One of the items recovered during a raid made on antiquities dealers in Jerusalem. Image by Israeli Police

Five Palestinian antiquities dealers were arrested in Jerusalem in connection with a smuggling chain involving the American arts and crafts store Hobby Lobby, NPR reported Monday.

Israeli police said they seized papyrus fragments from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a bust of an Etruscan woman, and a fresco from Pompeii, along with two black Audis and around $200,000.

It was just a few weeks ago that Hobby Lobby was forced to return forced to return illegally-gotten artifacts smuggled out of Iraq and through Israel to the United States. The company also agreed to pay a $3 million fine. As of now, no criminal charges have been brought against any Hobby Lobby employees or owners involved in the smuggling.

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Police say the total sales of antiquities to Hobby Lobby president Steve Green amounted to around $20 million.

Some experts on the Israeli antiquities market say that the arrests augur a further tightening on regulatory loopholes.

“This looks to me like the beginning of the end of the legal business in Israel,” David Hendin, a biblical coin expert, told NPR. “It’s the biggest step yet in the shutting down of what’s left of the legal trade.”

Contact Jesse Bernstein at bernstein@forward.com or on Twitter @__jbernstein

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