"The Jordanian government has obtained data and documents from a British expert which prove that an Israeli merchant has illegally smuggled important artefacts from northern Jordan to Israel,” Director of the Antiquities Department Ziyad Saad told a press conference.

He said that the stolen antiquities included 70 lead codices, scrolls and copper plates, all of them date back to the early Christian era of the 1st century A.C.

The artifacts are believed to have been stolen from Jordan between 2005 and 2007, officials said.

According to the British expert whose name was not disclosed by Saad, "all stolen pieces have been examined in Britain and their origin has been traced back to northern Jordan.”

"We are already in possession of all information relating to issue as well as the picture of the Israeli merchant,” the Jordanian official said, preferring not to disclose his identity at this juncture.

"We will use all channels within our reach to restore the stolen treasures,” he added.

Over the past few years, the Jordanian government has been trying in vain to regain the famous Dead Sea Scrolls which Amman accused Israel of seizing from an East Jerusalem museum after it captured the holy city from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.