A US federal court has verified that a 3,500-year-old rare artefact was legally seized by authorities, paving way for its return to Iraq. US district judge Ann M. Donnelly ruled that the tablet recounting the epic of Gilgamesh, written in Akkadian, originated in present-day Iraq and entered the US contrary to federal law.
The US state department on Tuesday said that the rare fragment was illegally imported to the country after it was bought by Hobby Lobby, a prominent arts-and-crafts retailer based in Oklahoma City, from an international auction house for more than $1.67 million. The law enforcement agents seized it from the museum in 2019.
“This forfeiture represents an important milestone on the path to returning this rare and ancient masterpiece of world literature to its country of origin,” acting US Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis said in a statement.
"This office is committed to combating the black-market sale of cultural property and the smuggling of looted artefacts," she added.
The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was discovered in 1853 in the ruins of the library of the Assyrian King Assur Banipal in Nineveh, situated in modern-day northern Iraq. In 2003, a US antiquities dealer purchased the tablet from a family member of a coin dealer in London and shipped it to the US by international post without declaring formal entry, according to the US state department.
The antiquities dealer then allegedly sold the tablet with a false provenance letter that stated the ancient artefact had been inside a box of miscellaneous ancient bronze fragments purchased in an auction in 1981. The tablet changed hands several times in different countries along with the false letter.
{{/usCountry}}The antiquities dealer then allegedly sold the tablet with a false provenance letter that stated the ancient artefact had been inside a box of miscellaneous ancient bronze fragments purchased in an auction in 1981. The tablet changed hands several times in different countries along with the false letter.
{{/usCountry}}“Hobby Lobby consented to the tablet’s forfeiture based on the tablet’s illegal importations into the United States in 2003 and 2014,” the department added.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi is reportedly set to take back 17,000 pieces of archaeological treasures when he returns on Thursday. However, it was not immediately clear whether the Gilgamesh tablet would be among those thousands of artefacts.
(With inputs from agencies)