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The Department of Justice announced that it seized a tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. According to the DOJ, the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was smuggled into the US and then auctioned off.The ancient tablet had been bought by Oklahoma-based arts and craft superstore Hobby Lobby. The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a rare portion of the epic of Gilgamesh, from Oklahoma-based arts and crafts superstore Hobby Lobby.The epic of Gilgamesh is considered one of the most ancient works of literature and originally comes from Iraq. According to the Department of Justice,...

The “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet” Was Sold to Hobby Lobby Using a False Provenance Earlier today, the United States filed a civil complaint to forfeit a rare cuneiform tablet bearing a portion of the epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian epic poem considered one the world’s oldest works of literature.  Known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, it originated in the area of modern-day Iraq and entered the United States contrary to federal law.  The tablet was later sold by an international auction house (the “Auction House”) to Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (“Hobby Lobby”), a prominent arts-and-crafts retailer based in Oklahoma City,...