The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 16

The Iraq War & Archaeology
Reviewed Articles Archive Sixteen: Second 1/2 of November 2003

This is the sixteenth 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.

Photo 1: "(2) 2 Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq. TOKYO, Japan - Masamori Inoue (file photo), a third secretary from the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad, was among two Japanese diplomats killed in northern Iraq on Nov. 29. The two were ambushed near Tikrit, about 150 kilometers north of Baghdad, while traveling in a black four-wheel drive vehicle. (Kyodo)" [11-30-03; Kyodo News Photos; the diplomats were involved in planning for cultural-heritage protection and preservation projects in Iraq]

Photo 2: "(3) 2 Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq. TOKYO, Japan - Among two Japanese diplomats killed in northern Iraq on Nov. 29 was Katsuhiko Oku (file photo), a counselor from the Japanese Embassy in London. (Kyodo)" [11-30-03; Kyodo News Photos]

"Looting Iraq's Legacy," in The Providence Journal (Rhode Island), November 26, 2003: "But worse is that pieces of Iraq's (Mesopotamia's) ancient patrimony -- at least 6,000 years old -- are being dug up and stolen from thousands of sites across the country every day." [probably an exaggeration although hard facts are difficult to come by]; "Recently, Piotr Michalowski, a professor of Assyriology at the University of Michigan, spoke to the Narragansett Society of the Archaeological Institute of America on the [Iraq] war's effects on the terrain beneath it, some of the richest archaeological ore in the world."
G. Sawyer, "The Media and the Truth About the Iraqi National Museum," in AccessNorthGa.com, online, November 25, 2003: "Well, it turns out those breathless stories about 170,000 priceless Mesopotamian artifacts lost to looters were not true. But do you read a retraction in the mainstream newspapers ... do you see that on TV? Of course not." [not true: as readers of this web site know, plenty of attention was paid to this]; "The story was analyzed in a report in the Columbia Journalism Review, aimed primarily at journalists, and ... guess what ... the report defends the media saying it has (and I quote here) '...more to do with the difficult and imperfect nature of reporting than with conscious bias.' A breaker head in the story says: 'Conservative critics cried bias, when it was really about the imperfect nature of war reporting.' Imperfect, baloney. It was pack reporting of erroneous information, but they reported it gleefully because they felt it was anti-war and would do damage to George W. Bush." [the article is in the November issue and is by Andrew Lawler, titled "What Really Happened at the Iraqi Museum"; I have not had the chance to read it yet and it isn't online; what is definitely clear is that Sawyer totally ignores that more than 10,000 artifacts are still missing, many more probably were damaged and the Museum is a shambles but I guess that doesn't fit in with his unbiased, objective reporting on the subject]
D. Jones, "Boulder Creek Woman to Aid in Investigation Into Iraqi Graves," in Santa Cruz Sentinel (California), November 24, 2003: "... more than 200 mass graves in Iraq, and they may provide a clue to the fate of an estimated 300,000 missing Iraqis, according to Archaeologists for Human Rights, the group that hired Oeh." "Oeh, who leaves for the Kurdish territory in Northern Iraq the first week of December, will spend two weeks in the city of Erbil training Iraqis to document the exhumations. Then she’ll do more hands-on training at a burial site in Samawa, a city in Southern Iraq between Baghdad and Basra. Tens of thousands of Kurds are believed to be buried at the site." "She worries the graves could be booby-trapped, and also that residues from chemicals that may have been used in killings could pose danger. A chemist will be part of the team." "She doesn’t know how long she’ll be in Iraq. She has a one-way ticket. The human rights group has funding from the German government to carry the project through April, and is seeking other sources of revenue. Oeh said it will take years to uncover the whole story. Oeh leaves behind her husband of two years and many friends, but she plans to keep in touch through a blog site. The public can access her entries at http://mountaingirl.blogs.com."
P. Cave, "Australian Helps Babylon Restoration," in AM (ABC)(Australia), with online audio, November 24, 2003: "PETER CAVE: Meet Group Captain Peter Wilkinson. ... this Australian Air Force officer seems quite content with his job which, when it comes down to it, is to give away $25-million. PETER WILKINSON: They're all, what they call Iraqi seized funds. So this is money that they have seized from bank accounts that Saddam has left behind in his regime." "PETER CAVE: I met Peter Wilkinson at the 4,000-year-old ruins of the city of Babylon and, as the Apache helicopter gunships which fly over at rooftop level attests, it's still in the middle of a war zone." "PETER WILKINSON: ... But we found that the [Babylon] museum itself was in ruins, the front entrance gate was all neglected. So we have funded a number of projects for the Iraqi people to come and restore the museum, provide security around the grounds so they're no more looting that goes on here, and to resurrect that museum."
S.L. Myers, "Iraqi Town Relishes Freedom, But Resentment Runs Beneath," in The New York Times, November 23, 2003: "[After the war, t]here was ... no frenzied looting in Kifl [on the Euphrates, close to Baghdad] — mostly, the mayor noted, 'because we have nothing of value.' With one incalculable exception: someone pried three of four stone tablets, inscribed in Hebrew, from the walls of Ezekiel's tomb, as well as a menorah mosaic, historic remnants of a Jewish community that lived here for centuries until 1948. The tomb's aged caretaker, Mahady al-Dharib, said part of the tomb's soul was now missing." [the tomb dates back to the Early Islamic period, I think; however, I don't know the date of the inscribed stones and the mosaic]
H. van Renssen, "Iraakse verzet jaagt de oudheidkundigen weg. Amerikaanse hoogleraar archeologie helpt bij beschermen van het Iraakse erfgoed," in De Volkskrant (the Netherlands), November 22, 2003: the phone interview with CPA advisor Dr. John Russell in Baghdad is interrupted midway by incoming mortar shells, an all-too-common occurrence in the Green Zone; Russell praises the work of the 20-something team from the 812th Military Police Company which retrieved among other things the Basetki statue and the Warka Vase; however, they are about to leave Iraq; furthermore, the retrieval of stolen artifacts and protection of archaeological sites is not a priority for the Coalition troops and depends on the efforts of individual soldiers; only the Italians are protecting their sites near Nasiriyyah so it is really sad they were attacked so viciously; in the Dutch sector [el-Muthanna governorate], the site of Warka (Uruk) is guarded by local tribes but Russell would really like to see the Dutch military keep an eye on it too; he said that the tribes tell him that sites in the region around Uruk are unguarded; a Dutch military spokesperson said that they are still checking on whether special protection is needed for Uruk; the large-scale looting of remote archaeological sites is over; together with his boss, Mario Bondioli Osio, he's getting 1300 new archaeological-site guards trained; they still don't have radio equipment nor cars for them though without which they can't do their job; they still need a lot more, esp. manpower; non-governmental organizations like UNESCO, the Blue Shield, the Prins Claus Fonds and the World Monument Fund will not come as long as the security situation is so bad; the conservation facilities of the National Museum will be back in business soon but only foreign experts can work on the damaged iron, copper and ivory artifacts; the documents in the National Archives were damaged by soot and water and need conservation; however, more people [experts] are leaving than there are arriving; it's hard not to get dishartened at times but Russell doesn't think about leaving, he wants to be there when the Museum reopens; he cautiously added that at least the building should be ready by April
"Central Coast Woman to Help Identify Bodies in Iraq. Bodies in Mass Graves Believed to Be Those of Kurds," in TheKSBWchannel.com (California), November 21, 2003: "Foothill College instructor Karen Oeh ... a forensic scientist and archaeologist, can correctly identify bodies and collect evidence. ... 'We're going to be training Iraqis on how to actually document a burial photograph -- draw, collect things in a scientific systematic way, rather than going in and just taking a backhoe and shoveling and digging out remains,' ..." "Next year, Oeh's colleague -- Foothill anthropologist Dan Cearley -- will join her. Cearley will be identifying remains, determining the cause of death and reconstructing the state of violence."
M. Clark, "Ennis Firm Brings Gilgamesh Back to Iraq," in ElectricNews.net (Ireland), online, November 21, 2003: "Ennis-based Kestrel 3D is currently working with the British Museum to scan hundreds of Iraqi artefacts in order to fabricate replicas for a museum in Mosul." "... although the current instability in Iraq has put the initiative temporarily on hold. But Kestrel 3D finance director Ken O'Mahony said that once stability is restored to the state, the University of Mosul would begin to receive shipments of replica cuneiform tablets, ... Cuneiform, similar to hieroglyphics used by ancient Egyptians [sic], ... the British Museum, which owns about 1,000 of these tablets ..." [sic; the BM owns around 130,000 cuneiform tablets and fragments; the 1,000 are the tablets from the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal only]
"Nascent Centers News: Center in Iraq Reinstituted," in CAORC Newsletter, Fall 2003 [11-18-03]: "The American Association for Research in Baghdad (AARB) was initiated in the late 1980s and shortly thereafter approved by the Iraqi government to function as a research association; however, the events of 1990-91 and subsequent sanctions prevented further progress and the center became dormant around 1994. On June 9, 2003 AARB held its first Institutional Members Meeting since its dormancy in the 1990s. A new Executive Committee was created, composed of McGuire Gibson (University of Chicago) President; Charles Butterworth (University of Maryland) Vice President; Waiel Hindo (Duke University) Treasurer; Henry Wright (University of Michigan – Ann Arbor) Secretary; Miriam Cooke (Duke University) At-large; Elizabeth Stone (State University of New York in Stony Brook) At-large. AARB recently received funding from the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to assist the center in resuming activities both in the U.S. and in Baghdad. Funding will go toward establishing U.S. and overseas offices, creating a website, and offering assistance to Iraqi Academies of Arts and Sciences, the State Board of Antiquities, archives, libraries universities and any other academic body that requests assistance in recovering from the effects of the recent turmoil. AARB plans to ... initiate a fellowship program for pre- and post-doctoral scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, to be awarded for the 2004-2005 cycle. The center also plans to assist Iraqi undergraduates wanting to attend universities in the U.S. until a separate program can be established devoted to supporting such exchanges." [note: AARB later renamed TAARII, see Gibson 7-12-04]
I. Ogura, "Embassy Pushed to the Wall in Iraq," in The Asahi Shimbun (Japan), November 17, 2003: "... officials have erected a hefty 50-centimeter thick concrete wall around the Japanese Embassy here to protect against potential terrorist attacks. The wall, set up Thursday by local security company Near East Resources, ... The company used to provide security for Japanese archaeological teams during the regime of toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."

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).