A heist-like tale is claiming the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which has been on display for years, is a stolen artifact with a mysterious international past.

The Gilgamesh Dream Table, which has been on display at the Museum of the Bible, is at the centre of an international investigation.

The United State's government is saying they discovered that the tablet, one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world, was illegally imported into the country.

The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, also known as the Gilgamesh Epic Tablet, is written in the language of Akkadian, the language of the ancient Mesopotamian empires.

The tablet was discovered in 1853 in the ruins of the library of the Assyrian King Assur Banipal in Nineveh. 

"It contains a portion of the Gilgamesh epic in which the protagonist describes his dreams to his mother and she interprets them as foretelling the arrival of a new friend. She tells the protagonist, “You will see him and your heart will laugh,” the Government of the United States says in their complaint.

. That professor cleaned and studied the tablet, discovering its significance, and calling it the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet.

The professor wrote and published an article on the translation of the text and its significance. 

Unfortunately, after the increased awareness of the tablet, it is unknown how many people had owned the tablet since 2003. The United States government is attempting to learn more about where the tablet went, and how it made its way to an auction house located across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 2013, Hobby Lobby and Christie's, the auction house who was now in possession of the tablet, came in contact. The crafting company later purchased the tablet from the business in 2014 for $1.67 million.

Artifact of the Day: Gilgamesh Tablet, "Dream Episode." The Gilgamesh Epic is a term used for an extended narrative...

Posted by Museum of the Bible on Thursday, August 31, 2017

Hobby Lobby made the purchase and inquired about documentation, the auction house allegedly included a false document that claimed the tablet was purchased at an American auction in 1981.

The Department of Homeland Security says that the documentation claimed the tablet was included in a purchase of miscellaneous bronze antiquities. 

In September of 2019, Homeland Security took action and the tablet was confiscated from the Museum of the Bible. BBC says the museum is working with US authorities regarding the investigation.

Now, the United States government is filing an official complaint in regards to how the tablet was obtained, and Hobby Lobby is suing the auction house, claiming they gave false information.