Ancient Mesopotamia City of Ur clay Jar and Statue

Hello Everyone. I am in need of some information regarding a clay Jar, part of a statue and a ring that I need to get looked at and possibly appraised. I was given these pieces a while back and the origin of the pieces go directly to the City of Ur in southern Iraq. specifically about 30 yards next to the Ziggurat of Ur. I am based out of Las Vegas, NV and am looking to possibly put these up for auction. Thank you

 

If you have true antiquities from Iraq they are probably not legal for you to own or remove from that country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_looting_in_Iraq#Sites_affected

 

so what are my options then

 

You are supposed to send them back but absolutely no idea how ones goes about doing that.

 

How did you come to have them?

 

The ring doesn't look remotely that old. Maybe it slipped off an excavator's finger.

How are you able to establish provenance? How do you know for sure 'the origin of the pieces go directly to the City of Ur in southern Iraq. specifically about 30 yards next to the Ziggurat of Ur'?

 

Due to the recent history of warfare and looting in Iraq, this type of artifact is very problematic.

The Smithsonian Institution has a Cultural Rescue Initiative that might be helpful in understanding your options:
https://culturalrescue.si.edu/

 

i bought the items at a yard sale, they had it in a wooden box. the old lady said her husband was given it to him by his dad who had helped excavate the area in the late 1920's she told me the story that her husbands dad told him. i dont whether that is legit or not.

 

@ryan reid I would go back to the woman who sold it and if possible, get her to document the story with her father-in-law's name, etc. He may have been with a legitimate archeology team.
If this is from the 1920s, it could be a legitimate/legal piece, as laws are not usually retroactive and many laws were formed in the 1970s and since. But either way, provonence is what needs to be tracked and to do that you need the gentleman's name who actually went to Iraq. Then with names & dates, etc, more can be found, such as any Antiquities groups or excavations which happened in the time period.

I would also ask her to contact you if she finds any old correspondence regarding the pieces. (long shot, but you never know!)
Here's a link with a bit of info for you https://iadaa.org/imprint/faq/

You might end up with a wonderfullly documented piece of history, or you might have a lovely donation to a museum in your name.
Good luck!

 

PS > I think handling items of this age with gloves would be a good practice.