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A comment on Authorities say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh tablet is stolen, must go back to Iraq. Parent comment

Re:Authorities say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh tablet is stolen,... by triceratops on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @03:58PM (#23239412)
I think it's basically a function of when the artifact was taken. Older generations (I'm thinking pre 1900s) of historians, archeologists and explorers didn't think anything of it. And often in the colonial era, there wasn't a native government or state that could take possession of those artifacts. From reading history books, I think there was more of a finders-keepers mentality back then. EDIT: from reading another comment, it seems like 1970 is the cut-off.

The same actions today would be considered deeply uncool (which they are IMO), and also illegal in many jurisdictions. It's not right for a country's cultural treasures to be put on display permanently (loans are OK, I guess) in a museum thousands of miles away where most of the people of that country have no chance of admiring them.

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Re:Authorities say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh tablet is stolen,... by ABeeSea on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @04:12PM (#23239580)
It also breaks apart a potential comprehensive collection. The Mayan collection from the Guatemalan government is currently in a traveling tour. Saw it in Vancouver as a special exhibit and it was a truly great exhibit that would be impossible if all those pieces were in different collections around the world.
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Re:Authorities say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh tablet is stolen,... by ChainOfFools on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @07:25PM (#23241524)
the problem is that local (to the archaeological context) museums lose a lot of potential support when the most salient artifacts connected to the history of the community they serve are held in (or more likely, outright belong to) a much more comprehensive collection in a far away city that many of their patrons will never visit.

It's a thorny problem. That local and often very impoverished communities will value their history enough to pay the costs of protecting it from being (legally or illegally) sold off in bits to the international market, is not a given. Local museums are often a cornerstone of establishing that value.

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