Context is king in archaeology. The precise location of an artifact in relation to other artifacts and features around it tells us far more than just examining the artifacts on their own. ISIL is not conducting rigorous digs, recording context, and publishing data. They're just digging stuff up and selling it.

Every dollar paid to ISIL for what they dig up directly funds the destruction of history. It would actually be a lesser crime to pay them to leave stuff in the ground.

Studying these artifacts now is damage control. We could have learned more from them if we knew their context, but we never will. However, there's no reason not to confiscate and study them. I sincerely hope Lobby Hobby is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. People need to understand that what they did destroys history rather than preserves it.

Are they really digging this stuff up? Sounds like a lot of work. I was under the impression that they were taking it from existing museums and private collections.

Here's some good article about their vandalism: https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/stealing-from-histor...

Yes, smuggling them out of war zones does seem better than having them destroyed like these: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150901-isis-dest...