10,000 Cuneiform Tablets
10,000 Cuneiform Tablets

Year of Object(s) Creation: 3500 B.C.E. (approximate)
Estimated Value ($USD):
Object Type(s): Plaque or Tablet
Object Material(s): Clay
Provenience Nation: Iraq
Provenience Location:
Year Removed from Findspot:

Provenance
Start Year: 2013
End Year:
Circumstance of Acquisition: Returned to the Iraqi government in a transfer brokered by the U.S. attorney's office in Binghamton, New York
Nation: Iraq
Location:
Start Year: 2000
End Year: 2013
Circumstance of Acquisition: New York antiquities collector, Jonathan Rosen, and his family began donating and lending the tablets to Cornell University
Nation: United States
Location: Cornell University
Start Year: 1991
End Year: 2000
Circumstance of Acquisition: Allegedly looted during the Gulf War
Nation:
Location:

10,000 Iraqi Cuneiform Tablets


Description:
The tablets include the private archive of the 21st century B.C.E. Sumerian princess in the city of Garsana and administrative records of ancient life.

Case Status: Object(s) relinquished
Year Claim Initiated: 2012
Year Claim Resolved: 2013
Means of Resolution: Inquiry/Demand

Complainant Name: Government of Iraq
Complainant Nation: Iraq
Complainant Nation Economy: Developing
Complainant Type: Public: Government

Respondent Name: Cornell University
Respondent Nation: United States
Respondent Nation Economy: Developed
Respondent Type: Private: Institution

Reference Links:

Files:

Editor's Notes:
Verified by Keli Fisher WHERE ARE THEY NOW? After returning to Iraq in 2013, the tablets have remained in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, Iraq. They have not been visible to the public since their repatriation.