A number of ancient artifacts believed to have been looted from a site in southern Iraq are being returned by the UK this week. The objects were seized from a (now defunct) art dealership in London by the Metropolitan Police in 2003, shortly after the American-led invasion of Iraq. The artifacts, which lacked any documentation, included three clay cones with a cuneiform inscription, which strongly suggested the objects were from Iraq. The objects were taken to the British Museum for identification, and are now being returned, having been positively identified as having come from a site in the Dhi Qar Governate in southern Iraq.
A clay cone with a Sumerian inscription being returned from Britain to Iraq after being identified as having come from a site in the south of the country. The British Museum.
A breakthrough in the identification of the objects came when archaeologists from the museum, working alongside colleagues from Iraq, found similar cones while excavating a temple at Tello, an ancient Sumerian city, roughly at the same location as the modern city of Ginsu. These cones were shown to bear inscriptions naming the same king as the London cones, leading the British Museum scientists to conclude that these too had originated in Tello, and to be about 5000 years old.
A fragment of a white gypsum mace-head being returned from Britain to Iraq after being identified as having
come from a site in the south of the country. The British Museum.
As well as the cones from which the collection was identified, the items include a polished and carved river pebble, a fragment of a gypsum mace, a buffalo pendant and a stamp seal with an image of the god Lammasu.
Stamp seal with an image of the god Lammasu being returned from Britain to Iraq after being identified as having
come from a site in the south of the country. The British Museum.
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