The items, including clay tablets, were handed back by Mohammed Murtada, Minister of Culture, to the ambassador of Iraq to Lebanon in a ceremony at the National Museum of Beirut.

Murtada reported to Iraq's state-run media agency, Saturday, that the items had been under investigation by a Lebanese team since 2018.

The artifacts were last stored at the Nabu Museum in northern Lebanon. The report did not provide any further information about the origin of the artifacts.

At the ceremony, Haider Shyaa Al-Barrak, Iraq's ambassador in Lebanon, stated that "we are celebrating the handing-over of 337 artifacts which are of different eras civilizations in Mesopotamia." He said that this will not be the final handover without further explanation.

Many antiquities from Iraq were stolen during decades of war and insecurity, mainly since 2003 when Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.

Since then, the Iraqi government has slowly been recovering the stolen antiquities. Despite this, archaeological sites throughout the country are still being neglected because of a lack of funds.

According to Iraqi authorities, at least half a dozen antiquities and documents were returned to the museum in Iraq since 2016.