The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 35

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.

"State's Armitage Says Iraqi Judges Vital to Iraq's Democracy. Remarks to legal conference in Prague September 15," in Washington File, online, September 15, 2004: Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State: "And just as the area between the two rivers was once the cradle of civilization, where alphabets were developed and arithmetic began, and the law was handed down on tablets, Iraq will be beginning a second civilization, the beginning of democracy and justice in all the Middle East." [the cuneiform writing system developed by the Sumerians ca. 3,200 BC and adapted by the Akkadian-speaking Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians was of course not an alphabet but an ideographic/syllabic system; the development of the alphabet took place in Egypt (ca. 2,000 BC), Palestine, Lebanon and Syria]; "Let me [be] clear about one thing[:] I chose my words about Mesopotamia very carefully. Too few people understand the deep nature of Iraqi civilization. Yes, we study about the Hammurabic Codes [sic]. But, to really understand what it would mean to an Iraqi, to really understand what that would mean for an Iraqi citizen, takes much deeper study and much deeper understanding. And I think that one of the many, many benefits that will occur once democracy is planted in Iraq, is that the world will get to understand the deep nature of Iraqi civilization, and the debt civilization owes to Iraq." [but he tries so hard...]

M. Mikule, "Iraqi Culture Minister drawing on help in the Czech Republic," in Radio Prague (Czech Republic), with online audio, September 14, 2004: "... Mufid Jazairi, met in Prague this week with his Czech counterpart, Pavel Dostal, ..." "'The Czech side is trying to help us with ... preparing new equipment for the library, helping us with restoration of books and documents that were damaged, and preparing specialists - cadres that can do it themselves after returning from the Czech Republic.' ... It started two months ago when the Czech government decided to give about ten millions Czech Crowns helping the culture in Iraq, and this amount is now supposed to be used first of all in helping the [National L]ibrary as I said and partly financing costs for restoration not only of books, but also of paintings, archeological pieces made of stone or other materials.'"

Photo: "Iraqi Minister of Culture Mufid Jazairy and Minister of foreign affairs Cyril Svoboda, photo: CTK"

Ch.E. Jones, "ordnance detonation at Hatra," in Iraqcrisis, online, September 13, 2004: "'... as a response to recent information that controlled detonation of military ordnance near the important ancient and Early Islamic site of Hatra in Iraq will likely result in permanent damage to the site, AIA President Jane C. Waldbaum sent a message to Dr. Joseph Collins, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Col. Frank Romano, Department of Defense, and Mr. William Jeffrey, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy requesting that they take steps to ensure the protection of the site.'" "... Keith Watenpaugh informed me that the US Army is doing two explosions per day, not per week." [see Watenpaugh August 26]
9-13-04: I have decided to slightly rename this web site by adding a hyphen to the title: The 2003- Iraq war & Archaeology; fact is, the war did not stop in 2003 but is, unfortunately for everyone, still ongoing

"Looting of Iraqi Cultural Heritage Sites Worsens After Major Combat, Says CU's Bahrani," in Columbia News (New York), online with online video, September 10, 2004: interview with Dr. Zainab Bahrani, until recently Sr. Advisor for Culture to the powers that be in Iraq–something which is interestingly enough not mentioned at all; interspersed with good photographs; National Museum in Baghdad is unique because it covers very extensively only Iraq's own history; looted artifacts are often kept for 10-20 years before they're sold on the market; very important cuneiform texts are still missing [what does she mean? supposedly, the tablet collection came through the whole looting spell unscathed?]; she calls attention to the underreported National Library disaster; things have actually worsened since last summer [in 2003] when she first visited because of the lack of guards and border control; the international community pledged a lot but hasn't come through with a lot of concrete help because of the security situation

Photo: [no caption]

C. Balmer, "Italy's Two Hostages Dedicated to Helping Iraqis," in Yahoo! News, online, September 12, 2004: "Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was due to fly to the Gulf region as part of a Middle East mission to drum up support for their release, Italian officials said on Sunday." "Torretta was born in Rome in 1975 and has a degree in cultural anthropology from Italy's Fine Arts Academy."
"Restoration: Harp-break as artefact is 'hijacked'. It was intended as a symbol of peace between nations," in The Peterborough Evening Telegraph (UK), September 9, 2004: "... city musician Andy Lowings spearheaded the project to recreate the [Bull H]arp [of Ur], using labour, expertise and materials donated from craftsmen around the world. To his horror, one of those involved in the project, Iraqi Mohamed Al Janabi, is at present refusing to hand the harp back to Mr Lowings. The harp was to have been unveiled at last month's Stamford Harp Festival, but instead it lies unfinished in a workshop in Mr Al Janabi's Manchester workshop. ... Mr Al Janabi, who was to have decorated it with semi-precious jewels. Mr Al Janabi refused to return the harp to Mr Lowings, saying that he was not satisfied with the level of craftsmanship on the arms of the harp. Today, Mr Lowings said he was heart-broken over the loss of the harp and is considering legal action to try to get it back." [see also The Peterborough Evening Telegraph May 25, 2004 and January 13, 2005]

D. Williams, "Italians Unite Around Hostages. Opposition Pledges to Cooperate in Ending Crisis in Iraq," in The Washington Post, September 9, 2004: "A message posted on a Muslim Web site threatened further attacks against Italy because of the presence of Italian troops in Iraq. ... 'Now we announce that the kidnapping of the agents of Italian intelligence . . . is the first strike against Italy.'" [nothing could be further from the truth: Torretta and Pari are pacifists and opponents of Berlusconi's Iraq policies, see below]; "The note was purportedly issued by the Supporters of Zawahiri, which refers to Ayman Zawahiri, an Egyptian who is Osama bin Laden's deputy." "In recent interviews, Torretta told reporters that the Italian aid workers did not fear violence because 'the people are with us.' In a recent television interview, Pari labeled Italian troops 'occupying forces.' The umbrella organization for A Bridge to Baghdad had criticized Berlusconi for supporting the Bush administration's policy."

Photo: "Simona Torretta, a volunteer for an Italian humanitarian aid organization, was abducted Tuesday in Baghdad with her colleague Simona Pari, ... Photo Credit: Undated Photo via Reuters"

"Thu Sep 9, 8:01 AM ET - Members of Iraqi families helped by the Italian aid organization 'Un Ponte Per Baghdad' (A Bridge for Baghdad) demand immediate release of the two kidnapped Italian female aid workers, during a demonstration in Baghdad, September 9, 2004. Gunmen abducted two Italian aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta and two Iraqis in central Baghdad on Tuesday in a brazen attack that will alarm foreigners already on edge from widespread kidnappings. REUTERS/Ali Jasim" [Yahoo! News Photos]

J.-M. Arnoult, "Simona Torretta kidnapped," in Iraqcrisis, online, September 7, 2004: Simone Torretta, of the Italian aid organization Un Ponte Per... was kidnapped with colleagues this afternoon in Baghdad; her organization has been involved in helping to get the National Library [in Baghdad] back on its feet [actually, she was the person leading Un Ponte Per...'s participation; see also Jones August 4, 2004]
H.A. al-Yasiri, "Plundering the Past. Freedom brings surge in looting of antiquities from Ur and other Mesopotamian sites," in Iraqi Crisis Report (UK), online, 81 (September 6, 2004): "... Muhsin Abu al-Fashesh, nicknamed the 'Lizard' for his skinny appearance. Outside the mini-market [in Nasiriyyah] he recently opened sits a new BMW. ... 'I worked for months in the desert, and I achieved my ambition in life – to be rich,' said Fashesh. 'And when I became rich, I stopped digging.' From the fall of Saddam Hussein until recently, Fashesh spent his days working with three friends he hired as labourers, digging in the 'tells', or archaeological mounds, of the nearby 5,000-year-old city of Ur. ... The bread-and-butter trade was in cuneiform seals which he could sell to a middleman for 50 US dollars a time. These would go for 700 dollars a time in neighbouring Jordan, Fashesh said. Fashesh finally hit the jackpot when he discovered a gold statuette of a cow and four calves, which he sold for nearly 50,000 dollars. ... 'Under the old regime, there was a trade in relics, but it was secret and limited to people who worked with the regime,' said Ali Zair, an officer in Nasiriya's police station. For others, he added, 'the legal regulations were very harsh at that time, and could include the death penalty.' Abdulamir al-Hamdani, 40, the official in charge of archaeology in Nasiriya, said a lot of damage to Iraq’s heritage was done by the likes of Saddam’s son Uday, who once sold 2,000 pieces of pottery which the state is still trying to recover. Another philistine was Ali Hassan al-Majid - the infamous 'Chemical Ali' - who built himself a palace on top of an ancient Assyrian site. Since the war, smaller-scale looters have had open season on Ur and other ancient sites. Al-Hamdani says the sites of between 15 to 20 ancient cities are particularly at risk, including the fourth millennium BC Sumerian cities of Uruk and Fara, and the second millennium BC Amorite city of Larsa. Police officer Zair says the trade has taken off because such historic sites are no longer guarded properly. ... Today, much of Ur - a series of tells spreading over the desert south of Nasiriya - is open to anyone who wants to visit it. A nearby United States and Italian military base visible from the top of the mounds is not much of a deterrence. 'For the past year, police have been unable to control the historical areas, because they are remote and in the desert, and also because they lack cars and weapons,' said police officer Muhammad Amir, 40. 'Some areas are controlled by the tribes, and the police are unable to confront them,' Hamdani continued, 'In a site known as Isin, a city established in 1900 BC, 150 guys armed with knives and some with automatic weapons started digging from sunrise to sunset, shifting ancient relics out every hour. 'We did have guards there, but now they’ve either been sent packing by the gangs, or else they are working one way or another with the thieves, at this and other sites. It’s all a consequence of the chaos and the absence of law'. Residents of the town of al-Fajr, close to Isin, told IWPR that vendors can be found hawking statues and cuneiform seals near the site. Archaeologist Hamdani recalled, 'One day I was sitting in a café, and there was a man sitting behind me holding a bag, and apparently waiting for someone. After half an hour, another man came and sat beside him. As I listened in, the first man took something that looked like a large oval piece of jewellery covered in cuneiform writing out of his bag, and asked 5,000 <dollars> for it.' A local man, grocer Saif Hameed, 50, recalled watching a group of people turning up to dig at the Isin site. 'There was a man who’d worked as a guard at the site for years. He had a Kalashnikov but he did not stop them,' he said. When IWPR spoke to the watchman, 45-year-old Jasim Muhammad, he retorted, 'What can I do on my own? I can’t arrest all the villagers, and even if did, what would I do with them?'"
"Cultureel afgevaardigde VS bezoekt Babylon," in De Standaard (Belgium), September 6, 2004: yesterday, Robert Kerr, US cultural representative (I'm not sure what his real title in English is), visited the Coalition camp at Babylon; he wanted to assess whether the military should move the camp [I thought that had already been decided?]; 2,500 troops are based around [sic] the archaeological site; miltary sources say that they will likely answer positively to Iraqi government requests to move; the move is being planned to be finished by January, new location unknown [I take it that due archaeological diligence will be performed...]
"Poland to withdraw its troops from more of Iraq: Defence Minister," in Yahoo! News, online, September 3, 2004: "'We have decided to hand over Babylon to the Iraqis. The headquarters will probably move to the province of Al-Qadisiyah (south of Baghdad),' [Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski] said." [see my note on August 27]
"Coopérations. Pays arabes," in Bulletin d'Information Archéologique (Egypt and France), 29 (January-June 2004 [September (?) 2004]): in March 2004, the leaders of the Arab archaeological institutes will convene in Cairo at the request of the Arab League in order to work out a directive prohibiting any acquisition of looted Iraqi artifacts by museums, universities or other organizations, the penalty being cessation of all scientific contacts
"Visit Amman 2004," in International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Italy), online, September-October 2004: "ICCROM [International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property] contributed to the 'Training Workshop for Iraqi specialists on the Application of the World Heritage Convention' which took place in Amman, Jordan from the 6th-10th September 2004. The one-week workshop was opened by the Director of the UNESCO-Amman Office, Mr. Wolfgang Reuter, and Dr. Abdul Aziz Hamid, the Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBOAH)[sic; normally SBAH], Iraq. Organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, represented by Mr. Giovanni Boccardi, Chief of the Arab States Unit, Mizuko Ugo, and Karim Hindili, the workshop focused on procedures in establishing tentative lists, and on formulation of nomination dossiers of potential World Heritage properties in Iraq. ... Representatives from Iraq and Jordan participated in the workshop. Zaki Aslan, Project Co-ordinator of the ATHÂR Programme, represented ICCROM at the workshop and addressed the following themes to the Iraqi and Jordanian participants: tentative lists, periodic reporting, and management of heritage sites. Dr. Faisal Abu-Izzedin representing IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) also addressed topics within the context of World Heritage Protection. These were complemented by group-work and discussions on nominations and technical assistance for three selected heritage sites in Iraq. Two visits were made, to the World Heritage Site of Petra and the Natural Reserve of Dana."

C. Ho, "Heritage Lost: Looting of archaeological sites continues in Iraq," in Saving Antiquities For Everyone, online, [September 2004]: "... the destruction due to large-scale looting to Iraq's rich heritage in archaeological sites that continues to this very day, extending [from the Dhi Qar governorate] to ancient cities in the Diwaniya governorate, including at Isin, Mashkan Shapir and Drehem as well as lesser-known sites. These aerial photographs taken in September, 2003 by the Italian Carabinieri (national police)—who were responsible for guarding archaeological sites in the region of Nassyriah [=Dhi Qar governorate]—show the extent of the destruction at Abbas al-Kurdi, Jokha, Sifr, Tell Medinah, Tell Schmid, Umm al-Aqarib, and Zabalam. These buried ancient cities have been completely eaten away by crater-like holes, picked over by looters in broad daylight. A majority of these illicit digs are far more than small holes dug by local families with picks and shovels-they are massive quarrying efforts carried out by organized teams often involving hundreds of workers and mechanized equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers, sometimes financed by foreign dealers."

Photo 1: "Looters waving from Isin. the arcaheological [sic] site (photo by John Russell)"

Photos 2-8: "Photos by special permission from the Italian Carabinieri. Copyright Carabinieri T.P.C. Italia"

Photo 2: "Abbas al-Kurdi"

Photo 3: "Jokha" [ancient Umma]

Photo 4: "Sifr" [ancient Kutalla]

Photo 5: "Tell Medinah" [ancient Bad-Tibira]

Photo 6: "Tell Schmid"

Photo 7: "Umm al-Aqarib"

Photo 8: "Zabalam" [modern Tell Ibzeikh]

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).