Year of Object(s) Creation: 1500 B.C.E. (approximate)
Estimated Value ($USD): 2000000
Object Type(s): Carving, Plaque or Tablet
Object Material(s): ceramic
Provenience Nation: Iraq
Provenience Location: The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, Assyria (present day Iraq)
Year Removed from Findspot: 1853

Provenance
Start Year: 2021
End Year:
Circumstance of Acquisition: returned by government
Nation: Iraq
Location: National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq
Start Year: 2019
End Year: 2021
Circumstance of Acquisition: seized from museum by US agents
Nation: United States
Location: possession of United States government
Start Year: 2014
End Year: 2019
Circumstance of Acquisition: bought in private sale for $1.67 million
Nation: United States
Location: Museum of the Bible (owned by Hobby Lobby)
Start Year: 2007
End Year: 2014
Circumstance of Acquisition: bought at auction various times
Nation: United States
Location: various
Start Year: 2003
End Year: 2007
Circumstance of Acquisition: bought from coin dealer in London
Nation: United States
Location: Anon antiquities dealer
Start Year:
End Year: 2003 (approximate)
Circumstance of Acquisition: unknown
Nation: United Kingdom
Location: Anon coin dealer in London, UK
Start Year:
End Year: 1991
Circumstance of Acquisition: unknown
Nation: Iraq
Location: Iraqi museum

Iraqi Gilgamesh Dream Tablet


Description:


Case Status: Object(s) relinquished
Year Claim Initiated: 2019
Year Claim Resolved: 2021
Means of Resolution: Action by Respondent's Govt.

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

Respondent Name: Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.
Respondent Nation: United States
Respondent Nation Economy: Developed
Respondent Type: Private: Institution

Reference Links:

Files:

Editor's Notes:
One of the world’s oldest surviving works of literature and one of the oldest religious texts; part of a 12-tablet collection. Editor: Eliza Rodi.