In a significant event for Iraq’s cultural heritage, the country’s Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities Ministry announced on Sunday the recovery of a 2,800-year-old stone tablet from Italy.
Culture Minister Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani accepted the tablet on behalf of Iraq during President Abdul Latif Rashid’s visit to Italy, the ministry said in a statement. The artifact, from the Neo-Assyrian Empire, bears cuneiform writing praising King Shalmaneser III, who governed the Nimrud region of present-day northern Iraq approximately from 858 BCE to 823 BCE.
Iraq continues to work globally with archaeological and diplomatic entities to reclaim cultural relics that were removed from the country. Following the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, looters pillaged or destroyed an estimated 15,000 cultural items dating from the Stone Age to Islamic periods.
The rise of the Islamic State group in 2014 further worsened the situation, leading to the devastation of significant sites, such as the Mosul Museum and the ancient cities of Hatra and Nimrud. Currently, of the more than 10,000 recognized archaeological sites in Iraq, many remain unprotected and are still subject to looting.