Jordan submitted an official complaint to the United Nations last week, asking the body to intervene and return the Dead Sea Scrolls to the country. The scrolls were seized from a museum by Israel following the 1967 war.

The complaint, filed with UNESCO, followed Canada's refusal to hold the scrolls, which were on exhibit in Toronto in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Antiquities. Jordan asked Canada to take care of the historical artifacts until a court could decide who their rightful owner was.

"The kingdom has filed a complaint to UNESCO that the scrolls belong to Jordan," Rafea Harahsheh of the country's antiquities department said in a statement quoted by the AP, noting "the government has legal documents that prove Jordan owns the scrolls."

The scrolls were found between 1948 and 1957 by Jordanian archaeologists following the first find by Palestinian Bedouins in 1947. Because the West Bank was under Jordanian administration between 1948-67 and the scrolls were kept on display in a Jerusalem museum administered by the Jordanian government, under international conventions protecting cultural heritage items, the scrolls belong to Jordan.

"We have been trying our best to restore our stolen antiquities, including the scrolls. Stealing our antiquities violates international treaties and ethics," Harahsheh said.

Ma'an News