This rare cuneiform tablet is inscribed with a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh
Posted on 07/29/2021 10:43:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This rare cuneiform tablet is inscribed with a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the forfeiture of the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which was purchased by Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. in 2014 to be displayed at the Museum of the Bible.
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division explained in a statement the significance of the forfeiture.
“Forfeiture of the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet demonstrates the Department’s continued commitment to eliminating smuggled cultural property from the U.S. art market,” said Polite.
“Thwarting trade in smuggled goods by seizing and forfeiting an ancient artifact shows the department’s dedication to using all available tools, including forfeiture, to ensure justice.”
The Gilgamesh fragment was obtained from Iraq in 2003 when large numbers of ancient artifacts were stolen or went missing after the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime by a United States-led international coalition invasion.
The artifact was given a false provenance and sold multiple times before being purchased by Hobby Lobby and several other historical items from the Auction House in 2014.
In 2019, authorities seized the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet from the Museum of the Bible. In 2020, a civil complaint was filed requesting forfeiture of the artifact.
“We are proud of our investigation that led to this reclaiming of a piece of Iraq’s cultural history,” said Peter Fitzhugh of Home Securities Investigations of New York in a statement last year.
“This rare tablet was pillaged from Iraq and years later sold at a major auction house, with a questionable and unsupported provenance.”
Hobby Lobby has cooperated with the investigation. CEO and the museum's chair Steve Green acknowledged that he had made many mistakes when attempting to collect historical items for his Museum.
“In 2009, when I began acquiring biblical manuscripts and artifacts for what would ultimately form the collection at Museum of the Bible, I knew little about the world of collecting,” said Green in a statement last year.
“It is well known that I trusted the wrong people to guide me, and unwittingly dealt with unscrupulous dealers in those early years. One area where I fell short was not appreciating the importance of the provenance of the items I purchased."
No. It just demonstrates the thuggery of Guvmint with guns.
I don’t have a problem with returning ancient cultural artifacts to their homelands. Hopefully Iraq can keep it safe instead of letting Muslim fanatics destroy it.
If it is to deter the steal of rare artifacts, what is the problem with this action and court ruling?
Sold by a legitimate auction site many times? Why did government wait until conservative Hobby Lobby bought it?
I think the looters of those Iraqi museums were about two steps ahead of the Muslim fanatics with hammers on their way to smash everything in them. So they were saved. Hopefully when they go back they will be properly protected from the nuts.
It is a doctrine of the common law back to antiquity that you cannot perfect title to stolen property. I lost $600 to a shady dealer in FL who was selling stolen banknotes. Should have done their due diligence.
Fraud vitiates everything.
Of course you’d have the same result if Harvard University had the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet. Yeah right. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
If it has no value, it will not be valued. The next time the lights go out in Iraq, the Dream Tablet will cease to be.
I think this is just more targeting of the Green family, Hobby Lobby and The Museum of The Bible....unless every hand which that article passed through forfeits the profit they made on it, including the auction house that sold it to the Greens forfeiting their commission.
bkmk -common law
And now what happens to the item? The thugs of the US Theft Patrol keep it or is it returned to Shitholistan for permanent destruction?
The U.S. government is the biggest criminal in north america.
Which will happen if they get their hands on it.
They are only about death and destruction.
At least the fragment was safe where is was in the Bible Museum.
Make a copy of it! Then display the copy with the words...COPY OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH CONFISCATED FROM US BY THE US GOVERNMENT!
This topic was posted , thanks SeekAndFind.
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