Well, we cannot think of a more deserving entity to suffer this deserving fate.

As everyone knows, Hobby Lobby, is a private company that loves to meddle in others’ private parts. But the problems with Hobby Lobby ownership don’t stop there. The company’s hobby can be fairly private when they flaunt international and American law in collecting rare archeological treasures for his “Museum of the Bible” in Oklahoma.

It is illegal to traffic in certain genuine archeological relics precisely because it has been agreed that the historical importance of these pieces means that the artifacts belong to the country of origin and through that country, the world, not one person, not even the person who found the piece.

It doesn’t seem particularly Christian to disrespect the law and these laws in particular. There is something in the Bible about coveting others’ goods.

The United States government just brought about the forfeiture of one of the oldest tablets ever discovered, telling the tale of Gilgamesh, which we find overrated in plot development. But again, the historical nature makes these things priceless and they should be available for all the world to see and for researchers to study. Once a piece falls into private ownership, they could trash it for all we know, or fail to keep it in a condition that preserves its viability for research.

The piece was seized and declared forfeited by the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York, which has a division devoted to policing these matters. The question that now intrigues us is whether or not anyone will face criminal charges. It appears that they purchased the artifact here in the United States from an international art dealer. And yet, knowing that the piece wasn’t dug up in Vermont, one would think that possession of the piece would float the possibility of criminal culpability. At the very least, the family will be required to forfeit the treasure and we seriously doubt – but cannot prove – that they will get the money back, certainly not from the government. They can try the auction house. Try.

The tablet will be sent back to its country of origin, Iraq, and one might worry about the stability of the piece there, too, in a country of near-perpetual war. It got out of Iraq originally, after all. But it still deserves to be in a research museum open to the world and not in “the Museum of the Bible” where they had the piece on display. The piece was seized by the government in 2019 and it appears that the ensuing litigation took two years before a court determined that Hobby Lobby had to forfeit the piece under international law.

Inbox: DOJ seizes the Epic of Gilgamesh from Hobby Lobby pic.twitter.com/kUEDCBcnv4

— Matt Ford (@fordm) July 27, 2021

Regardless, one’s beliefs about Hobby Lobby are actually irrelevant in this matter. These are important issues. The Great Library of Alexandria fire destroyed priceless pieces of literature, filled with human knowledge and history thousands of years ago. To this day, we don’t know all that was lost, perhaps the keys to building the pyramids. We only that the library was truly priceless to world history. It is no different today if we let things go, piece by piece, by piece, all for profit.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LeftScoop.news. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.