An attempt to smuggle a Babylonian treasure into Britain has been foiled after it was seized at Heathrow airport. Later this month the British Museum will stage the object’s official handover to Iraq. Photograph: British MuseumDr St John Simpson, a senior curator at the British Museum, told the Guardian: “It’s a museum-quality piece. It is a very heavy object.”It dates from the reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I (about 1126-1103BC), not to be confused with his famous later namesake Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562BC). The text mentions the god Enlil and the goddess Gula and refers several times to the city of Nippur, in southern Iraq, where Enlil was the chief god.

Source: The Guardian March 10, 2019 13:39 UTC