U.S. Authorities Say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh Tablet Is 'Stolen,' Must Go Back To Iraq - NPR

In a story redolent of the seamier side of the international trade in antiquities, U.S. federal prosecutors have filed for the return of an important piece of history be returned to Iraq, from whence it was possibly stolen in 1991. The item is a cuneiform tablet bearing part of the seminal Gilgamesh Epic, and is one of numerous artifacts formerly in the collections of the Washington, DC.-based Museum of the Bible. Jane Arraf has the particulars and a link to the federal complaint. On a happier note, Yasemin Saplakoglu tells us about some Hidden Underground Chambers Unearthed Near Israel's Western Wall. Students in Jerusalem discovered the complex of three chambers, carved on top of one another. Saplakoglu discusses probable dating and possible purpose. Moving towards the present, Jason Colavito asks Did the Vikings Bring Danish Dogs to the Inca Empire in the Middle Ages? Jason says no, doggedly going into fine detail on translation difficulties, morphological questions, and preconceived romantic Norse notions. And Brent Swancer takes us to, well, where? in time, as he discusses The Mystery of the Guadeloupe Woman, the Skeleton in Rock. Here's an "impossible fossils" case, with religious repercussions, temporal debates, and possible explanations far outstripping those of the "Inca dog" question. (WM)

_{-- Delivered by Feed43 service}

from THE ANOMALIST https://n.pr/2M1YMmd