Hobby Lobby ordered to forfeit rare Gilgamesh tablet smuggled out of Iraq in 2003
Source: Marketwatch
A federal judge has ordered that an ancient cuneiform tablet inscribed with a portion of the Sumerian epic poem of Gilgamesh that had been illegally sold to Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., be forfeited to the government.
The tablet known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet originated in modern-day Iraq and had been brought illegally to the U.S. in 2003, federal prosecutors said.
It was then sold several times before being acquired by Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based arts and crafts chain, to be displayed at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Hobby Lobbys founder, Steven Green, is the museums chairman.
.. snip
Representatives of Hobby Lobby and the Museum of the Bible didnt immediately return messages seeking comment.
In 2017, Hobby Lobby was fined $3 million after authorities accused the company of buying thousands of historical artifacts that had been smuggled out of Iraq.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/judge-orders-forfeiture-of-rare-cuneiform-tablet-bought-by-hobby-lobby-in-antiquities-scandal-11627421849?mod=watchlist_latest_news
Aristus
(66,316 posts)Get them in the $$$!
Duncanpup
(12,841 posts)Hit them hard
marble falls
(57,075 posts)... Thou shalt not steal.
Duncanpup
(12,841 posts)mopinko
(70,077 posts)i remember well the sacking of the bagdhad museum, because several of my artist friends arranged an auction to digitize the photos in the collection of the u of chicago.
the oriental institute had been partnering w the museum for decades and had high quality photos of most of the artifacts.
between the money we raised, and the hours that some volunteered, they produced a catalogue that law enforcement, including interpol, iirc, has used ever since.
not sure about this item, but i know there have been many items retrieved.
(i ended up scooping up several paintings, as we didnt get a big enough, rich enough crowd. that's how i ended up w half my art collection.)
hibbing
(10,096 posts)mopinko
(70,077 posts)cute, too.
i rly wanted to put in some time, but i just didnt have it.
C Moon
(12,212 posts)Lonestarblue
(9,971 posts)He had to have known that the artifacts he was buying were stolen from Iraq. Artifacts like dont come on the market legally, but he bought them anyway. This is a man whose religious beliefs the Supreme Court allowed to be used to avoid paying insurance premiums for birth control for female employees, yet his religious beliefs allowed him to buy stolen property. Complete hypocrite. But I want to know why buying stolen property is not a crime prosecutable by more than a small fine.
ArizonaLib
(1,242 posts)Those are things they do.
efhmc
(14,725 posts)csziggy
(34,136 posts)I hope not, even if it means that the people who sold stolen artifacts along get to keep the money.
PortTack
(32,754 posts)Probatim
(2,525 posts)He should be in prison.
DFW
(54,341 posts)His name was Åke Sjöberg, and he worked at the archaeology department of my university. He was a wonderful old guy, and one of the few people I ever met who could read and translate those things.
Warpy
(111,243 posts)That sanctimonious, grasping nest of vipers had no business hoarding it away. I hope they got taken for one hell of a lot of money.
I don't know who finked them out, but s/he deserves a medal.
keithbvadu2
(36,766 posts)http://www.newsweek.com/hobby-lobby-iraq-antiquities-evangelicals-632434
Christianity and the Bible witnessed, honored, enhanced, exemplified, glorified and displayed by theft and fraud by the Hobby Lobby Bible Museum..
cab67
(2,992 posts)It clearly shows that the story of Noah was derived from pre-biblical stories originally formulated in a polytheistic context.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,305 posts)https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a37154595/hobby-lobby-forfeit-gilgamesh-tablet/
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Incidentally, I was raised very Catholic (didn't stick at all). But I have a lot of trouble seeing any difference between Christianity and polytheism. The Holy Trinity - that's 3 gods right there. Then you have the lesser gods (angels, demons), and demigods (saints)... So it's a fairly good sized pantheon.
Orrex
(63,200 posts)Theyve proven themselves an international criminal enterprise several times over.
Shut them down.
Grins
(7,212 posts)How "Christian" of these colossal frauds.
And of course:
"Representatives of Hobby Lobby and the Museum of the Bible didnt immediately return messages seeking comment."
I don't blame them. If I had be caught cold like that....
marble falls
(57,075 posts)... The Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, all mummies and human remains, all religious items ......
I'm waiting for Egyptian archeologists to start digging up US cemeteries and shipping "anthropological finds" to museums in Cairo.
apnu
(8,754 posts)Total scum.
Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)I love seeing these zealots lose.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,338 posts)Will it go to a museum, get pulverized, or just be sold? Maybe Hobby Lobby can buy it again.
brooklynite
(94,501 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)better luck next time.
okaawhatever
(9,461 posts)buy the artifacts dirt cheap, restore them, and get high appraisals for the newly refurbished artifacts. They are allowed to use the appraised price for the tax write off.
Ill try to find a link.