere has fueled a booming trade in looted antiquities from archaeological sites and museums.

Millions of dollars worth of artifacts have disappeared, with some resurfacing for sale in Europe and the United States.

The black market trade provided tens of millions of dollars of funding for the Islamic State, one of the largest groups involved in the business. With ISIS nearing defeat, archaeologists are looking for ways to halt the trade in looted artifacts from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones.

On this edition of Global Journalist, we discuss the trade in stolen cultural artifacts.

Joining the program:

• Mark Altaweel, an archaeologist and professor at University College London.
• Michael Danti, an associate professor in the classics department at Colgate University.
• Amr al-Azm, a professor of Middle East history and anthropology at Shawnee State University.
• Sam Hardy, a specialist in antiquities trafficking at the American University in Rome.

Assistant producers: Jiwon Choi, Lexi Churchill, Samantha Lucas

Supervising producer: Rachel Foster-Gimbel

Visuals editor: Aleissa Bleyl