Statue of Sumerian King Entemena

Statue of Sumerian King Entemena

The statue of the Sumerian King Entemena of Lagash was stolen from The Iraq Museum, Baghdad, in April 2003, during the chaotic early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The statue, along with hundreds of other objects stolen from the museum during the invasion, was smuggled across the border to Syria and then disappeared. While missing it was listed on Interpol's "Most Wanted Works of Art" list as the single most important item stolen from the Baghdad Museum. The inscriptions on Entemena's back and shoulders describe his rule, worship and accomplishments in 2400 BCE.

"There is no way of estimating the value of such an antiquity," investigators noted. "Rated as the most important missing [item] from the cradle of civilization itself makes it invaluable."

US investigators received a tip about the statue's location in 2005 and opened an investigation, according to records released under the Freedom of Information Act. On May 5, 2006, the statue was turned over to the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon and transported back to the US in a diplomatic pouch for authentication by experts at Yale's Peabody Museum and the Massachusetts College of Art.

The statue was headless when originally excavated in Ur, an ancient city in the south of Iraq. Leading experts suggest that "its head might have been lopped off in ancient times to symbolize Ur’s emancipation from Lagash," according to The New York Times. Through comparison with older photographs of the object before it was stolen, experts ascertained that it had also sustained recent damage, potentially in connection with its theft.

The statue of Entemena was returned to Iraq's prime minister in a July 2006 ceremony at the Iraqi Embassy to the United States.

1

Sculpture

Sumerian

Iraq

Chris Mechelke

VG