It was looted from an Iraqi museum 30 years ago, Now, a 3,500-year-old clay tablet discovered in the ruins of the library of an ancient Middle Eastern king is finally headed back to Iraq.
Paleontologists in China uncovered fossils from three different dinosaurs, and two of them had never been unearthed before.WASHINGTON -- A 3,500-year-old clay tablet discovered in the ruins of the library of an ancient Mesopotamian king, then looted from anThe $1.7 million cuneiform clay tablet was found in 1853 as part of a 12-tablet collection in the rubble of the library of Assyrian King Assur Banipal.
Farreed Yasseen, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, said the looting of the museum in the 1990s hit Iraqis hard. “Restituting the Iraqi artifacts for me means restituting our self-esteem and confidence in Iraqi society,” he said, speaking through a translator. For the acting head of Homeland Security Investigations, which found and investigated the origins of the tablet, the repatriation is personal. Steve Francis' parents were born in Iraq, part of a small sect known as Chaldean Iraqis who are Christian, and he was assigned to a U.S. Customs unit in 2003 that was sent to Iraq to help protect looted artifacts.
The owners of Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby, devout Christians, collected artifacts for the Bible museum on a large scale. Prosecutors said Steve Green, the president of the $4 billion company, agreed to buy more than 5,500 artifacts in 2010 for $1.6 million in a scheme that involved a number of middlemen and the use of phony or misleading invoices, shipping labels and other paperwork to slip the artifacts past U.S. customs agents.
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Ancient tablet acquired by Hobby Lobby going back to IraqA 3,500-year-old clay tablet discovered in the ruins of the library of an ancient Middle Eastern king is headed back to Iraq. Officials believe the relic was illegally imported into the U.S. in 2003, then sold to Hobby Lobby and put on display at a museum.
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