Gilgamesh tablet: Bid to confiscate artefact from Museum of the Bible
US prosecutors are seeking to confiscate a rare ancient tablet from a Christian museum co-founded by the president of retailer Hobby Lobby.
The 3,500-year-old artefact, from what is now Iraq, bears text from the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world's oldest works of literature.
Prosecutors allege that an auction house deliberately withheld information about its origins.
Hobby Lobby said it was co-operating with government investigations.
It bought the tablet from the auction house in a private sale in 2014 for $1.67m (£1.36m) for display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington.
I don't have any use for those jesus-freak Hobby Lobby clowns but they do seem to be the victim of a scam. Of course it is equally possible that they merely winked and nodded at the assurances they were given. This isn't the first time they have been involved in a scam.
P.S. The absolutely last place I would send a valuable historical artifact back to is Iraq!
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
P.S. The absolutely last place I would send a valuable historical artifact back to is Iraq!
That's a difficult call to make Min. Think about the Elgin Marbles. The Parthenon was being actively dismantled to scavenge the limestone to burn in kilns to make mortar. Lord Elgin took advantage of the greed of the rulers at the time & managed to get some of the better pieces out of Greece. A lot of people are crying "Foul!" & demanding that the marbles be returned, notwithstanding the fact that the transactions were legal at the time.
If the artifacts in question were looted recently, they should be returned. If instability in the region causes the artifacts to be damaged or destroyed, oh well. Should artifacts only be allowed to remain if some outside 'authority' deems that it is safe to do so? Isn't that hugely arrogant?
At some point we need to stop trying to dictate to others & stop the nanny syndrome. If a country can't or won't protect it's own cultural heritage, then tough titty. Such tragic occurrences can happen & will always be mourned. But hey... Should we, the ENLIGHTENED FEW, step in & take over??? No. I'm not feeling particularly godlike at the moment.
"Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test." ~ Robert G. Ingersoll
"Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer." ~ Alexander Pope
I remember what the Taliban did to those Buddha statues in Bamyan and what ISIS did to the city of Palmyra. Maybe Iraq can have them back when the damn muslims grow up and stop being vandals.
Religious fanatics do not change because we hope they will.
As far as Athens goes..... marble and limestone don't seem to fare too well in the polluted conditions prevalent in the city.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
The muslims are only doing what the early Christian church did. They were responsible for irreparable damage to non Christian sites all over the world. It both breaks your heart & pisses you off at the same time. Think of the Aztec & Mayan documents destroyed by pious assholes. Same for the Rongorongo documents. So much has been lost because of zealots.
"Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test." ~ Robert G. Ingersoll
"Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer." ~ Alexander Pope
Totally agree.... but we can't do anything about what ignorant xtian mobs did in the 4-5th centuries. We can protect important historical artifiacts from ignorant mobs of muslim fanatics today. Those tablets have lasted 3,000 years. Maybe in time the muslims will grow out of their hysteria. I'm not willing to sacrifice history to find out.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
