Gilgamesh Dream Tablet

Gilgamesh Dream Tablet

This ancient cuneiform tablet, containing text from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and dating back 3,600 years, is one of the earliest surviving written records.

The cuneiform tablet was on display at the Museum of the Bible until September 2019, when federal authorities seized it subject to to a civil forfeiture complaint. According to the complaint, the tablet surfaced on the art market in 2001, when an unnamed "American dealer" identified it in the London residence of Jordanian antiquities trafficker Ghassan Rihani, who died that same year.

In 2003, the American dealer purchased the tablet and other objects from Rihani's family for a total of USD $50,350. In 2007, the dealer sold the tablet to two other American dealers for USD $50,000. Michael Sharpe's rare book dealership subsequently listed the object for sale in March 2007 for USD $450,000. It was later acquired by another antiquarian, Biblioctopus Rare Books, and finally "John Doe #1" who was later identified as Israeli collector Joseph David Hackmey. Hackmey, in turn, consigned it to Christie's London in the fall of 2013.

In July 2014, Hobby Lobby Stores acquired the tablet from the auction house in a private sale, paying USD $1,674,000. Inquiries by the Museum of the Bible over the next several years allegedly did not shed any light on the object's provenance – or Rihani’s connection to it.

After federal agents seized the cuneiform tablet from its display at the Museum of the Bible in September 2019, the family company behind the museum, Hobby Lobby, filed a lawsuit against Christie's and John Doe #1 for fraud and breach of warranty. The case concluded with an out-of-court settlement in November 2021.

The seized tablet was returned to Iraq, along with thousands of other looted objects acquired by Hobby Lobby and the Museum of the Bible.

1

Tablet

Sumerian

Christie's London

Museum of the Bible

Iraq

Jason Felch

Katie Paul

VG