3,500 Year Old Clay Tablet Purchased by Hobby Lobby Returning to Iraq After 30 Years

  • Date: 23-Sep-2021
  • Source: Newsweek
  • Sector:Retail
  • Country:Middle East
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3,500 Year Old Clay Tablet Purchased by Hobby Lobby Returning to Iraq After 30 Years

A 3,500-year-old clay tablet that was looted from an Iraqi museum and then purchased by Hobby Lobby about 18 years ago is finally returning to Iraq, the Associated Press reported. The cuneiform clay tablet, known as the Gilgamesh Dream tablet and valued at $1.7 million, was discovered in 1853 in the ruins of the Assyrian King Assur Banipal's library that dates back to ancient Mesopotamia.

The tablet was looted 30 years ago from the museum in Iraq, and officials believe it was transported illegally to the U.S. in 2003 and sold to Hobby Lobby, the Associated Press reported. The tablet was later displayed at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. until agents from Homeland Security Investigations seized the ancient relic in September 2019.

Months after the tablet was seized, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, initiated a civil forfeiture court proceeding that led to its pending return to Iraq. A ceremony is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, where officials from Iraq will receive the tablet, the AP reported.