Ancient sculpture may visit Iraq

The British Museum said Monday it had purchased a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian sculpture and hoped to loan it to Iraq.

The museum said it had bought the Queen of the Night -- a terra-cotta relief of a winged naked woman standing on lions and flanked by owls -- from a private collector for $2.8 million.

The sculpture, created between 1800 and 1750 BC, is believed to represent the goddess of night or the underworld. It will tour Britain this year as part of the British Museum’s 250th anniversary celebrations and later could be sent on loan to Iraq, but no dates have been set.

“When it is safe to go back, she will be seen in the Baghdad Museum,” British Museum director Neil MacGregor said