Family Ordered to Return Ancient Tablet to Germany

In a 7-0 decision, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that a Long Island family must return a 3,200-year-old Assyrian gold tablet to the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin.

The 9.5-gram tablet was excavated about 100 years ago in Northern Iraq and dates back to the reign of King Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria from 1243-1207 BC.  The tablet is estimated to be worth around $10 million.

Riven Flamenbaum, an Auschwitz survivor, is said to have traded goods with Russian soldiers in exchange for this treasure.  After Riven’s death in 2003, his son Israel notified the museum that the estate had possession of the artifact, which led the museum to file suit.

The court dismissed the notion that the German museum waited too long to reclaim the tablet and rejected the Flamenbaums’ “spoils of war” argument.

See Yancey Roy, Court: LI Family Must Return Ancient Tablet to Germany, Long Island Newsday, Nov. 14, 2013.