The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 54

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.

H.M. Fattah, "Banned, Saddam Hussein the Literary Lion Roars Again," in The New York Times, June 30, 2005: "The unpublished novel 'Get Out, You Damned One' will not win any literary awards. A forgettable piece of pulp, it features a scheming traitor, an invading army of Zionist-Christian infidels and an Arab liberator. The only thing that sets the novel apart from numerous others like it in Arab bookstores is its author: Saddam Hussein." "The novel, which Mr. Hussein is said to have completed on the eve of the American invasion in 2003, is seen as a prescient picture of the occupation of Iraq. It opens with a narrator who appears to be modeled on the story of Abraham warning his grandsons of Satan's hold over Babylon."

Photo: "The cover of a 2003 novel by Saddam Hussein, 'Get Out, You Damned One.' It depicts Satan's hold over Babylon, and an Arab liberator."

M. Wilkinson, "Looting of ancient sites threatens Iraqi heritage," in Yahoo! News, online, June 29, 2005: "Two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and a widely publicized break-in at the Baghdad Museum, the country is a hotbed of antiquities plundering that threatens to put huge gaps in the understanding of its rich history, experts say." "In spite of the international effort, [Clemens] Reichel, [of the University of Chicago] who coordinates a clearinghouse of missing Iraqi antiquities designed to help in their recovery, said more could be done." ["clearinghouse of missing Iraqi antiquities" is misleading: rather an incipient online database of the artifacts of the National Museum in Baghdad with information on their current status if available]; "'What they are doing now is like waving your hands around to try and catch flies,' he said. 'One thing they could do is forbid the trade of Iraqi antiquities.' UNESCO sends information on missing artifacts to Interpol, which tries to track them down. The U.N. group also has trained and equipped border patrol and site guards to ensure relics are not smuggled out of the country." "'In ancient wars, getting the statue of a king would have been an act to insult the conquered country or city,' [Donny] George said. 'Now it's about the material value.'"
"ALA Council Calls for Withdrawal from Iraq," in Library Journal, June 29, 2005: "The Council of the American Library Association (ALA) has passed a resolution that calls for the withdrawal from Iraq of all U.S. military forces and a return of full sovereignty to the people of Iraq. ... The resolution further urges the U.S. government to switch its budgetary priorities from the occupation of Iraq to the improved support of vital domestic programs and calls upon the government to provide material assistance through the United Nations for the reconstruction of Iraq, including its museums, libraries, schools, and other cultural institutions."
C. Morgan, "Saddam attacks but only in song. An opera set in ancient Jerusalem has been updated with a modern political villain, writes Clare Morgan," in The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), June 29, 2005: "It is 587BC and the Assyrian invasion of Jerusalem is in full swing. The terrified Jews are taking shelter in the Temple of Solomon as the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar advance. But their prayers are to no avail - the wall tumbles down, the temple is overrun and in strides, um, Saddam Hussein. Featuring the rifle-toting former Iraqi dictator in an opera set in ancient Jerusalem, but with its roots in the politics of 1840s Italian nationalism, might seem a bit of a stretch. But for David Freeman, who is directing Nabucco, which opens Opera Australia's winter season, it's about giving Verdi's opera context, and acknowledging the long line of oppressive regimes in the Middle East." "The idea crystallised after Freeman saw a poster depicting Saddam as a chariot-riding Nebuchadnezzar (called Nabucco in Verdi's opera) firing arrows at jet fighters and helicopters."
"Iraq: Hope for Country's Cultural Future," in Adnkronos International (Italy), online, June 28, 2005: "... a special force has been set up to guard the many valuable archaeological sites around Iraq. However, with only 1,000 officers guarding some 10,000 sites, many in remote areas which [Chawki] Abdelamir [a poet and Iraqi delegate to UNESCO] admits are impossible to control, the force is struggling to cope. 'Here the looters are still out in force. The thieves usually take the artefacts at night, using huge lorries,' he explained. ... 'An Italian architect is doing a magnificent job at restoring monuments in Iraq,' he explained, going on to praise the restoration laboratories and training funded by the Italian foreign ministry. 'I have seen with my own eyes decapitated or destroyed statues restored to their former glory and I have to say, the ongoing restoration activities at the Baghdad museum have really struck a chord with the people.'"

"Ancient heritage of Iraq," in Australian Government. Department of Defence (Australia), online, June 28, 2005: "The Australian Defence Force contingent in southern Iraq, the Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG), is treating with respect the ancient history of the region, which extends to the shared origins of western and Middle Eastern civilisation and cultures. One of the archaeological treasures of Iraq, the Great Ziggurat of Ur, is located outside the Tallil Air Base, where an Australian logistics detachment is located."

Photo: "20050615adf8239682_029 - Australian Army ASLAV armoured vehicles in front of the Great Ziggurat of Ur, a four-thousand-year-old temple which is one of the archaeological treasures of southern Iraq. (Date taken: 15 June 2005)"

"PM rules out timetable to curb militants," in Gulf Times (Qatar), June 28, 2005: "[Also yesterday, s]even Iraqis were wounded earlier when a rocket slammed into a restaurant in the centre of Baghdad despite a security clampdown, police said. The seven, three waiters and four customers, were wounded when a rocket exploded in Al-Yassir restaurant near a busy taxi and bus terminal off the capital’s central museum square."
"Primarily Canadian team wins Iraqi architectural competition," in Canadian Architect (Canada), June 27, 2005: "An architectural competition organized by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture asked participants to design a Research Centre and Museums in the reflooded Mesopotamian Marshes, ... The winning design team of RKBT ..." "The six buildings of the project are: Environmental Research Centre, Library, Multipurpose Hall, Natural History Museum, Archaeology Museum, and Popular Heritage Museum. Traditional construction systems and materials, such as marsh cane, reed and compacted earth will be used to build the centre, but these will be developed in order to achieve up-to-date performance standards, particularly durability and thermal control."
"Baghdad car bomb kills four civilians. Three American soldiers die elsewhere in the country," in CNN International, June 27, 2005: "A mortar round wounded seven civilians outside a restaurant near the Iraqi Museum in the Alawi al-Hilla area of west-central Baghdad, a police official said." [see also Gulf Times June 28, 2005]
J. Cole, "Mosul Police Station blown Up, many Dead. 31 Killed Saturday, Dozens Wounded," in Informed Comment, online, June 26, 2005: "Reports from the Iraqi press via BBC World Monitoring for June 23: ... Al-Zaman publishes on page 4 a 600-word part 1 of a report on an interview with National Assembly member Mufid al-Jaza'iri, who says that a deadline for drafting the constitution is not <far> enough <off>. He adds that the government's decision to extend the stay of multinational forces has been taken without consulting the National Assembly . . ." [he's the former Minister of Culture, was responsible for archaeology]
G. Pulhan, "Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq: A Report from the Istanbul Initiative," in World Tribunal on Iraq (Belgium), online, June 26, 2005: "As we speak, the sites, i.e. ancient mounds that bear all the evidence for our past are being looted and destroyed. The loss of knowledge and the destruction of the record for a very crucial period of human history is unmatched. In Dr. Neil Brodie[']s terminology the archaeological record soon will become extinct. Some of the world famous sites such as Babylon and Kish were turned into mlitary bases and destroyed by the occupier. Others such as Umma, Larsa and Ninova [sic] became prey for wanton looters. Protection of sites is a cultural emergency that could not be achieved in the past two years." "The [National] Museum was closed since February. The most prominant [sic] collections, such as the treasures from the Royal Burials of Ur and Nimrud were stored in the safes of the Central Bank since the Gulf War. Prior to the allied occupation, another group of objects were [sic] also hidden in a secret location in Baghdad. Still, the remaining objects numbered around one hundred fifty thousand." [150,000? where did he get this number? the common opinion is that the total amount of artifacts was 501,000 of which 9,000 were stored off-site]; "Even if it was due to pure ignorance and negligence, political and military parties that are responsible for the looting, burning and destruction of museums, archaeological and historical sites, libraries, archives, and universities in Iraq should be held accountable for their acts. We owe this to ancient Mesopotamians and to modern Iraqis." [the text refers to bibliographical references which are however not included on the web...]

M.V. Chandler, "Art helped 'dreamer' survive nightmare," in Rocky Mountain News (Colorado), June 25, 2005: "Halim Mahdi al-Karim appears for an interview in a cloud of perfume, his long black hair drifting around his shoulders. He wears bright colors, the colors of the Middle East, of the market, of the hidden courtyard, the colors that appear in the textiles he paints and burns and cuts to appear as if they are temple screens. ... life in Iraq until he and his family escaped in 1991." "... at Robischon Gallery, surrounded by 'Passage to Sumer,' an installation of fiber panels (he calls them 'soul layers'), a gleaming alcove that suggests a temple where young women enter as mortals and leave as goddesses, and a 30-foot-long clay 'ship' cut-out for which he borrowed from the basic home-building technology of Iraq by using clay, fiber and dried grass for strength. It is a ship out of Gilgamesh, ..." "There are different ways to survive. My way was through dreams, to go back in Iraqi history and Sumerian history. I didn't want to let them destroy my humanity.'"

Photo: "A 30-foot-long clay boat cut-out, made of clay, fiber and dried grass, is one of the features of 'Passage to Sumer.'"

S. Nicholson, "Iraq Museum director: Stolen art funds terrorism," in The Daily Texan (Texas), June 24, 2005: "'Rich people are buying stolen material,' museum director Donny George told reporters. 'Money is going to Iraq, and they <terror groups> are buying weapons and ammunition to use against Iraqi police and American forces,' he said. Police in the United States are doing an 'excellent' job of curbing the flow of stolen artifacts there, but 'a lot of material is just penetrating the country,' George said. 'A lot of these objects are actually going to the United States.' ... Iraqi Culture Minister Nouri Farhan al-Rawi, also speaking at the news conference, noted: 'There was a great deal of looting when coalition forces arrived. Today, coalition forces are helping us a lot, and there are no more cases of looting or theft [in Baghdad].' ... It is impossible to assess the scale of theft or damage at archaeological sites outside Baghdad, said a committee of experts gathered at UNESCO, the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency. Farhan al-Rawi urged UNESCO to help the Iraqi government transform 170 buildings - including Saddam's former palaces and other government buildings - into cultural centers, public libraries and tourist centers. ... The committee praised efforts by several countries holding Iraqi treasures for safekeeping, including Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United States. But it said more cooperation was needed from Turkey and Iran, which were represented at the meeting." [and their reaction was...???]; "The cultural heritage committee, formed in September 2003, aims to distribute international aid to help protect Iraq's cultural treasures. It has received $3.5 million from direct contributions and $5.5 million from the United Nations, said UNESCO's deputy director-general for culture, Mounir Bouchenaki."

Photo: "Baghdad museum curator Donny George, right, talks with Iraqi culture Minister Nuri Farhan Al-Rawi after a press conference on the state of Iraq´s cultural heritage, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Thursday."

"Iraqi Cultural Heritage: UNESCO is thanked for its action by Iraqi Ministers of Culture and of Tourism and Archaeology," in UNESCO (France), online, June 24, 2005: "The Iraqi Minister of Culture, Mr. Nuri Farhan al-Rawi, and the Minister of State for Tourism and Archaeology, Mr. Hashim al-Hashimi, warmly thanked the Director-General of UNESCO ... during a meeting held on the fringe of the second gathering of the International Committee to Safeguard the Cultural Heritage of Iraq* (ICC)." "The Director-General announced that the designated Director of the Baghdad office was on the point of leaving for Amman. He will exercise his functions from there, with the specialists who constitute his team, until he can go to Iraq. Mr. Matsuura reiterated his intention of dispatching a third experts’ mission on site to launch new initiatives." "During the meeting, also attended by Mr. Muhyi K. Alkateeb, Permanent Delegate of Iraq to UNESCO and by the Director of the Baghdad Museum, ... "

Photo: [no caption; from left to right: al-Rawi, Matsuura, al-Hashimi]

Ch. Onians, "Mystery shrouds Iraq's missing artefacts," in The Lab (ABC; Australia), online, June 23, 2005

Photo: "Jordan, which shares a large border with Iraq, has seized 1347 looted Iraqi antiquities like these since the war (Image: Reuters/Ali Jarekji)"

"Reconstruction of Iraqi institutions: Two international meetings," in UNESCO (France), online, June 23, 2005: "From 22 to 24 June, at UNESCO Headquarters, the second meeting of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Iraq (ICC) is taking place. The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, opened this second meeting of the ICC on Wednesday 21 June 2005 in the presence of the Iraqi Minister of Culture, Nuri Farhan al-Rawi, the Minister of State for Tourism and Antiquities, Hashim al-Hashimi, and numerous international experts." "... with the aim of coordinating international aid destined for cultural heritage and all activities towards the protection of that heritage, as well as to elaborate an implementation plan that is in line with the most stringent international norms in this area. UNESCO’s areas of priority action remain the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural property, the training of art professionals, the protection of archaeological sites, the rehabilitation of historic buildings, and the prevention of illicit excavation and pillaging. ... Mr Matsuura ... expressed his satisfaction with the contributions already made by the Organization’s Member States for the implementation of projects on the ground. Financial contributions*, as well as technical assistance**, ... * Financial contributions have been made by the Governments of Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Flanders, Norway, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Lithuania[;] ** Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Jordan, Egypt, Spain and Switzerland" "... a comprehensive programme was approved in May 2004 in the framework of the UNDG [UN Development Group] funds-in-trust. These contributions of UNDG and other funds-in-trust enabled UNESCO to be very active in Iraq and to implement activities, to a value of US$ 8 million, over the last two years despite the difficult conditions on the ground."

Photo: [no caption; from left to right: al-Rawi, Matsuura]

"UNESCO calls for mobilization against illegal dig [sic] in Iraq," in China View (China), online, June 22, 2005: "UNESCO director general Koichiro Matsuura called on Wednesday for mobilization against illegal dig [sic] on archaeological sites in Iraq and expressed concern on irreversible damage that would be [sic] caused by installation of military bases in particular at Hatra and in Babylon." "He reminded that some 15,000 antiquities are still missing after the museum of Baghdad and a number of other cultural institutions in the country were pillaged by US-led coalition forces following the US-led invasion." [sic; 15,000 is the estimate of artifacts stolen originally from the National Museum in Baghdad]; "Matsuura hailed financial contributions from Italy, France, Japan and the Czech Republic and technical assistance from the United States and Germany to rebuild Baghdad's cultural institutions."
K. Li, "Iraq on list of world's endangered cultural sites," in Yahoo! News, online, June 21, 2005: "The entire country of Iraq, often called the cradle of civilization, made the list of most endangered cultural sites on Tuesday, ... The list of 100 at-risk sites, issued by the privately financed World Monuments Fund every two years, ... 'It's the first time we've listed an entire country in danger,' Bonnie Burnham, president of the fund told reporters. Looting and the inability to mobilize restoration efforts in the war-torn region have taken its toll on relics that date back 10,000 years and could be wiped away, ..." "... the temple precinct at Babylon ... Over a thousand artifacts have been stolen from the region only to resurface on the international market, [Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, Iraq's] deputy [UN] ambassador said. ... 'Time is of the essence here,' John Stubbs, vice president of programs at the World Monuments Fund. For some areas, the only thing they can do is 'Wait, watch and pray,' Stubbs added."

J. Menendez, "Iraq's treasures still being looted," in BBC News (UK), June 21, 2005: "'What happened at the museum shouldn't have happened. But in terms of what was taken, we knew where it came from. We have photographs. What's coming out of here, we haven't the faintest idea what it is.' Professor Stone has been studying new satellite images which show hundreds of neatly-arranged holes where sites have been dug up. 'We can tell the difference between the areas they're really targeting and the areas they're probing,' she says. 'We can really make a distinction between different types of looting.'" "[Dr. Donny George] says unscrupulous private collectors are the real culprits for what is happening to Iraq's archaeological sites. ... 'We know there are people sitting in Saudi Arabia and in Jordan, asking for specific material from specific sites.' But tracking down these pieces is not easy. Some national police forces, as well as Interpol, keep a database of the most important missing artefacts and in many countries it is now illegal to trade in antiquities from Iraq. That has had some success. But Professor Stone believes it has also driven the trade underground and made it more difficult to detect. ... Unesco ... is reviewing its work on stopping the trade at a conference this week. But it has its work cut out. Resources are limited. The security situation in Iraq shows little sign of improving. And the thieves and smugglers are more organised than ever."

Photo: "Satellite photos show the extent of damage caused by looting"

R. Pogrebin, "2 Columbus Circle Makes Group's List of Threatened Sites," in The New York Times, June 21, 2005: "... every 'cultural heritage' site in Iraq have been added to the World Monuments Fund watch list of most endangered sites, ..." "Ms. Burnham said it was the first time that essentially an entire country had been listed. 'Everything that is cultural in Iraq is threatened at the moment,' she said. 'We really couldn't see any other way to address it.'"

"Iraq makes list of world's endangered cultural sites," in CNN International, online, June 21, 2005

Photo: "Iraq has thousands of endangered sites, including the ruins of the Sumerian capital city of Umma, above."

B. Schoetzau, "World Monument Fund Names All of Iraq as an Endangered Cultural Site," in Voice of America News, with online audio, June 21, 2005: "The preservation group says every significant cultural site in Iraq is at risk today and there are no ways to effectively mobilize protection. As a result, World Monument Fund president Bonnie Burnham says the group decided that listing the entire nation seemed a reasonable response. ... 'Looting at the archeological sites around the country, direct conflict as with the minaret of Samara that was bombed because of snipers using the site, recovery from years of isolation and jeopardy for the monuments and sites such as Babylon, which has also been occupied recently by military forces and looting of the monumental remains at Nineveh, the great Assyrian capital.'"

Photo: "[Former Minister of Culture] Mufeed Muhammad Jawad Al Jazairee holds the 'Warka Mask,' a 3100 BC Sumerian artifact which was looted from the Iraq national Museum in the final days of Saddam Hussein's regime (later returned by police)"

S. Muchnic, "Spotlight on Iraq's plundered past. A new book focuses on the 2003 looting of a Baghdad museum and ancient Mesopotamia's legacy to the world," in Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2005: "If anything good has come of wartime pillage in Iraq, it's a vastly increased appreciation for the nation's cultural heritage. That point is made in the new book 'The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia.' And Donny George, director of the embattled museum, couldn't agree more. 'Many people did not know about Iraq,' George said, speaking by cellphone from Baghdad." "Part of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to a fund established by the J. Paul Getty Trust and the World Monuments Fund to help reconstruct the museum and preserve Mesopotamian art." " ... George, who wrote the foreword. 'People who work in museums should be aware, and protect their museums by other means than just guards and electronics. When such situations happen, as in Baghdad or in natural disasters — floods, earthquakes, fire — there is no one to stay at the museum to protect it. Everybody just takes off and goes home to their families. There will always be people waiting for that moment. Museums should be built so that they can defend themselves with special doors and showcases that shut down automatically and cannot be easily smashed as they were at our museum.'" " Nonetheless, George is not discouraged. 'Within two years, we got 50% of the items back,' he said. 'We got a lot of work done on the museum building, and there have been courses for my staff, mostly outside the country. So I am really hopeful. I am working on all these things: the antiquities, the building, the capacity of the staff. We will reopen the Iraq Museum at a very high standard. I am looking forward to the party.'"
"US Television Network to Provide Global Broadcast of World Tribunal on Iraq. Marks Third Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq. June 24-27, 2005 from Istanbul Turkey," in Common Dreams Progressive Newswire, online, June 20, 2005: "The final session of the WTI in Istanbul is the culmination of two years of rigorous investigation documenting violations of international law and human rights by the United States and its allies leading up to and during the invasion of Iraq and in the continuing occupation." "The expert opinion, witness testimony, video and image evidence will address: ... The destruction of Iraqi cultural institutions and the liability of the invaders in international law for failing to protect these treasures of humanity. WTI witnesses and jurors will include: ... Iraqi museum founder and curator Amal Al Khedairy; ... A complete listing of sessions and speakers, along with additional background information on The World Tribunal on Iraq can be found at www.deepdishtv.org."
O. Bowcott, "Archaeologists fight to save Iraqi sites. British experts aid computer survey in attempt to protect monuments from looters and war damage," in The Guardian (UK), June 20, 2005: "British archaeologists are training Iraqis to draw up the first modern inventory of the country's ancient sites and monuments ... The survey ... is being delayed because of the threat of kidnappings and attacks by insurgents." "'The situation has become desperate since the end of the war,' said Bill Blake, who is the head of English Heritage's Metric Survey Team and recently returned from running courses in neighbouring Jordan. 'State control has effectively collapsed and people are helping themselves to whatever they can get. They are taking material for building or digging for antiquities to be sold abroad." "The English Heritage team, working in partnership with the Getty Conservation Institute and World Monument Fund, have been advising their Iraqi counterparts on latest surveying techniques, such as the use of GPS mapping equipment, data recording forms and satellite imaging." "Not only ancient monuments but unique 19th century houses in Baghdad are being destroyed, Mr Blake added. 'There's a terrible loss of early, steel-framed buildings, for example, which are being pulled down because people want the metal.'" "'There are a number of bases which are still too close to ancient sites,' Mr [Gaetano] Palumbo [from the World Monument Fund] revealed. 'There's one near Ur and another near Kirkuk. Both are American, I believe. It's impossible to know what damage is being done.'" "... John Curtis at the British Museum. ... Earlier this spring he arranged for three Iraqi colleagues to come to the museum and University College London for training courses. 'The security situation has to improve before we have any substantial progress,' said Dr Curtis. 'Iraq is really one vast archae[o]logical site which has been continually inhabited for 8,000 years. Some of the sites are being pillaged in a very intensive way. It's certainly being organised by tribal groups. ... A consignment of artefacts was impounded in Newark, New Jersey. But I'm not aware of any Iraq items reaching London.'"

Photo: "Sun Jun 19, 5:49 PM ET - An undated picture shows Italian carbinieri near recovered artifacts in southern Iraq. Archaeological sites in southern Iraq have been systematically looted for over two years, but experts say the dig will have to go much deeper to find out where thousands of lost artefacts have ended up. (AFP/File/Abdal Amir Hamdani)" [Yahoo! News Photos; 2005]

Photo: "Sun Jun 19, 5:49 PM ET - An undated picture shows arrested Iraqi artifact looters standing in front of an Italian armored vehicle in southern Iraq. Archaeological sites in southern Iraq have been systematically looted for over two years, but experts say the dig will have to go much deeper to find out where thousands of lost artifacts have ended up. (AFP/File/Abdal Amir Hamdani)" [Yahoo! News Photos; 2005]

Ch. Onians, "Mystery shrouds Iraq’s missing artefacts," in The Peninsula (Qatar), [June 19, 2005]: "Archaeological sites in southern Iraq have been systematically looted for over two years, ... 'The complete lack of knowledge is devastating,' says archaeologist Elizabeth Stone, ... 'One article said that a billion Iraqi dinars worth of artefacts had been smuggled to Syria, but that’s absurd. We just don’t know what’s gone,' she says. ... Meanwhile, artefacts are surprisingly absent from the ever-hungry illegal market. 'Artefacts aren’t turning up yet,' says Seth Richardson of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. 'The market’s too hot. People don’t want to trade them, for good reasons and bad. We’ll probably have to wait four or five years for this stuff to turn up. And it could be anywhere — London, New York, Geneva, Tokyo.' What is known is the shocking breadth of looting, with satellite images showing ancient sites turned into chessboards of square-shaped holes." "... archaeologist Abdal Amir Hamdani, in charge of antiquities for Dhi Qar province, home to some of Iraq’s most famous archaeological sites, says his focus has shifted from looters to smugglers. ... Hamdani uses what he calls a 'hunting dog' — a former looter turned paid informant — who follows up on rumours and goes out with a digital camera and global positioning system (GPS) equipment to locate and mark smugglers’ houses. Italian carabinieri forces disguised as Bedouin then go with Hamdani to carry out often fruitful raids. 'This is the war within the war, the forgotten war,' he says of his dangerous job. Last October, eight Iraqi customs officers were found dead and their recently seized cargo of antiquities disappeared on the road to Baghdad." [see The Daily Telegraph October 3, 2004]; "Al Fajir, 100km north of Hamdani’s base in Nassiriyah, is rife with smugglers and dealers, he says, and 60 suspect homes in the small town of 10,000 have already been identified. Hamdani shows photos of seized artefacts: Parthian glasswork, Sumerian statues and erotic images on temple tablets, hundreds of coins, gold jewellery and bowls inscribed in ancient Aramaic, some clumsily glued together, damaged forever. ... He laments what he says are lax sentences of two or three years handed down to smugglers. 'It’s not enough. They should be getting 10 years or more. I would like to kill them, but then what happens to human rights in this country?'" [but see Iraqi Media Monitoring February 15, 2005 which has 3 cases of the death penalty for artifact smuggling]; "Stone says that families in the area have been selling artefacts for generations, but the lawlessness of recent years combined with increased demand from the West, Japan and Israel has made them more daring. ... But some families have been doing it for generations and might think their grandchildren will sell it. There must be warehouses bursting with the stuff,' she says. 'It will start coming onto the market when people decide authorities can’t be bothered to prosecute anymore.' ... [Donny George] says ill-informed buyers in the West, such as the man who paid 80,000 dollars for a non-descript cylinder seal, are also inflating prices and inspiring more thieves. 'They’ve been taking out at least 3,000 tablets a week, by the truckload. That’s got to be 400-500 dissertations,' says Richardson, adding that some looters die when the tunnels they use collapse, becoming artifacts themselves. Iraq currently has 12,000 registered archaeological sites, but once the whole country has been surveyed, that number will jump to 100,000, says George. Hamdani says there are 800 sites around Nassiriyah alone, with 200 site protection forces to patrol them in just seven vehicles. As a result, no amount of policing is going to suffice and the museum is placing its hopes in changing people’s mindsets. ... Meanwhile, generous foreign aid is well-intended, but not always useful. In the corner of George’s office is a box of 40 satellite phones donated for site protection forces by Unesco. 'We’ve had them for three months, but they didn’t give us SIM cards,' says George. 'Now we have extra funding so we can buy the cards and use them.'"
"Baghdad museum director gets used to returning fire," in Yahoo! News, online, June 17, 2005: "Donny George of the Iraq Museum is more concerned about security than most museum directors. ... 'I tell the guards, if they shoot one bullet, then you shoot 100. We must show that the place is well-protected.' With two Iraq Museum guards in hospital after just such an attack, George believes insurgents are testing security with a view to repeating the massive looting that followed the US-led invasion of March 2003. And that is why the museum's reopening has been delayed indefinitely, as car bombs continue to explode and staff often find their way to work blocked by anti-insurgent sweeps in what George says is a 'hot' Baghdad neighbourhood. 'We thought everything would calm down after the (January) elections, so we planned an exhibition for July, but instead things have escalated. The museum is a soft target and at the moment if we wanted to hold an exhibition we would need the whole Iraqi army to protect it.' ... The museum's repainted corridors are bustling with activity, although some of it is from archaeologists who have come from the provinces to report looting." [this is great news: communication between archaeologists in Baghdad and in the rest of the country is a huge problem]; "Elsewhere, young conservators work on broken artifacts in rebuilt laboratories, others carry out the tedious task of cataloguing ..." "Outside, the museum's courtyard is filled with objects from Iraq's more recent history under deposed leader Saddam Hussein. Two of Saddam's garish gold-painted carriages squat under tarpaulins in a dusty corner, while nearby half a dozen stacked freight containers filled with kitsch from his palaces resemble a modern art installation. 'We'll look after those objects, but we won't put them on display,' says George, while admitting the time will come for a museum to Saddam's era -- as long as it is not propagandistic. ... George recently said that he considered US help in rebuilding the museum as an apology. 'I was so angry with the Americans at the beginning because they did not protect the museum, but I'm a positive man and I look to the future. What happened happened and we can't just sit and cry.' But George said all is not quite forgiven. 'I will ask for help for another 10 or 20 years,' he said."
D. Gatopoulos, "Greek Statue Stolen During WWII Returned," in Yahoo! News, online, June 16, 2005: "James Ede, chairman of the London-based International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art, bought the 4 1/2-inch bronze figure from the widow of a Greek art collector who lived in Switzerland. He turned it over to the Greek Embassy in London and accompanied the statue on its flight home." "He said the tiny statue also carried a message for Iraq. Thousands of ancient items were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad and other sites following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. 'I think the dispersal of our cultures helps us understand and love each other and is a good thing but this must be a legal process,' Ede said. 'We will continue to fight the illegal trade. ... With war, civil strife, and upheavals around the world — not least in Baghdad — the duty that we have will become greater and greater.'"
I. Villelabeitia, "Jordan leads hunt for Iraq's looted treasures," in Reuters AlertNet, online, June 16, 2005: "Hidden in cars, coat pockets and even bags of onions, ancient treasures are flowing out of Iraq and many are surfacing in Jordan, where officials have seized a record 1,347 pieces in the past two years. The seized artefacts, kept in a secret storehouse, included an Assyrian ivory carving ransacked from the Baghdad Museum ..." " Most of the antiquities seized by Jordanian customs and police were plundered from Iraq's vast archaeological sites and from storage houses in Mosul and Nassiriya, said Fawwaz Khraysheh, the head of Jordan's Department of Antiquities. They include cuneiform tablets -- clay palettes bearing symbols regarded as the origins of writing -- bronze jewellery, ceramic figurines and Islamic coins from the Omeyad [Umayad] period in the 7th century AD." "The most valuable piece confiscated by the Jordanians is the Assyrian ivory carving, dating from about 2,000 BC. It is believed to have been part of the bed of an Assyrian king and the carving represents hunting and court scenes. It was broken into pieces by the smugglers and seized at the Karama border crossing months after looters broke into Baghdad's national museum in April 2003 ..." "The looters have become more organised and ingenious. 'We have heard stories of artefacts hidden in bags of beans and onions and loaded onto trucks,' [Philippe] Delanghe [programme specialist for culture in the Iraq office of UNESCO, based in Amman] said. With anarchy prevailing in large parts of Iraq, Delanghe said it would be difficult to stop the traffic until security improved. 'We know artefacts are disappearing at all sites. We can't even go to these sites. They are too dangerous.'"

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).