I’ve heard that lots of Sumerian antiquities disappeared during the looting of Iraq. Is it possible the Black Rock of Cybele was one of them?
I can assure all of you that it did NOT disappear in the looting of Sumerian antiquities after the commencement of the war in Iraq. I’ve traced the journey of the Black Rock from ancient Babylonia where it later found its way to Persia but was given to the Anatolian explorer Strabo as a gift for the emperor Tiberius. When Tiberius died, some of his possessions languished in poor storage, owing to his unpopularity as a ruler. We have a record of the neglect which occurred in Suetonius’ biography of Tiberius:
“The people were so glad of his death, that at the first news of it some ran about shouting, ‘Tiberius to the Tiber,’ while others prayed to Mother Earth and the Manes to allow the dead man no abode except among the amend. His possessions languished and the great statue the Apollo of Temenos was toppled and his legacy was scattered among his heirs and the public alike.”
Zoinky will recall that an anti-Tzombi graffiti was found near the site of Tiberius’ death. Alas, we have no record of what happened to the Black Rock in particular.
