Record-Setting Sale Of An Ancient Assyrian Stone Relief Sparks Looting Fears In Iraq
A bidding war at Christie's this week sent the price of a 3,000-year-old stone relief from $7 million to more than $28 million, setting a world record for ancient Assyrian artworks and raising fears among some archaeologists that soaring prices will fuel the market for looted antiquities as well as legally acquired ones. The 7-foot […]A bidding war at Christie's this week sent the price of a 3,000-year-old stone relief from $7 million to more than $28 million, setting a world record for ancient Assyrian artworks and raising fears among some archaeologists that soaring prices will fuel the market for looted antiquities as well as legally acquired ones.
The 7-foot bas-relief from the palace of Nimrud in present-day Iraq was acquired in the 19th century, long before there were laws prohibiting the wholesale removal and export of archaeological treasures.
