NY court says gold tablet belongs to German museum

[SteveR]

The Elgin marbles were sold by the Greek government at the time. It was a legal sale. To come back 250 years later and want them to be given back is ridiculous. That is akin to anybody owning a Picasso must be willing to give it back to Spain because of origin of creation. Trying to make laws retroactive is a dangerous path indeed. Germany decides that military items of rarity and origin of country can force any that owns these items to return them because of cultural history. Same thing with ancient Japanese samurai swords.
Just an opinion.

[Sir Payne]

but I would ask why would it not be returned to Iraq?

I think it should be returned to Iraq. It belongs to them, and shouldn't have been taken or kept without their permission. Imagine if it was the other way around. What if an Iraqi archeologist was digging in Germany and found some tablet of Barbarossa and took it back to Iraq to put in a museum indefinitely. Germans would protest, and rightly so. They should give the Assyrian tablet to Iraqi authorities, and let them decide where it goes.

[Jerry B]

I think it should be returned to Iraq. It belongs to them, and shouldn't have been taken or kept without their permission. Imagine if it was the other way around. What if an Iraqi archeologist was digging in Germany and found some tablet of Barbarossa and took it back to Iraq to put in a museum indefinitely. Germans would protest, and rightly so. They should give the Assyrian tablet to Iraqi authorities, and let them decide where it goes.

Permission might and almost certainly was given, at the time, it is in more recent times that such items are not allowed out of the country - I use that to cover many nations-, at one time it was common for German archaeologists and those of other nations to dig abroad and take the finds home with them to stock their museums.

[Wagriff]

Britain could always offer to Sell the Elgin marbles back to Greece-seeing as how they purchased them From Greece....but then again, Greece and Money....I don't think I'd take a Check from the Greek government just now...

(and No..no offense intended to any Greek members....lol)

[StefanM]

This wikipedia page provides a good overview on some of the issues touched on in this thread:

Art repatriation

[big ned]

I don't think I'd take a Check from the Greek government just now...

(and No..no offense intended to any Greek members....lol)

Or a wooden horse neither.....Boo!

[harryamb2]

I agree with JerryB on this,the only example I know off taking without permission,was the prewar dig on the site of Troy when the German Archeoligist smuggled the treasures back to Germany.

[Wagriff]

In the States here, there are Endless cases by Native American groups to recover 300 years worth of diggings of items found. Sometimes they win-sometimes not. The skulls in the Smithsonian Anthropology collection are one example-it wasn't that long ago that they had to return some of them to NA groups that had proven a claim to them. Every court case decision made wants to think that It is the definitive decision on how to handle controversial and sensitive cases like these, but just as many cases seem to go the Other way as well.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I agree with JerryB on this,the only example I know off taking without permission,was the prewar dig on the site of Troy when the German Archeoligist smuggled the treasures back to Germany.

Heinrich Schliemann is the guy you are thinking of.

Cheers, Ade.

[Wagriff]

Schliemann's wife used to wear the Trojan jewels and jewelry to Parties....