Spotted on online auctions in 2019, a 4,000-year-old Sumerian plaque has been identified thanks to the joint work of the English police and the British Museum.
Presented on the internet as an Akkadian tablet from Central Asia, the ancient object, which was stolen in Iraq, had drawn the attention of the authorities.
The museum announced on Monday that it will be returned to its country of origin.
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"
The plaques like this are extremely rare, there are to date only about fifty copies
", explained the London museum in its press release, qualifying this discovery of "
fascinating and important
".
The piece, carved from limestone, depicts a tall male figure wearing a typical Sumerian skirt.
It actually comes from a votive wall plaque dating from 2400 BC.
According to the researchers, the particular style of the object is typical of southern Iraq.
Traces of burns support the thesis that it probably came from the site of Tello (ancient Sumerian city of Girsu).
Other pieces with similar burns were found there.
More than 2000 pieces returned since 2009
"
This piece was illegally taken from Iraq,
" said the museum, explaining that this site had been "
largely looted at the end of the 19th century
", but also during the Gulf War and that of Iraq, in 2003 "
Committed to the fight against the illicit trade
", the British Museum said it was "
delighted to help return this important object to Iraq
", which will be exhibited within its walls in the meantime, with the agreement Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi Ambassador to the UK Mohammad Jaafar Al-Sadr praised "
the tremendous cooperation
" between the museum and his country, adding that "
more artefacts will be returned in the near future
."
Since 2009, the British Museum has helped return more than 2,300 stolen antiquities, including several to Iraq, the institution said in its statement.
Terracotta cones were returned to Baghdad in 2018 and 156 clay tablets with cuneiform writings.
This does not prevent the museum from being the subject of criticism.
He is accused by some of not having returned certain objects claimed by their country of origin, in particular the Parthenon marbles that Greece has claimed for years.
