Italy has returned a 2,800-year-old cuneiform tablet to Iraq

19.06.2023

Iraqi authorities have presented a 2,800-year-old cuneiform stone tablet returned by Italy. The tablet bears the insignia of Shalmaneser III, the Assyrian king who ruled Nimrod (north) from 858 to 823 î.Hr.

Iraq is on a campaign to recover from abroad antiquities stolen from its territory.

The circumstances surrounding the tablet’s arrival in Italy remain unclear. Italian authorities returned the tablet to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid during a recent visit to Italy.

“I would like to thank Italian officials for their efforts and cooperation in bringing this piece back,” Abdul Latif Rashid said at a ceremony in a presidential palace in Baghdad in which the tablet was handed over to the Iraqi National Museum.

The tablet contains the titles of King Shalmaneser III, his father, Assurnasirpal II, and his grandfather.

Decades of conflict have caused Iraq to lose a huge number of ancient objects and artifacts. Most recently, the Islamic State terrorist movement destroyed or looted and sold numerous Iraqi antiquities on the black market.