The CDLI (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative) has a new entry about this artifact. Its CDLI number is P497362. Click here to see the record.
The provenance of the plaque is listed a "Elbonia?" but it looks like it is from Ur.
The CDLI reports that the plaque was confiscated in Bulgaria and it will be returned to Iraq (i.e., The National Museum in Baghdad).
As you know, the museum was thoroughly plundered by the Iraqis in 2003 during the American liberation of Iraq. This is allegedly when the plaque was stolen.
(Personally, I think the plaque would be much safer in Bulgaria)
So... surprise surprise, the plaque is genuine after all, according to the Iraqi Museum.
When I first started writing this article, I was absolutely convinced that the plaque was authentic because it looks so much like the Standard of Ur. As I continued to write, I began to have my doubts. Maybe it looks too much like the Standard of Ur, and it was therefore a counterfeit, copied from the standard by a modern forger who had few other examples of Sumerian art. Plus, the smooth bore of the hole bothered me. It looks almost too smooth, like it was drilled by a machine.
However, assuming for now that the plaque is genuine, like the Iraq Museum says it is, then I will repeat my suggestion that the plaque was copied from the Standard of Ur, and that it probably commemorates the king who is shown on the standard.
