The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 10

The Iraq War & Archaeology
Reviewed Articles Archive Ten: Second 1/2 of August 2003

This is the tenth archive of the reviewed articles of The Iraq War & Archaeology web site.

Francis Deblauwe, Ph.D.

The articles and other information are listed chronologically, most recent first.

Archive Seventy-Five: May 2006
Archive Seventy-Four: 2nd 1/2 of April 2006
Archive Seventy-Three: 1st 1/2 of April 2006
Archive Seventy-Two: 2nd 1/2 of March 2006
Archive Seventy-One: 1st 1/2 of March 2006
Archive Seventy: 2nd 1/2 of February 2006
Archive Sixty-Nine: 1st 1/2 of February 2006
Archive Sixty-Eight: 2nd 1/2 of January 2006
Archive Sixty-Seven: 1st 1/2 of January 2006
Archive Sixty-Six: 2nd 1/2 of December 2005
Archive Sixty-Five: 1st 1/2 of December 2005
Archive Sixty-Four: 2nd 1/2 of November 2005
Archive Sixty-Three: 1st 1/2 of November 2005
Archive Sixty-Two: 2nd 1/2 of October 2005
Archive Sixty-One: 1st 1/2 of October 2005
Archive Sixty: 2nd 1/2 of September 2005
Archive Fifty-Nine: 1st 1/2 of September 2005
Archive Fifty-Eight: 2nd 1/2 of August 2005
Archive Fifty-Seven: 1st 1/2 of August 2005
Archive Fifty-Six: 2nd 1/2 of July 2005
Archive Fifty-Five: 1st 1/2 of July 2005
Archive Fifty-Four: 2nd 1/2 of June 2005
Archive Fifty-Three: 1st 1/2 of June 2005
Archive Fifty-Two: 2nd 1/2 of May 2005
Archive Fifty-One: 1st 1/2 of May 2005
Archive Fifty: 2nd 1/2 of April 2005
Archive Forty-Nine: 1st 1/2 of April 2005
Archive Forty-Eight: 2nd 1/2 of March 2005
Archive Forty-Seven: 1st 1/2 of March 2005
Archive Forty-Six: 2nd 1/2 of February 2005
Archive Forty-Five: 1st 1/2 of February 2005
Archive Forty-Four: 2nd 1/2 of January 2005
Archive Forty-Three: 1st 1/2 of January 2005
Archive Forty-Two: 2nd 1/2 of December 2004
Archive Forty-One: 1st 1/2 of December 2004
Archive Forty: 2nd 1/2 of November 2004
Archive Thirty-Nine: 1st 1/2 of November 2004
Archive Thirty-Eight: 2nd 1/2 of October 2004
Archive Thirty-Seven: 1st 1/2 of October 2004
Archive Thirty-Six: 2nd 1/2 of September 2004
Archive Thirty-Five: 1st 1/2 of September 2004
Archive Thirty-Four: 2nd 1/2 of August 2004
Archive Thirty-Three: 1st 1/2 of August 2004
Archive Thirty-Two: 2nd 1/2 of July 2004
Archive Thirty-One: 1st 1/2 of July 2004
Archive Thirty: 2nd 1/2 of June 2004
Archive Twenty-Nine: 1st 1/2 of June 2004
Archive Twenty-Eight: 2nd 1/2 of May 2004
Archive Twenty-Seven: 1st 1/2 of May 2004
Archive Twenty-Six: 2nd 1/2 of April 2004
Archive Twenty-Five: 1st 1/2 of April 2004
Archive Twenty-Four: 2nd 1/2 of March 2004
Archive Twenty-Three: 1st 1/2 of March 2004
Archive Twenty-Two: 2nd 1/2 of February 2004
Archive Twenty-One: 1st 1/2 of February 2004
Archive Twenty: 2nd 1/2 of January 2004
Archive Nineteen: 1st 1/2 of January 2004
Archive Eighteen: 2nd 1/2 of December 2003
Archive Seventeen: 1st 1/2 of December 2003
Archive Sixteen: 2nd 1/2 of November 2003
Archive Fifteen: 1st 1/2 of November 2003
Archive Fourteen: 2nd 1/2 of October 2003
Archive Thirteen: 1st 1/2 of October 2003
Archive Twelve: 2nd 1/2 of September 2003
Archive Eleven: 1st 1/2 of September 2003
Archive Ten: 2nd 1/2 of August 2003
Archive Nine: 1st 1/2 of August 2003
Archive Eight: 2nd 1/2 of July 2003
Archive Seven: 1st 1/2 of July 2003
Archive Six: 2nd 1/2 of June 2003
Archive Five: 1st 1/2 of June 2003
Archive Four: 2nd 1/2 of May 2003
Archive Three: 1st 1/2 of May 2003
Archive Two: 2nd 1/2 of April 2003
Archive One: 1st 1/2 of April 2003
Archive Zero: through the 2nd 1/2 of March 2003

Almost all are accessible for free (or after a free registration) on the internet. Each time, I try to draw attention to the most relevant tidbits of information, esp. things that were not mentioned before; occasionally, I provide some comment. The usual warning applies: many links become defective with time. Inclusion in the list does not in any way mean that I necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in an article. But for a few exceptions, the occasional photos and figures accompanying reviewed articles are just hotlinked images on other web sites, in other words: do not download them or request permission to publish them from me, for I do not own the copyright to them in any way! Please do contact the rightful owners if you would like to use them for publication purposes. Finally, for the sake of convenience, all articles and so on are assumed to have been published on US web sites unless indicated otherwise.

S.T. Martin, "Iraq's Current Situation Would Mortify Its Creator," in St. Petersburg Times (Florida), August 31, 2003: "Were she alive, Bell would be 'absolutely disgusted' by how little intelligence U.S. and British forces had before entering Iraq, [Gertrude Bell biographer Janet] Wallach says. 'The idea that we didn't have people in the country and had no sense of what was going on either before or after the invasion/liberation would have just appalled her. If you're going in and setting up a whole new regime, how can you do it without knowing who the people are and having some sense of what might come next?"
M. Davis, "The Buildings That Aren't Burning in Iraq," in Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas), August 31, 2003: "But Bush, Condi Rice and Colin Powell together could not have been as effective as Geraldo [Rivera] was Thursday night on ... Fox News ... 'When I got to Baghdad, I barely recognized it,' he began, ... 'You have over 30,000 Iraqi cops and militiamen already on the job. This is four months after major fighting stopped. Can you imagine that kind of gearing up in this country? Law and order is better; archaeological sites are being preserved; factories, schools are being guarded.'" [nice to see the Pentagon has allowed Geraldo back into Iraq after throwing him out for endangering the US troops when he was embedded during the War; according to the Mr. Bremer, only 40 sites were to receive military protection: a far cry from the tens of 1,000s of major sites in Iraq]
"Afghan Gold Stash Found Intact," in BBC News, online, August 29, 2003: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai provided a guided tour of the presidential palace's secret vault in the capital, Kabul, ... The Taleban allegedly tried and failed to gain access to it, but it was ultimately local locksmiths who made its doors swing open again, revealing national assets worth about $90m. ... gold bullion bars." "Much of the collection revealed on Friday was discovered during the excavation of ancient burial mounds by the Greek-Russian archaeologist Victor Sariyannidis prior to the Soviet invasion of the country in 1978." "... legendary 2,000-year-old Tillya Tepe (Golden Hill) Bactrian gold hoard includes gold and silver ornaments as well as manuscripts and other antiquities. The find is especially valuable to the Afghan people because much of their rich cultural heritage was destroyed or looted during the 1992-96 civil war and under the Taleban."
L. Faber, "With Mixed Feelings, Marine Returns from Iraq," in Greenwich Time (Connecticut), August 29, 2003: "When the major fighting was declared over in May, [Lance Cpl. Gregory] Zach's platoon became something of a police force, raiding houses for weapons and protecting the citizens. They took shelter inside a museum in Nasiriya." [this confirms Bailey June 13]

[M. Fuller], "Photographs Taken in Iraq by Joseph Oleske While on Active Duty in Iraq During 2003. He Served Bravely With the U.S.M.C. 6th Motor Transport Battalion," in St. Louis Community College, Florissant Valley, online, [August 24, 2003]

Photo 1: "Joseph Oleske on the restored stairway of the Ziggurat at Ur, Iraq"

Photo 2: "US Marine[s] ascend the steps of the Ziggurat at Ur, Iraq"

Photo 3: "US Marines at the Ur Ziggurat"

Photo 4: "Ur Ziggurat from a distance"

Photo 5: "Palace walls at Ur, Iraq"

Photo 6: "Joe Oleske at the doorway into a brick complex that the Marines were told was the house of Abraham/Ibrahim. A good tour guide story even during a war!"

[M. Fuller], "Photographs Taken in Iraq by Andre Sinou While on Active Duty in Iraq During 2003. He Served Bravely With the U.S.M.C. 6th Motor Transport Battalion," in St. Louis Community College, Florissant Valley, online, [August 24, 2003]

Photo 1: "Restored Gate at Babylon, Iraq"

Photo 2: "Andre Sinou at the Ishtar gate of Babylon, Iraq. Notice the designs in the brickwork of the walls"

Photo 3: "Looking through gates of Babylon, I[r]aq"

Photo 4: "Restored palace complex at Babylon, Iraq"

Photo 5: "Restored and unrestored portions of Babylon, Iraq"

Ch.P. Freund, "Preserve History, Then Manipulate It," in The Daily Star (Lebanon), August 22, 2003: "Western curators have long justified their holdings - Nineveh’s winged bulls, Babylon’s Gate of Ishtar, the Parthenon marbles, etc. - on such grounds as superior preservation and security. But listen to this defense offered by David Owen, an archaeologist who oversees a large Mesopotamian collection at Cornell University: 'The fault (of looting) is not ours,' Owen recently told a New York newspaper; 'These (Middle Eastern) countries are in their infancy when it comes to teaching people to respect their past.' That’s a large accusation. It implies that the value of 'the past' is a known and agreed-upon constant, and that Middle Easterners have been ignorant of it. In fact, the peoples of the Middle East have always protected the past that they deemed important, though it is also true that the region has not always agreed with the West on which aspects of antiquity deserved respect. But then, the West has repeatedly changed its own views on precisely the same issue."
"US Approves First Import of Iraqi Antiquities Since War," in Iraq Occupation Watch, August 21, 2003: "The items -- which include parchment scrolls, documents, historic and modern books mostly related to the Iraqi Jewry, some dating from the 1500s -- are to be brought to the United States for restoration and temporary display, ..." "The items were discovered in early May, ... in the flooded basement of the Mukhabarat (secret police) headquarters in the capital, ... The waterlogged material fills 27 large metal trunks and has been frozen to stop the growth of mold, said John Constance, an official with the US National Archives that will oversee the restoration. ... The rarer items include a volume of the Third Rabbinic Bible published in Venice in 1568 and what appears to an original 1696 edition of the 'Birkat Avraham,' a commentary on the Torah, also published in Venice, he said."
R. Erlich, "Lessons From Beirut on Bombed-Out Art," in The Christian Science Monitor, August 21, 2003: "During Lebanon's tumultuous 15-year civil war, the Beirut National Museum lay in ruins. The museum was hit by artillery shells. Snipers fired from its upper floors, even boring a rifle hole into one of the ancient pieces of art. The fate of its priceless collections was unknown." "The building, originally constructed with real Roman columns, began to look like a archeological ruin. Some of the works, such as heavy Phoenician and Roman stone sarcophagi, couldn't be moved. So the museum staff encased them in concrete to protect them from looting and shelling. 'Archeology and concrete don't go very well together,' says [Suzy] Hakimian [the Museum's current curator] wryly, but they had no choice. Museum staff collected the intricate gold statutes and other priceless antiquities and buried them in the museum basement. They stored other valuable pieces in the Central Bank vaults. Only four people in Lebanon knew the location of the ancient artwork. Leaders worried that if word leaked out, criminal gangs or militias would unearth the treasures and sell them." "After the civil war ended in 1990, curators could finally explain that most of the treasures had been saved. But two major problems remained: tracking down items that had been stolen and rebuilding the museum itself. Working with UNESCO and Interpol, Lebanese authorities located stolen items in various art galleries and antiquity shops in Europe, according to [Hareth] Boustany [curator of the Museum from 1970-1979]. The Ministry of Culture provided funds for rebuilding the museum structure. Supporters formed a nonprofit organization to raise additional funds. Muna Hrawi, wife of Lebanese president Elias Hrawi, became personally involved and helped raise funds from private donors. The museum reopened in 1997."
B. Ashley, "Protecting Ancient Artifacts," in Marin Independent Journal (California), August 21, 2003: "Afghanistan's museums have been looted, too, but the world hasn't paid much attention. A San Rafael woman [Nadia Tarzi] whose father was once director-general of archaeology and monument preservation for the Afghan government is doing her best to reverse that. ... Tarzi was born in Strasbourg, France, where her father, Zemaryalai Tarzi, moved after Soviet armies took over Afghanistan and where he now teaches eastern archaeology at Marc Bloch University." "Now that a new government has been installed in Kabul, Zemaryalai Tarzi has been invited home to become joint minister of culture, but has declined, deciding instead to fulfill the final two years of his contract at Strasbourg and to work until then from outside. At daughter Nadia's urging, the two have formed the Association for Protection of Afghan Archaeology, ... The association will try to raise funds to restore the destroyed Museum of Kabul and buy equipment, books and tools. Tarzi also hopes to establish small-scale training programs leading to an exchange of students and archaeological experts. 'We hope to inspire and train young archaeologists by publishing children's books and holding educational events at schools about the cultural contribution Afghanistan has given to the world,' she says. A book is almost complete (except for the illustrations), and she is already leading presentations in local schools, mostly to sixth-graders." "... her father is trying to find restoration experts, to help reconstruct some four tons of bagged shards of archaeological treasures found among the ruins of the institute in 2002. At that time, Zemaryalai Tarzi led a team that cleaned two rooms of the institute, finding ceramic shards of exhibits that once proudly stood on the museum shelves - 'an experience that brought mixed emotions,' his daughter says."

A. the Hobotraveler.com, "View of Tell from the Top or [sic; of] Arbil Tower Hotel," in HoboTraveler.com Travel Tips Newsletter And Updates on Around The World Trip, online, 120 (August 19, 2003): direct-to-internet blog of a low-budget world traveler showed many photos of 2003 Iraq

Photo 1: "Road up the side" [of the citadel]

Photo 2: [no caption; citadel]

Photo 3: [no caption; citadel]

Photo 4: [no caption; citadel]

Photo 5: "Mosque inside Tell" [citadel]

Photo 6: "Statue and book. A great entrance." [citadel]

A. the Hobotraveler.com, "Tell and Bikes in Arbil Iraq," in HoboTraveler.com Travel Tips Newsletter And Updates on Around The World Trip, online, 120 (August 19, 2003): direct-to-internet blog of a low-budget world traveler showed many photos of 2003 Iraq

Photo 1: "Gate or Entranced [sic] to Tell" [from the inside]

Photo 2: [no caption; citadel]

Photo 3: [no caption; citadel?]

N. MacFarquhar, "Hussein's Babylon: A Beloved Atrocity," in The New York Times, August 19, 2003: "In the realm of Saddam Hussein kitsch, it is hard to compete with Babylon. The Iraqi leader found the squat, khaki-colored nubs of earth and scattered stacks of bricks left over from one of history's glorious empires somehow lacking, far too mundane to represent the 2,500-year sweep of Mesopotamian history that was to be reborn through his rule. So he ordered one of the three original palaces rebuilt. Never mind that nobody really knows what the imposing palaces looked like." "... Lamia Gaylani, an Iraqi art historian who has returned after decades overseas to help rebuild the country's antiquities institutions ... said[:] 'Ruins in Iraq are ugly for most people. Ordinary Iraqis want something they can be impressed by like this. This is a symbol of their history.'" "Donny George, the assistant curator of the Baghdad Museum, well remembers the day Mr. Hussein came through the ruins, demanding that the palace be rebuilt in time for the start of the first Babylon arts festival in September 1987." "Sometimes the juxtaposition of the ancient — even recreated — and the modern can seem a little jarring, like watching huge gray Marine transport helicopters hover over the airfield just beyond the walls. Art and archaeology experts joke about history repeating itself, about how the Babylonians, tired of their oppressive leaders, cooperated with the Persians to help toss them out. Garish reminders of the excesses of Mr. Hussein's era have been brought crashing down all over Iraq. But experts touring these historic ruins recently concluded that Babylon stays. Even a folly has its place. 'Nebuchadnezzar was a despot and Saddam Hussein was a despot,' said Mrs. Gaylani, the art historian. 'Would you take away what Nebuchadnezzar built? No. It's part of history. You have to accept it.'"; Dr. Dominique Collon sent me some comments worth quoting (8-20-03): "The reconstruction of Nebuchadnezzar's Palace at Babylon gives a good idea of what it must have looked like and it protects the ancient foundations on which it was built - it was not a haphazard recreation! Saddam had bricks with his inscription placed (discreetly) in the walls, following a tradition used by all builders and restorers of mud-brick buildings for 5000 years. Mud brick is NOT a good building material if you want a building to survive. Restoration means rebuilding - as was done for the Abbasid Palace and other Islamic buildings in Baghdad. It is, after all, thanks to this need for regular rebuilding that tells are formed and that archaeologists are able to reconstruct so much of the past - and looters have such a field-day! Rebuilding is always controvertial (e.g. the Palace of Minos at Knossos), but a little judicious rebuilding does help expert and tourist alike to get an feel for the practicalities of living in the palaces of the past." [indeed, we shouldn't fall in the trap of disavowing something completely just because it was done under the auspices of the Saddam Hussein regime]

A. the Hobotraveler.com, "Tour Bus from Baghdad," in HoboTraveler.com Travel Tips Newsletter And Updates on Around The World Trip, online, 120 (August 19, 2003): direct-to-internet blog of a low-budget world traveler showed many photos of 2003 Iraq

Photo 1: "The Tell of Arbil" [a citadel on top of a tell]

Photo 2: "The Tell or Fortress of Erbell" [sic]

A. the Hobotraveler.com, "Taxi to Erbil - WFP - TELL - Hotels in Arbil," in HoboTraveler.com Travel Tips Newsletter And Updates on Around The World Trip, online, 120 (August 19, 2003): direct-to-internet blog of a low-budget world traveler showed many photos of 2003 Iraq

Photo: "This is a 'TELL[.]' A mound of dirt that accumulated over the years from building home out of Adobe. When they fell apart. They built again on same location. I would assume there is water somewhere." [on the road from Mosul to Arbil; does anyone have an idea which site this is?]

"Putin Lifts Sanctions Against Iraq," in Gateway2Russia.com, online, August 19, 2003: "The decree also forbids the sale and transfer of Iraqi cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific or religious importance that were illegally removed from the Iraq National Museum, the National Library and other organizations during the war or after it."
K. Glaser, "After the Fall. In 1957 King Faisal of Iraq Asked America's Greatest Architect to Build a New Baghdad. Now His Plans Are Being Dusted Off," in The Guardian (UK), August 18, 2003: "... Wright's plans were highly unusual for a western-trained architect. Drawing heavily on the Arab and Persian architecture which had shaped the legendary Baghdad of the eighth and ninth centuries, they also incorporated Islamic and pre-Islamic imagery, myth and literature. 'Reject the commercialisation of western models so as to regain contact with what is deep in the spirit and is genuinely yours,' an impassioned Wright told the then Society of Engineers of Baghdad, ..." "[Mina] Marefat [Rockefeller fellow in Islamic studies at the US Library of Congress] thinks that the extravagance and fantasy of Wright's designs explains why, with the exception of King Faisal, they received little attention at the time and even less since. Basically, they weren't taken terribly seriously, but it could be time for a reassessment, she says, 'now that the definition of cultural heritage has finally been expanded beyond physical objects and buildings and includes crafts, customs, social habits and collective memory, something Wright intuitively recognised half a century ago.'" "Another British architect, who asked not to be named, and who has worked extensively in the Arab world, is also sceptical about resurrecting Wright's plans. 'What may have been good for the city 50 years ago won't be today. Instead of having designs that pay lip service to Islamic architecture, Iraqi architects - and there are lots of very good ones - should be encouraged to take the initiative.'"

C. Saint Louis, "What They Were Thinking. Lance Cpl. Troy Merrell, Echo Company, Second Battalion, 25th Marines, Shatrah, Iraq, June 22, 2003," in The New York Times, August 17, 2003: "'We were out a little north of Shatrah, and we saw some ruins in the desert. The place was pretty much looted, huge holes everywhere. I found a conical stone with inscriptions all around it and that tablet, which was partially buried. The translator told us later it was from around 2000 B.C. and it was part of a King's temple. ... It was kind of a big deal that we found these artifacts, but at the same time I was a little ticked off -- we were still in Iraq.'"

Photo: "Micah Garen"

This site is edited by Belgian archaeologist Francis Deblauwe, Ph.D., living in Streamwood, Illinois (USA), who is affiliated with Archaeos, Inc., and a research associate of the University of Vienna (Austria).