Iraq Reveals 2,800-Year-Old Stone Tablet Returned by Italy

Iraq has proudly unveiled a 2,800-year-old stone tablet recently returned by Italy.

This significant event comes as Iraq strives to recover its stolen antiquities worldwide. The tablet, adorned with cuneiform text in the Babylonian alphabet, features the insignia of Shalmaneser III, the Assyrian king who governed the Nimrod region in what is now northern Iraq from 858 to 823 BC.

Although the circumstances surrounding the tablet’s journey to Italy remain unclear, the Italian authorities handed it over to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid during his visit to Bologna last week.

Rashid expressed his gratitude, stating, “I would like to thank the Italian officials for their efforts and cooperation in bringing back this piece.”

A ceremony took place on Sunday at a presidential palace in Baghdad, where the artifact was officially transferred to the national museum.

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Laith Majid Hussein, the director of Baghdad’s Council of Antiquities and Heritage, revealed that the tablet had arrived in Italy in the 1980s, where the police later seized it. The exact circumstances of its discovery, however, remain shrouded in mystery. Iraqi Culture Minister Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani speculated that it might have been found during archaeological excavations or in connection with the Mosul dam, Iraq’s largest dam, built in the 1980s. Al-Badrani emphasized the tablet’s significance, noting that its cuneiform text is fully intact.

Iraq’s modern territory is regarded as the birthplace of several ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, which have played crucial roles in the development of writing systems and the establishment of the world’s first cities.

Regrettably, Iraq’s cultural heritage has suffered greatly from looting, particularly during the tumultuous period following the US-led invasion of 2003.

President Rashid vowed to continue the efforts to repatriate all of Iraq’s archaeological artifacts scattered abroad. He stated, “We want to make the national Iraq Museum one of the best museums in the world, and we will work to do so.” The return of this stone tablet serves as a positive step towards preserving and showcasing Iraq’s rich history and cultural heritage to the global community.

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