When Eckart Frahm was led into a New York customs warehouse to examine thousands of looted Iraqi artifacts he felt a tingle of anticipation.
“I had no idea what they would be,” he said.
The items had been smuggled into the US by an American chain of hobby shops with misleading labels claiming they were “ceramic tiles” or “samples”.
In fact, the professor of Assyriology from Yale University discovered they were tablets and cylindrical seals dating back 4000 years and revealing the secrets of a lost Mesopotamian city.
The tablets from Irisagrig began their journey home last week, when they were signed over to Iraqi officials. But their repatriation has set off an angry debate among academics about…
Click Here: cheap nsw blues jersey
To continue reading this article
Start a 30-day free trial for unlimited access to Premium articles
- Unlimited access to Premium articles
- Subscriber-only events and experiences
- Cancel any time
Free for 30 days
then only £2 per week
Try Premium
Save 25% with an annual subscription
Just £75 per year
Save now
Register for free and access one Premium article per week
Register
Only subscribers have unlimited access to Premium articles.Register for free to continue reading this article
RegisterOr unlock all Premium articles.
Free for 30 days, then just £1 per week
Start trial
Save 40% when you pay annually.
View all subscription options |
Already have an account? Login