They were stolen in Iraq, sold to an American company, and now confiscated by the government for subsequent return.
The 450 4,000-year-old tablets are legislative and administrative
texts, some containing spells and magic rituals. Experts believe that
they were written in Uruk, Sumerian city-state III Millennium BC,
according to LiveScience. In the US, they brought the company Hobby
Lobby, owned by collector and founder of the Museum of the Bible Steve
green. The theft of artifacts is a common problem in Iraq, Museum staff
often have to buy rare materials from smugglers.
Not all scientists agree with the return of the artifacts to their
homeland. David Owen, Professor of middle East studies at Cornwell
University, says: “If these tablets are returned without prior analysis
and publication of texts, it will be a tragedy. Once they are in the
Iraqi Museum, scientists will lose access to them. Local experts and so
overloaded, they are unlikely to reach their hands to work with these
materials.”
