The British Museum’s proposed loans for Abu Dhabi could be worth up to £1bn. The most valuable item earmarked is an Assyrian relief from Nimrud, the Banquet Scene (645–635BC), which was revalued last year at £100m. No longer on display since it was placed on a reserve list, the world’s finest Assyrian relief is now languishing in the London institution’s store, awaiting its likely loan in 2017 for a five-year stay in the Gulf.

Five other antiquities on the list earmarked for Abu Dhabi are valued at more than £250m.