Forfeiture of ancient tablet bought by Hobby Lobby approved

A federal judge in New York has approved forfeiture of a 3,500-year-old clay tablet bearing a portion of Epic of Gilgamesh that was looted from Iraq and sold for $1.6 million to Hobby Lobby for display in Museum of Bible, prosecutors anunced.

cuneiform tablet, written in ancient langu of Akkadian and dating from around 1500 B.C., was illegally transported to U.S. in 2003 and again in 2014, prosecutors said in a federal complaint.

A false provenance letter was used to sell tablet several times before Hobby Lobby bought it from a London-based auction house in 2014, prosecutors said.

artifact, kwn as Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, contains a portion of Gilgamesh epic, considered one of earliest surviving works of table literature.

tablet was seized in 2019 from Washington, D.C.-based Museum of Bible, founded by Hobby Lobby executives, and is w being stored in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

Judge Ann M. Donnelly entered an order documenting forfeiture of tablet Monday.

“This forfeiture represents an important milestone on path to returning this rare and ancient masterpiece of world literature to its country of origin,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis. “This Office is committed to combating black-market sale of cultural property and smuggling of looted artifacts.”

A mess seeking comment was left with Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby on Wednesday.

Hobby Lobby returned thousands of or tablets, seals and or ancient artifacts that had been smuggled into U.S. in 2018.

items were purchased by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green for display in Museum of Bible, which opened in 2017.