LONDON: The British Museum said Friday it had returned to Iraq a collection of 156 cuneiform tablets believed to have been looted following the US-led invasion of the country.
The items mostly dated from between 2,100 BC and 1,800 BC, the London museum said in a statement.
They were impounded by customs officials at a freight company near London Heathrow Airport in 2011.
The tablets are mostly economic documents but also include letters, legal and school texts and a mathematical document.
Many of them come from Irisagrig, an area that was heavily looted in the aftermath of the war.
The tablets were handed over to the Iraqi ambassador Saleh Altamimi and will be sent on to the Iraq Museum.
“The protection of Iraqi heritage is the responsibility of the international society which we hope to continue for future generations,” Altamimi said in the statement.
British Museum hands looted ancient tablets to Iraq
British Museum hands looted ancient tablets to Iraq
- Many of the tablets come from Irisagrig, an area that was heavily looted in the aftermath of the war
- The items mostly dated from between 2,100 BC and 1,800 BC, the London museum said in a statement
Cairo book fair breaks visitor records
- Strong Saudi participation underscores KSA’s prominent role in Arab cultural landscape
- Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, was selected as the fair’s featured personality
CAIRO: The 57th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair has attracted record public attendance, with the number of visits reaching nearly 6 million, up from a reported 5.5 million previously.
Egypt’s Minister of Culture Ahmed Fouad Hanou said: “This strong turnout reflects the public’s eagerness across all age groups to engage with the exhibition’s diverse cultural and intellectual offerings.”
Hanou said the event included “literary and intellectual activities, meetings with thinkers and creative figures, and thousands of titles spanning various fields of knowledge.”
The Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, was selected as the fair’s featured personality, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of his death.
The exhibition’s official poster features a famous quote by Mahfouz: “Who stops reading for an hour falls centuries behind.”
A total of 1,457 publishing houses from 83 countries participated in the fair. Mahfouz’s novels occupied a special place, as Egypt’s Diwan Library showcased the author’s complete works, about 54 books.
“The pavilion of the Egyptian National Library and Archives witnessed exceptionally high attendance throughout the fair, showcasing a collection of rare and significant books.
Among the highlights was the book “Mosques of Egypt” in Arabic and English, Dr. Sherif Saleh, head of financial and administrative affairs at the Egyptian National Library and Archives, told Arab News.
The fair ended on Tuesday with a closing ceremony that featured a cultural performance titled “Here is Cairo.”
The event included the announcement of the winners of the fair’s awards, as well as the recipient of the Naguib Mahfouz Award for Arabic Fiction.
Organizers described this year’s edition as having a celebratory and cultural character, bringing together literature, art, and cinema.
Romania was the guest of honor this year, coinciding with the 120th anniversary of Egyptian-Romanian relations.
At the Saudi pavilion, visitors were welcomed with traditional coffee. It showcased diverse aspects of Saudi culture, offering a rich experience of the Kingdom’s heritage and creativity.
There was significant participation from Saudi Arabia at the event, highlighting the Kingdom’s prominent role in the Arab cultural arena.
Saudi Arabia’s participation aimed to showcase its literary and intellectual output, in alignment with the objectives of Vision 2030.
The Kingdom’s delegation was led by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Egypt Saleh bin Eid Al-Hussaini. Also in attendance were Dr. Abdul Latif Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, CEO of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, and Dr. Hilah Al-Khalaf, the commission’s director-general.
The King Abdulaziz Public Library placed the Encyclopedia of Saudi Arabia in a prominent position at the pavilion. The encyclopedia, consisting of 20 volumes, is organized according to the Kingdom’s culturally diverse regions.
Founded in 1980 by King Abdullah, the library was established to facilitate access to knowledge and preserve heritage collections. Over the years, it has grown into one of the Kingdom’s most important cultural institutions.
Internationally, the library has strengthened ties between Saudi Arabia and China, including the opening of a branch at Peking University and receiving the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Award for Cultural Cooperation between the two nations.
Regionally, the library has played a pivotal role in the Arab world through the creation of the Unified Arabic Cataloging Project, one of the most important initiatives contributing to knowledge accessibility and alignment with global standards.
