Gilgamesh Tablet Returned to Iraq from US

A 3,500-year-old clay tablet inscribed with a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh has been repatriated from the United States to Iraq. The artifact, measuring 15 by 12 centimeters, was looted in 2003 following the US invasion and later sold for $1.7 million to David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, who displayed it at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. US authorities seized the tablet in 2019. The return was announced by President Joe Biden alongside the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, during a July meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi at the White House. Iraqi Culture Minister Hassan Nazim called it "the largest restitution of ancient artifacts to Iraq." The tablet, known as the "Dream of Gilgamesh," recounts the hero's dreams to his mother. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Akkadian cuneiform, is considered humanity's first literary text and the world's second religious document after the Pyramid Texts. The repatriation is part of a broader effort to recover thousands of artifacts looted during Iraq's crises, including the 2003 invasion and the 2014 ISIS occupation, which destroyed treasures like the Assyrian winged bull and the statue of God Rozhan at the Mosul Museum. The illicit trade in Iraqi artifacts is estimated at $10-20 million annually.