A 2.800-year-old stone tablet is on display in Iraq after Italy returned it after nearly four decades, the BBC reports.
The artifact is written in cuneiform text – a writing system based on the ancient Babylonian alphabet.
Italian authorities handed him over to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid in Bologna last week.
It is not clear how the plaque was found, nor how it reached Italy, where the police confiscated it in the XNUMXs.
Iraqi Culture Minister Ahmed Badrani said it may have been found during archaeological excavations of the Mosul Dam, which was built around that time.
Iraq, which is often described as the "cradle of civilization", is known, among other things, for the first writing in the world.
Antiquities looting in the country has intensified since the US-led invasion 20 years ago.
The Iraqi president praised the cooperation of Italy and said that he will work to return all the archaeological parts of Iraqi history from abroad, reports N1.
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