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Smart move to offer to buy the artifacts without fear of prosecution. They probably saved tons of items which otherwise would have been lost forever.
by brianbreslin 11y ago
Smart move to offer to buy the artifacts without fear of prosecution. They probably saved tons of items which otherwise would have been lost forever.
- GabrielF00 11y agoUnless people start looting artifacts because they know there will be a buyer who won't prosecute them.
- wavefunction 11y agoThe looting in question was an acute episode resulting from the US invasion of Iraq and the rapid disintegration of public institutions and order that followed.
- hugh4 11y agoThey would have wound up in the hands of rich collectors, where they'd probably be a lot safer than they are in Baghdad right now, a few hundred km from an army which would happily destroy all pre-Islamic artefacts. Especially this one, which is a story with other gods in it! Can't get much more unislamic than that... So yeah, as long as ISIS or any of its successors never takes Baghdad it's safe. I'd rather it were in some rich dude's house though.
- oofabz 11y agoIf they make it to a museum, then the information on the tablets becomes public and therefore very safe. Discovering and preserving the story is more important than the physical tablets.
- rdl 11y agoIf it stays here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaymaniyah_Museum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulaymaniyah_Museum) it is probably safer from IS than basically anywhere else in the region. Baghdad is still relatively safe, but could be better. I could see them loaning it to the National Museum at some point, but only temporarily, and not for many years.