A stone tablet going back 2,800 years has been exhibited in Iraq after being returned by Italy after an almost four-decade absence. The ancient artefact bears a complete cuneiform text, which represents a writing system used in clay tablets during the Babylonian era. Italian authorities handed over the tablet to Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid in the city of Bologna last week.
The origins of the tablet and how it ended up in Italy, where it was seized by police in the 1980s, remain unclear. Iraqi Culture Minister Ahmed Badrani however suggested that it might have been discovered during archaeological excavations of the Mosul dam, which was constructed around the same period.
Iraq, often referred to as the “cradle of civilization,” is renowned for numerous achievements, including being the birthplace of the world’s first writing system. In the late 8th century, the country’s Bayt al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) housed the largest library of books on various subjects such as science, art, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy.
Iraq’s president commended the cooperation demonstrated by Italy and expressed his commitment to recovering all the archaeological pieces representing Iraq’s history from abroad.
