The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 14

The Iraq War & Archaeology
Reviewed Articles Archive Fourteen: Second 1/2 of October 2003

This is the fourteenth 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.

G. Schwartz, "Dutch Help Bedouins Guard the Sumerian Site of Uruk. The Americans Did Not List Protection of the Site as Necessary When They Handed Over Administration of the Southern Iraqi Province of al-Muthanna to the Netherlands," in The Art Newspaper (UK), October 31, 2003: "... a unique unit known as CIMIC (Civil Military Cooperation). CIMIC is a NATO project, launched in 1997, which allows for the 'militarisation' of civilian specialists by armed forces. Only the Netherlands has actually created a corps of militarised specialists under this programme ... One of the five areas for which CIMIC is deployed is cultural affairs and because the territory now controlled by the Netherlands includes the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, CIMIC officers surveyed the site in August to make recommendations to the [Dutch] Ministry of Defence. ... setting up a paper-thin, non-committal, temporary line of outside support which calls for local police forces to patrol the site when they can and for Dutch Military Police also to patrol the site occasionally." "Before the war, Uruk was managed by the Iraq Department of Antiquities through a field office in the provincial capital of as-Samawah, led by an official named Toufiq Abed Mohammed." "Lieutenant-Colonel Joris Kila, Network Manager for Cultural Affairs, trained in art history and archaeology, and Major Rudolf de Jong, a specialist in Arabic, especially Bedouin dialects, were members of the [CIMIC] team. ... In the short time available to them, [they] were limited to making arrangements for the protection of Uruk, only one, albeit the most important, of more than 100 sites in the province." "... the chief of the CIMIC Network Team for Cultural Affairs, Lieutenant-Colonel Edmond C.A. Fokker van Crayestein, was at pains to insist that the function of his team should not be confused with that of a cultural non-governmental organisation (NGO) or with that of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which now exercises ultimate command over Iraq. Such bodies, if they could (as NGOs presently cannot) or desired (as the CPA does not) would be able to create programmes focussed on the protection of cultural heritage. The CIMIC mission in Iraq is to execute quick-impact, high-visibility actions in the service of force protection. [Schwartz:] It now remains to be seen whether the Dutch Ministry of Defence will do what the CPA has hitherto failed to do and implement effective measures to protect sites in Southern Iraq from looting." [so far, the Dutch military contingent has unfortunately not taken up the protection of the archaeological sites in the el-Muthanna governorate]
I. Salman, "Intellectuals To Be Involved in Building Iraqi Cultural Diversity, Says Al-Jaza'iri [in Arabic]," in Al-Zaman (UK), October 30, 2003, translation in TIDES Iraq Reconstruction Report, 3, November 3, 2003: "Salman: There are reports about some Jewish archeological discoveries that were kept in the general security headquarters before being reportedly transferred, thanks to the coalition forces, to the United States in order to organize a moving exhibition. How true is this information that dominates the Iraqi street? Al-Jaza'iri: This is the first time that I have heard this information. It seems that I am remote from what is happening on the Iraqi street, but I am in contact on a daily basis with the archeological department. In fact, we have not received any information on this matter." [actually, this is for real, see Iraq Occupation Watch August 21, 2003]
S. Hadad, "Jews Stealing Babylon Relics: Iraqi Paper," in IslamOnline.net (Qatar), October 30, 2003: "Archaeological antiquities dating back to the period of what is historically known as 'Babylonian Captivity' or 'Babylonian Exile' are currently facing a systematic plundering by Jews, said the Iraqi Al-Mustaqilla (Independent) newspaper ... Quoting what it described as 'reliable sources', the paper asserted that dozens of large trucks have been seen carrying away relics from Babylon, some 85 kilometers to the southwest of Baghdad. It added that the artifacts date back to the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, who sent his armies to occupy Palestine thousands of years ago and took thousands of Jews as prisoners, in what became known as the Babylonian Captivity. 'Those who are carrying out the plundering operation are our 'Jewish guests', the new guests of the (U.S.-British) occupation,' according to the paper." "According to Al-Mustaqilla, Jews also encouraged mobs to ransack and steal the antiques of Biblical Prophet Ozeir, whose grave is situatedat the town named after him, some 420 kilometers to the southeast of Baghdad, said the paper. Dozens of Jewish families of Iraqi origin, who immigrated to Israel in the late 1940s and early 1950s, have reportedly returned to Iraq after its occupation and started buying villas in Baghdad at prices higher than its market value." [far-fetched, crude and anti-Semitic all this may be, rumors like this get a very favorable hearing all through the Arab and Muslim worlds–something we in the West cannot ignore]; "Thousands of famous archaeological Mesopotamian finds and relics, dating back to ancient Iraq, were stolen or ransacked from Iraqi museums few days after the fall of Baghdad on April 9. Among the stolen pieces was the famous Babylonian wall painting, weighing several tons and stretching to 10 meters." [I don't know what he is talking about here][see also Al-Faris February 16, 2005]
"Foreign Minister on EU Constitution and Iraq," in Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C., October 29, 2003: "... [Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs] Cimoszewicz stated that Poland was 'fulfilling its mission well' and announced more non-military involvement in the area, including humanitarian aid by Polish NGOs and archaeological projects aimed at salvaging Iraq’s culture treasures."
M. Knelman, "Pillaging of Treasures a Preventable Crime," in The Toronto Star (Canada), October 29, 2003: "... a stunning [CBC] documentary called Robbing The Cradle Of Civilization, ... written and directed by gifted veteran director Robin Benger — tells the shocking story of how the Iraqi people have been systematically stripped of their most priceless art objects and historical artefacts. This film, shot last July ..." "What makes it especially tragic is that Iraq is an archeological wonderland, one of the earliest sites of Western civilization. Benger not only sifts through the ruins but also interviews an impressive group of horrified experts. The rape of Iraq has been going on for decades, but things got really out of control around the time of the Gulf War in the early 1990s. That's when art thievery escalated into a major international operation like the drug trade. Organized gangs of criminals tapped into a greedy and insatiable network of shady dealers and collectors in the West. The result was a spree of pillaging unmatched in art history. Museums were only part of the story. Historic shrines and sites were vandalized relentlessly. Sometimes objects went to princes in the Arab world who offered them as gifts to Western businessmen. Or they were shipped in diplomatic pouches. Certain objects made their way into museum shows 'on loan' from collectors. That was a way of buying respectability and doubling or tripling the value of the objects. 'Law and order broke down completely,' says Benger. 'The entire country is covered with ancient sites, and there seem to be ruins under the surface everywhere you look. Dig down at random, and you may find a temple.'"
N. Katsuyama, "Panel of NELC Profs Blasts U.S. Action in Iraq," in Yale Daily News (Connecticut), October 29, 2003: "Panel members said the United States is aiding in the destruction of priceless libraries and archaeological sites and preventing the development of democracy in Iraq." [no room for nuances here!]; "Since the war in Iraq began six months ago, [Eckard] Frahm said, U.S. occupation has caused unrestrained looting of archaeological sites."
R. Verkaik, "Met Police Swoop on Illicit Iraqi Antiques," in The Independent (UK), October 26, 2003: "Three antiques dealers have been arrested in a secret police operation to combat the growing trade in artefacts stolen from Iraq. Officers from Scotland Yard's Arts and Antiques Unit have recovered a number of valuable pieces stolen from Iraqi museums and archaeological sites since 1990." "One of the suspects, a 75-year-old dealer who holds a British passport and is of Iranian descent, was arrested and released on police bail last month during an undercover investigation into a central London antiques gallery. In connection with that arrest, officers recovered an Assyrian 'stone relief' depicting a 'sacred winged guardian holding fruit from a sacred tree' worth many thousands of pounds. The item was looted from the palace of Ashur Nasir-pal II in central Iraq after the first Gulf War of 1991." [palace of Nimrud]

L. Smallman, "History... Another Victim of Occupation," in Aljazeera (Qatar), October 23, 2003: "Minister of Culture Mufid al-Jazairi told Aljazeera.net ... 'We have not lost hope. Two or three objects are turning up each day. Just yesterday a bag packed with 3000 year old pottery wrapped in newspapers was thrown over the museum's three metre high security wall – and they didn't break.' Unwrapping some tissue paper, the minister showed me the day's find – an ancient seal yet to be dated." "One last unpleasant surprise may await Iraqis who queue up to see the country's huge cultural heritage – there are plans to charge an entrance fee."

Photo: "The National Museum will not be opened until December 2004" [somebody please fix that hole!]

J. Simmons, "Archaeological Issues Could Impact Construction," in Iraq Reconstruction Report, [October 23, 2003]: "... Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, identified two airport construction projects [which ones?] that have destroyed archaeological sites. He is afraid this will become commonplace unless companies are required to work closely with the existing archaeological infrastructure, giving the State Board of Antiquities enough time to organize salvage digs to rescue endangered sites." "... Maria Kouroupas of the Cultural Property Office of the U.S. Department of State says that USAID requires impact studies as part of its reconstruction contracts. The agency's RFP No. M/OP-04-004 Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Phase II, issued earlier this month, contains a special contract requirement on the preservation of historical, archaeological and cultural resources. The language reads in part, 'Contractor and its subcontractors shall immediately stop work in any work area where cultural resources or artifacts with archaeological or historical value are discovered and immediately notify USAID. The Contractor/subcontractors shall not disturb or take any artifacts, items, or materials from the area of discovery.' Dr. John Russell, ... has been appointed to work with the Coalition Provisional Authority in monitoring the archaeological impact of construction projects." [how is this going to work in practice? there are archaeological remains nearly everywhere in Iraq so how is the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage going to be able to hire and train enough people and who's going to pay for their salaries, trucks and sundry equipment? if the construction companies will pay for this, how are the archaeologists going to be protected from undue pressures from named companies and politicians who want to see quick results to justify all the billions of US tax dollars spent?]; "... the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it is putting together a comprehensive GIS on Iraq. Michael Mele, USACE Iraq Program Manager, said that the unclassified version of this system would be made available to reconstruction companies. A separate GIS that can be continually updated by the archaeological community will be linked with the USACE GIS -- a system that will contain up-to-date reconstruction data." [let's make this into one of the best GIS archaeological databases in the world! might as well]

R. Finn, "To Preserve and Protect Iraq's Treasure Trove," in The New York Times, October 22, 2003: "Stoney Brook, N.Y. On this state university campus, she is just another brainy professor with an impressive résumé, a laboratory crammed with old shards of rock, bone and crockery, and a fondness for cooking and hiking. Harmless stuff. Send her to Iraq and she morphs into academia's version of a superhero, minus the cape; Indiana Jones without the romantic complications. ... On a trip to Iraq in May to survey the destructive handiwork of excavation-site looters, her Marine escort persuaded her to turn back at Larsa, just north of Ur. Maybe she wasn't worried about getting ambushed, but the soldiers were." "She estimates 10 percent of [the National Museum's] collection, some of it supplied by her fieldwork, was stolen or destroyed." [I sure hope my esteemed colleague's estimate turns out to be overstated]; "So she is thrilled, not apprehensive, that the State University at Stony Brook has been awarded a $4.1 million grant, renewable over two years, from the United States Agency for International Development to support reconstruction efforts focusing on archaeology and environmental health at Iraqi universities. In addition, she will select six Iraqi students to come to Stony Brook next June and pursue master's degrees in archaeology, and Stony Brook's library will create a digital library of materials related to Mesopotamian culture that can be accessed by Iraqi researchers. 'It totally changes my life for the next three years,' she says. She and the project's other leader, Dr. Wajdy Hailoo, a professor of preventive medicine, leave for Iraq on Nov. 2."; she moved from Oxford, England, when she was 14; "... the continued pillaging of the Mesopotamian excavation sites. They were dug up, she says, like so many potato fields. Scrap her Nov. 2 mission to Iraq in light of persistent hostilities there? Never! If she and her colleagues, including her spouse, Paul E. Zimansky, a professor at Boston University and a perennial field partner on various Middle East projects like this one, don't protect the artifacts, who will? Not the Marines."

Photo: "Ed Betz for The New York Times. 'I guess I think life isn't worth living if you don't take some risks for the things you believe in.' DR. ELIZABETH C. STONE"

D. Vergano, "Uneasy Guard of Iraq's Past," in USA Today, October 21, 2003: "Visiting U.S. universities to drum up support for renewed research collaboration, [Dr. Donny George] Youkhanna spoke recently with USA TODAY ... He speaks reluctantly at first about the museum's hardships of the past year. 'I cannot speak for just myself. It was a real hard time for everyone,' he says finally. 'Very hard times.'" "In Baghdad, about 11,000 museum objects 2,000 to 6,000 years old remain missing, and the number is expected to climb as assessments continue."

Photo: "Donny George Youkhanna looks at artifacts at the University of Chicago. By Scott Olson, Getty Images"

E.A. Cole, "Shop of Horrors," in The New York Times, October 21, 2003: "Mr. Makiya has received permission from the occupation authorities to construct a museum that will house, among other items, a collection of state documents on the torture and executions ordered during the three decades of the Baathist regime. The $1 million that the administration asked for is only seed money; Mr. Makiya has said he will need to raise $9 million more to get the project under way and much more to see it to completion. On the face of it, Mr. Makiya's vision of a site for truth and commemoration — modeled on the Holocaust Museum in Washington and similar efforts in South Africa and Cambodia — seems commendable. But in a fragmented society like postwar Iraq, deciding on the 'truth' about the old regime will not be easy." "In the early days of reconstruction, might Iraq in fact be better off focusing on its distant rather than recent past? An effort to restore the looted Iraq National Museum, with its wealth of ancient treasures attesting to the region's glory days, might do more to create a sense of national pride and belonging than an atrocity museum, with all of its potential to divide rather than unify."
"Stony Brook U. Gets Grant to Rebuild Iraq Universities," in Newsday (New York), October 21, 2003: "... Stony Brook will partner with Baghdad University, Al Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad, Mosul University, and Basrah University, ... educators from Columbia University, Boston University and Oxford will participate in workshops to train Iraqi faculty and develop new teaching and research facilities in archaeology."

A. Lowings, "Lyre of Ur Reconstruction Project," in Harpa (Switzerland), online, 8 (October 20, 2003): "Our group this month announced that it will remake an authentic playable version of the famous Lyre of Ur shown [to the right]. This has not been done before now. All existing harps and lyres held in Pennsylvania, Baghdad and London museums are, in fact, unplayable models reconstructed from bits, distributed after Leonard Woolley's excavations in the 1930's. The bull-headed lyre held in the museum of Baghdad, has been well featured in the world's press, as a result of events in Iraq. Much interest has been shown in hearing a remade and playable lyre. ... We envisage asking only the very best craftsmen to assist in carrying out the work. It is an important part of this project that the workmanship must reflect the antiquity and importance of this famous lyre. We have put together a team of advisors and makers who are keen to take part in the work. We can also rely on the help of the British Museum. It is anticipated that part of the work should be done by Iraqis to reflect their connection to its origin. ... we have already been invited in principle to perform with this lyre next year in New Mexico USA, Austria (Vienna and Gmunden), at the British Museum in London and for fund-contributors in Dubai."

Photo: "Queen's Lyre of Ur. Recreated in the Baghdad museum from pieces found in 1929 (vandalised 2003)"

[N. Razzouk], "Iraq's Museum Director Goes to Work in Empty Building," in The Peninsula (Qatar), October 20, 2003: "Iraq's National Museum Director Donny George was upbeat on his first day on the job, even though there's a gaping hole in his office door, some 10,000 artefacts are still missing and the collections are closed. 'The renovation of the museum is due to be completed in six months, but there is still no date for its reopening. For now, the museum is empty [I assume he means the public galleries?] and the artefacts are kept in secret, safe places,' he said." "... he said, 'we have been informed of 1,000 documented artefacts seized by authorities in America, another 1,000 in Jordan, 500 in France and 33 terracotta figurines in Lebanon.' George, who holds a doctorate in neolithic studies, recalled his 'joy' when his luggage was thoroughly searched for looted Iraqi antiquities during a recent trip to Canada and the United States." "He hailed those countries that recovered stolen pieces at airports and border crossings, but lamented what he said was the failure of authorities in neighbouring Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to take similar measures."; a longer but not free-on-the-web version of this article exists to which Chuck Jones kindly provided me access and which contains a few more interesting tidbits: "... for the time being we have private security guards, with a direct contact with US forces,' the moustached museum
director said. 'We need donations, that is why we will raise the issue at the international donors' conference on Iraq that will be held in Madrid October 23-24,' he said. George said the renovation of the museum was already receiving financial and technical help from the US State Department and ... UNESCO)." "'We have also been promised that teams of museum archaeologists and staff will be taken for training in France, Britain and the United States,' said George, ..." "... a UNESCO delegate noted down lists of newly returned artefacts, ..."

Photo: "Sun Oct 19, [2003,] 3:35 PM ET - A US soldier from the 1st Division, 2nd Bridage, Texas, strolls the corridor during a visit to the Iraq ( news -web sites ) Museum in Baghdad. (AFP/File/Thomas Coex)" [Yahoo! News]

On October 18, 2003, I received an e-mail from Dr. John Russell in Baghdad clarifying some issues: regarding the Archaeology Bogdanos interview (Rose October 16), the Are they deployed now? question: "It is incorrect to state that 1500 new guards have been hired, trained, and deployed to protect archaeological sites in Iraq. The only site so protected is Nimrud, ... Protection of all the other sites is afforded by the existing guards, who are by-and-large untrained and poorly equipped, and therefore ineffective. The Ministry of Culture is working on a solution to this, so stay tuned."; regarding John Simpson's article about security at Nimrud (Simpson September 28): "The Department of Antiquities official quoted by Simpson is one Taha Ahmed Taha, identified by Simpson as ‘one of the curators of Nimrud’. In fact, according to Muzahim Mahmud, the director of the site, Taha has never worked for the Department of Antiquities. Instead he worked as a translator for the US troops formerly at the site, and prior to that was a teacher at the nearby Agricultural Institute. His dismay at the departure of his employers is understandable, but this does not make him an authority on the security situation at Nimrud. The director of the site is in fact pleased with the current security measures."
M. Rose, "A Conversation with Matthew F. Bogdanos. Archaeology Talks to the Lead Investigator of the Baghdad Museum Looting," in Archaeology, online, October 16, 2003: recovery of stolen artifacts: "There's no cooperation from Iran; I'll start with the worst. Superb cooperation from Jordan. And, somewhere in the middle, closer to the bottom is Syria. Italy has been terrific, the U.K. has been terrific." "Who has brought stolen material back to the museum, and why do they bring it back? ... you have the people who truly went into the museum and took something for safekeeping and then returned it as soon as they determined it was safe to do so. ... You also had the people who, carried away by the moment, stole the items and then their conscience got the better of them. ... Then you had ... the people afraid of getting caught who saw that we were conducting raids and they saw that informants were giving us information on a daily basis and were afraid of getting caught ... And then a fourth group: people who tried one way or another to get the items out of the country, were unsuccessful, and just decided to turn the item in." "What about informants? The informants come, like U.S. informants, in every shape and size. Some have a score to settle with the guy across the street, with a competing marketplace vendor. Some are genuinely and sincerely interested in returning the items. Some inform on their loved ones, for fear of the loved ones getting caught." "We also had copies. Damascus is quite well known for making copies, so we were getting a lot of Damsacene copies which, again, we would take to get them off the market, say: 'Thank you very much, now go away.' Mostly cuneiform tablets. Donny would look at them, and before he came within two feet of the tablet he would say, 'Damascus.' In fact he could tell me the street corner that they were made on. From that particular forger. There was speculation that Saddam's relatives may have taken some museum objects over the years--have you found any evidence of that? ... We have not conducted a thorough investigation yet of anything that happened prior to April 8 simply--and I said yet--because you've got to do one thing at a time, and our primary goal was recovery of as many items as possible." "Are you involved in attempts to monitor and control looting of sites outside Baghdad? No, other than to identify and prioritize the sites. I was responsible--with the invaluable assistance of Henry Wright <of the University of Michigan>, McGuire Gibson <of the University of Chicago>, as well as Bonny Gardiner from the State Department--for compiling a list, prioritizing that list, determining the level of security required at each site ... and protect them to extent possible with U.S. forces. The second component to that strategy is to hire 1,500 Iraqi guards, train and equip them to take over security of the sites. Are they deployed now? Yes." [this seemed to corroborate Russell October 1 but see Russell October 18]; "... the art community needs to stop participating in the smuggling. In order for an item of value an antiquity of value to be sold for value it has to be authenticated. Well, it's clearly only going to be authenticated by an acknowledged expert in the field. That expert is going to be--and we have found time and time again--a name that is known either through published articles, through research, through employment at a museum or at a well known art dealer. Otherwise that person doesn't have the credentials necessary to authenticate the piece. What we are finding is well known and otherwise respected members of the art community are in fact authenticating stolen pieces for a fee." [example from the academic community: Prof. Em. Wilfred Lambert of the Univ. of Birmingham (UK), see Gottlieb and Meier April 30]; "I've got to tell you, I really just can't speak highly enough the reception I received for the five months from the Iraqi people. However, I cannot say the same about the international law-enforcement community. While there have been individual moments and individual agents who have been superb, we are still not at the point where we need to be, which is a seamless integration of law-enforcement efforts and completely seamless, transparent information sharing." "Will you continue to be involved after your tour of duty ends? What will happen with the investigation? I will, no matter what happens, I will continue to be involved in the investigation on a personal level. There is a very competent, very good officer who will replace me as the deputy director of the JIACG in that capacity, but there is no one who has been assigned to replace me as the head of the investigation, so one of my goals is to get either another governmental, U.S. governmental agency, or another country to take over control of the investigation--remembering that the investigation has to be international to succeed as it has been." [see also Rose January-February 2004]

"12e Infanterie compagnie. Patrouille van de 1e geweergroep van het 3e peloton naar Uruk," in Nederlands Detachement Irak (Netherlands), online, [October 17, 2003]

All photos: "Copyright Koninklijke Marine"

Photo 1: "Hier de tempel van Uruk. Het geheel is nu bedekt met zand. Vanaf 1850 na Christus zijn ze hier bezig met archeologische opgravingen, maar volgens de locals is het meeste gedaan door de Duitsers in de Eerste en Tweede Wereldoorlog." [Here you see the temple of Uruk. The complex is now covered with sand. Archaeological excavations have been ongoing since 1850 AD but according to the locals most were done by the Germans during World Wars I and II] [wrong: the World War years were not when excavations reached a zenith at Warka]

Photo 2: "Op de voorgrond kiepwagens voor de treinrails uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog die de Duitsers gebruikten tijdens de afgravingen. Op de achtergrond de tempel van Uruk." [In front, dump wagons for the rail tracks from World War I which the Germans used for the uncovering of the mound. In the back, the temple of Uruk] [not really a temple: it's the ziggurat which is more a platform/tower pedestal for a temple]

Photo 3: "Bovenop de tempel van links naar rechts: Kpl. Van Steenbergen, Sgt Corpeleijn, de beheerder. Knielend tolk-chauffeur marinier Dalal." [on top of the temple, from left to right: ...]

Photo 4: "Na ons vertrek uit Uruk, zijn we nog naar een oude graftombe geweest. Deze is uit 1400 na Christus. Begonnen als een graftombe, daarna uitgebouwd tot een hunnebed en uiteindelijk geëindigd als een berg van ongeveer 30 meter hoog." [After leaving Uruk we visited an ancient tomb. This one is from 1400 AD. It started as a regular tomb, then was transformed into a megalithic grave site and ended up as a hill of about 30 meters high]

F. Deblauwe, "Melee at the Museum. International Whodunit Lingers over Looting of Iraq's National Museum in Baghdad," in National Catholic Reporter, October 17, 2003: status report: "The havoc wrought on the National Museum in Baghdad, provincial archaeological museums and archaeological sites at the end of the formal war in Iraq is symbolic of what Iraq as a whole suffered." "The holdings (501,000 total) of the National Museum can be categorized as follows: First, there were the artifacts in the public galleries, mainly the largest, heaviest ones that could not be removed for safekeeping, for example, Neo-Assyrian guardian sculptures; they numbered in the hundreds. A second group consisted of a few thousand valuable artifacts from the museum, especially the public galleries, that were stored in a secret location and in the vaults of the Central Bank, for example, the Treasure of Nimrud, a collection of gold and silver jewelry dating from the ninth or eighth century B.C. excavated from Nimrud, and the original gold bull’s head of the Lyre of Ur. A third category, the artifacts not on display but in the museum storage areas, made up the bulk of the museum collection. Some in the media downplayed the number of missing artifacts to around 20 or 30, omitting that this only reflected the losses in the public gallery. Current reports indicate that 29 artifacts from this group are still missing. When the museum staff led the U.S. authorities to the artifacts of Group 2, they were found to be safe. However, Group 3 still has thousands missing, among others the exquisite cylinder-seal collection (about 4,800 pieces). The museum staff is still crosschecking the artifacts with the inventories. The total number of missing artifacts currently stands at 10,000 (about 2 percent of the total collection) and may still climb. The 170,000 number initially cited by the media turned out to be the number of inventory entries in the museum. However, the same inventory number was often applied to more than one object. For instance, grave items from the same tomb would all be under the same inventory number. Restoring and preserving artifacts damaged as a result of being stored off site or vandalized will be time- and labor-consuming and, above all, costly; I estimate that about 4 percent of the collection may need expert care." "Furthermore, any country of a certain size combines people with different religious, ethnic, linguistic, cultural and/or racial heritages. Looking back into the shared past helps to relativize some of the rivalries. Divisions have always existed but they keep on shifting: Groups of people split and unite; territories fragment and become one. The full archaeological/historical record shows the ultimate futility of narrow and selfish projects of exclusionary groups of people. Surely, in the 21st century we ought to know better. Iraq’s cultural heritage belongs to all humankind; hence it should be preserved and kept accessible to all, not locked away and scattered in private collections, never to be seen or studied in context by hardly anyone. Some things are too valuable to be treated as commodities sold to the highest bidder." "The poor [Iraqi] peasant digging up a few cuneiform tablets to try to add to his meager income is exploited twice: His own culture and history are destroyed and he gets paid only peanuts by the middlemen."; the usual caveat: written a while in advance of publication
N. Boodhoo, "U.S. Artists Reaching Out to Rebuild Iraq Culture," in Zawya, online, October 17, 2003: "Getting the music playing may not seem to be as high a priority as turning the lights back on, but in the eyes of some U.S. officials and arts groups restoring Iraq's cultural institutions are just as important to the country's rebuilding process. ... The U.S. State Department recently sponsored a trip to Iraq by a group of U.S. arts leaders to survey the situation. Some members of the cultural mission said they worry about Iraqi institutions facing the doubly hard task of rebuilding and also learning to operate in a post-Saddam Hussein environment where government subsidies will likely not be as plentiful." "... Ray Jennings, a senior fellow with the U.S. Institute for Peace who has worked on reconstruction in Bosnia, Afghanistan and most recently, Iraq. 'In every one place we've worked (we) often have recognize the power of cultural preservation after the fact," he told Reuters in an interview. 'That's why the loss of the (Baghdad) Museum pieces was so devastating,' he said, adding 'I think it was taken hard, too, because the U.S. didn't appear to be interested in protecting' the museum. Patricia Harrison, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, led the delegation to Iraq and said Baghdad Museum officials have already used $250,000 of a promised $2 million to help restore the institution, which housed rare artifacts documenting the history of mankind in ancient Mesopotamia. Iraqi officials estimate more than 10,000 artifacts are still missing from the museum. U.S. arts officials plan initially to focus on the museum and Iraq's national orchestra and also on bringing academic Fulbright scholars from Iraq to the United States early next year."

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).