Posted July 9, 2004.

London Police Recover Stolen Iraqi Manuscript

A medieval manuscript stolen from the Awqaf Library in Mosul, Iraq, has been recovered by the art and antiques squad of the London police. The document, an 11th-century medical treatise written by the Muslim physician Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi (865?–925?) and said to be one of the oldest surviving paper manuscripts in Iraq, was one of hundreds stolen from the library in 1995, the Guardian reported July 7.

Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley said he was able to compare the manuscript with a photocopy of the original. “With many archaeological objects it is far more difficult to prove their origin,” he added. Rapley said he felt confident that none of the items looted from Iraq libraries and museums last year was in the UK.

The manuscript, valued at £250,000 ($465,000 U.S.) turned up last year in a London auction house and aroused the suspicions of the auctioneers, who called the police. It will be held at Scotland Yard until it can be safely returned to Mosul.

Posted July 9, 2004.