If you were ever in doubt that a search of personal baggage by a UK Border Force officer at Heathrow would uncover important looted artefacts, think again.

On January 24^th this year, while searching the baggage of a passenger arriving at Heathrow on a flight from Dubai, a Border Force officer became suspicious about the date and origins of six large epigraphic glazed tiles. The accompanying paperwork and sales receipt declared the tiles were decorative replicas, ‘made to look old’ and purchased the previous day in Sharjah for 315 DH (the equivalent of about £70).  But the officer was not convinced.

The tiles were detained in order that further investigations could identify their true age and provenance.  Enquiries soon confirmed the tiles had originally come from Transoxiana, a region centred in present-day Uzbekistan, where there are many important ancient tiled monuments.

In May, the British Museum was alerted and the Museum called on the assistance of colleagues from seven different national museums across the region (which also includes part of Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and southwest Kazakhstan). As a result, they were able to furnish the Border Force with a full report on the importance of these rare glazed tiles – despite the conditions prevailing during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The passenger refused to make a claim on them, so the tiles were forfeited and the Museum was given responsibility for their repatriation to the Republic of Uzbekistan.