They were stolen in Iraq, sold to an American company, and are now confiscated by the government for later return.
The 450 tablets, 4,000 years old, represent legislative and administrative texts, and some contain spells and magical rituals. Experts believe that they were written in Uruk, a Sumerian city-state of the 3rd millennium BC, LiveScience reports. They were brought to the United States by the Hobby Lobby company, which is owned by collector and founder of the Museum of the Bible, Steve Green. Theft of artifacts is a common problem in Iraq, and museum staff are often forced to buy rare materials from smugglers.
Not all scientists agree with the return of artifacts to their homeland. David Owen, professor of Middle East studies at Cornwell University, says: “If these tablets are returned without preliminary analysis and publication of the texts, it will be a tragedy. Once they are in the Iraqi museum, scientists will lose access to them. Local specialists are already overloaded, they are unlikely to get their hands on the work with these materials."
Tatiana Lehatkova