The antiquity, believed to be worth at least hundreds of thousands of pounds, was identified in a customs declaration as a “carved stone for home decoration” worth just “300” in an ambiguous currency.

Sceptical customs officials at Heathrow Airport contacted the British Museum and identified the antiquity as a “kudurru”, a type of stone document used in ancient Babylonia.

Museum officials believe the kudurru was illegally excavated from a site in southern Iraq and will return it to the Iraqi Embassy next week, The Guardian reports.