The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 60

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.

"Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Affairs Demands for Amending the Constitution Draft," in Al-Mendhar (Iraq), online, September 29, 2005: "He noticed that the constitution did not include any reference to the Iraqi civilization heritage. While the drafting committee has confirmed that this issue was thoroughly discussed and that its final decision on it gives the local authorities the competence of supervising the antiquities in the federal regions, the culture ministry warned '[a]gainst the disastrous consequences which would affect the civilization heritage, once it is put under the supervision of regional authorities.' Hashem Al Hashemi, minister of tourism and antiquities, said, 'The lack of reference (in the constitution draft) to the antiquities, monumental sites, classical buildings, inscriptions and coins, which are considered as national resources for all Iraqi people, which the central government, in cooperation with regional administrations, are in charge of running them, would make the Iraqi culture un-conserved, unprotected and unpreserved.' ... Bahaa Al Araji, secretary of the constitution drafting committee, said ... the constitution does not refer to details but states basics.' ... it was agreed to grant the competence of administering the antiquities, monumental regions, museums, etc. to the regional authorities where these antiquities lie within their borders, considering that they are within the competence of these authorities in most of the constitutions of global [sic] federations.'" [but see IslamOnline.net October 12, 2005]
On September 27, 2005, Dr. Alastair Northedge (Université de Paris I) alerted me in an e-mail, "Samarra again," about ominous developments in Samarra. I reproduce it here in full: "According to this report, originating from UPI, September 19th, about Samarra: 'The battalion has built a berm, or temporary embankment, around the city and has set up checkpoints to control access in and out by road. Since August, the security measures have reduced attacks by one-third, said Maj. John Holcomb, the intelligence officer for the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Division.' Last week, the Inspector of Antiquities at Samarra confirmed to me that this report is correct, and that the berm has so far been built on the north and east sides of the modern city. It crosses the archaeological area somewhat north of the palace of Sur Isa. He did not speak about the archaeological zone south of the modern city, so I think the berm may not yet be finished. As you can imagine, a berm is constructed by bulldozing the surrounding terrain, in order to collect material for the earth embankment. It is difficult to think of anything more destructive of the thin widespread archaeological deposits at Samarra than this type of action. From plotting the likely alignment of this berm, it is evident that, starting from the east, it cuts across one totally unique monument, of which there is no like in the world, the Cloverleaf Racecourse, and then either through the palace of the Turkish general Wasif, or, if further south, through the palace of the other Turkish general Bugha al-Sharabi. Also the palace of the Abbasid Caliph, al-Mu’tamid, which was called al-Ahmadi. There is no alignment that can possibly avoid the destruction of major monuments. For the lovers of the Chalcolithic Samarran culture, the cemetery excavated by Herzfeld at al-Latwa, and published in the Ausgrabungen von Samarra, bd. 5, is right on the most logical alignment of the berm. I would say there is a 50% chance of some damage, perhaps complete destruction. It is not a very big site. We should look out for Samarran alabaster and pottery on the antiquities market in the future. We have yet to see what is going to happen to the monuments in the south of Samarra; there is at least one unique monument at risk, Sur al-Wastani, but also the densely built-up remains of the centre of the Abbasid city. So much for the famous new cultural sensitivity policy of the US military forces. The only good news at the moment is that the threatened destruction of Samarra, on the model of Falluja and Tel’afar, seems to have been put on hold, or perhaps averted, though things could change tomorrow. There is a good deal of fine traditional architecture in the old city. It is certain that the golden dome over the Tomb of the Two Imams (Marqad al-Imamayn) of the Shi’a would have been damaged." [see also Levey and Khalaf October 23, 2005]
"Foreign Undersecretary Receives Credentials of New Czech Ambassador," in Republic of Iraq. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Iraq), online, September 26, 2005: "Mr. Labeed Abbawi, Foreign Undersecretary for Policy Planning, received ... a copy of the credentials of Mr. Peter Voznica, ..." "He added that the Czech government has approved shipment of items to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, to be used in the maintenance of archeological property."
"New releases," in The [Fort Wayne] Journal Gazette (Indiana), September 25, 2005: "'American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release' by Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton ... Moving and suspenseful, this account of a journalist’s ordeal as a captive in Iraq recounts the machinations behind a delicate hostage situation. Documentary filmmakers Garen and Carleton went to Iraq in 2003 to investigate reports of looting at archaeological sites. ... Garen’s first-person account of their time in captivity alternates chapters with Carleton’s story of how friends and family rallied at home and abroad to jump-start a rescue effort, even before the FBI got on the case. ... Even readers who followed the story in the newspapers will find much that is new since so many negotiations happened off the front page. And with a romantic subplot humming through the tension, this story is made for the silver screen."

N. Agnew and G. Palumbo, "Protecting Iraq’s Sites and Monuments. Support for a Nation’s Keepers of Cultural Heritage," in Conservation. The Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter, 20, 3 (Fall 2005): "Donny George, current chairman of Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), stated in Newsweek in March 2005 that there are around eleven thousand registered sites in the country and that many thousands of objects were removed from those sites between 1991 and 2005 (but especially after the war of March 2003), without any possibility of their being recorded or of anyone's knowing what was illegally exported. Former Coalition Provisional Authority official John Russell, writing in 2005 in Architectural Record, estimated that some 400,000 to 600,000 cultural artifacts have been removed from these sites since spring 2003. It is safe to assume that many previously unknown or unexplored sites are being looted as well." "The initiative's first major training program for SBAH staff was conducted in Amman, Jordan (see Conservation, vol. 20, no. 1), in late 2004." "During the first half of 2005, the GCI-WMF initiative held three short-term training activities for SBAH personnel. These included a one-week GPS course in April in Amman, a two-week program on the rapid assessment methodology and recording tools for SBAH personnel from Babylon, held at the British Museum (with support from UNESCO and the involvement of University College London), and a ten-day metric survey course in June in Amman, taught by specialists from English Heritage and Leica Geosystems. In August and September 2005, ... an additional monthlong training program in Jordan for twenty-one SBAH personnel, including the directors of the SBAH offices from the governorates of Babylon, Basra, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. The course included modules on the rapid site assessment methodology and the use of site recording tools; it also focused on site condition assessment and recording, international heritage conventions, charters and organizations, and site management planning. In addition to this training, since fall 2004, the GCI-WMF initiative has been supporting English-language classes in Iraq for SBAH personnel who are participating in the initiative's courses." "... the Jordanian Department of Antiquities. When its director general, Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, was asked whether the resources of the department could be used to support the training initiatives, his reply was, 'We must help our Iraqi brothers.'" "The initiative is also fortunate in having the participation of several expatriate Iraqi professionals ..."

Photo 1: "Temple facade at the ancient site of Umma (Tell Jokha) in southern Iraq, destroyed by looters looking for inscribed bricks. Since spring 2003, hundreds of thousands of cultural artifacts have been removed from archaeological sites throughout Iraq. Photo: Joanne Farchakh-Bajjaly."

Photo 2: "Donny George (center), chairman of Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), along with Burhan Shakir (right), director general of excavations at SBAH, and Ihsan Fethi (left), dean of the Faculty of Arts at Amman University, at a meeting at UNESCO to discuss plans for the fall 2005 training course of the GCI-WMF Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative. Photo: Mario Santana Quintero/GCI-WMF Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative."

Photo 3: "At the fall 2005 training course in Amman, Jordan, instructors and SBAH participants discuss forms to be used for the rapid assessment of cultural heritage sites in Iraq. Data from the forms will be compiled in the Iraq Cultural Heritage Sites GIS Database. Photo: Rand Eppich."

Photo 4: "Training course participants assess conditions at the Bronze and Iron Ages archaeological site of Tall Al-Umayri, Jordan. Photo: David Myers."

Photo 5: "A course participant from the SBAH practices using a global positioning system unit during the training course. Photo: Rand Eppich."

A. Rafat, "Iraq: Terrorism Has to Be Fought in Madrassas, Says Ex-U.S. General," in Adnkronos International (Italy), online, September 20, 2005: "The retired four-star US Army General Montgomery Meigs, who commanded the US troops in Bosnia, ... currently in Israel, where he participated in the 5th International Conference on Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism, ... now teaches at the Syracuse University in New York, ..." "Meigs is convinced that the Pentagon 'did not have a plan for the control and management of the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.' 'Many commanders have told me that once they arrived in Baghdad, they did have the men necessary to control the city and to prevent painful episodes, such as the assault on the National Museum,' said Meigs, referring to the chaos that engulfed Baghdad at the end of the war in Iraq when thousands of pieces in the country's National Museum were either stolen or damaged."
N.R. Lerman, "An Iraqi Shares His Personal Account," in milwaukee.indymedia.org (Wisconsin), online, September 20, 2005: "Over summer I participated in an Earthwatch Expedition in Arizona where undergraduates and high school students studied Ancient Hopi Archaeology. Two out of the four Iraqis allowed to enter the United States within the last two years were studying in the same area as my group. I became close friends with Zaid, a Baghdad native, ... Zaid has been here for one year and has two years left to complete his Master’s degree." "Zaid worked at The National Museum of Iraq as an archaeologist following his father’s career. ... Neighbors of the museum exclaimed that they witnessed U.S. Army vehicles park outside the museum’s doors, enter the museum, and leave with its most valuable artifacts. After the soldiers stole the museum’s best finds, they left the vault open, allowing local thieves to steal the army’s leftovers. Only Zaid and a few of his colleagues heard neighbors yelling in Arabic that tanks had shot a large hole through the vault. ... Zaid said the U.S soldiers were the only ones in possession of tools capable to open the museum’s heavy vault. Local thieves were our army’s scapegoat." [hmm, so this old rumor pops up one more time... I still have a hard time believing it though; see Sommerfeld May 7, 2003]

"Archaeologists Teach U.S. Troops Iraq and Afghan Heritage," in Archaeological Institute of America, online, [September 19, 2005]: "The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) announces a new educational program first implemented earlier this year at the Marine Corps base at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina. In the first four months some 2,000 troops en route to Iraq and Afghanistan have benefited from presentations on the archaeology, history and cultural heritage of the region by experts in the field. The AIA plans to expand the program to other military bases in the near future." "... C. Brian Rose, AIA First Vice President. Rose, a distinguished scholar at the University of Pennsylvania who conceived of the program, got the enthusiastic approval of the military, and gave the first lectures. 'In this program we try to send lecturers to the U.S. bases from which the troops will be deployed. The talks cover the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Afghanistan, and provide general overviews of the sites and archaeological discoveries in these areas. ... professors Elise Friedland (Rollins College Florida) and Jodi Magness (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) have also lectured ..."

Photo: "C. Brian Rose, AIA First Vice President delivers a lecture at Camp LeJeune (Photo by Corporal Edward Mennenga, Camp LeJeune)"

"Iraq will ask multinational forces to leave some areas once it can secure them – Prime Minister," in United Nations, online, September 17, 2005: "[Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari] also called for the international community to adopt a programme to preserve Iraq’s rich archeological heritage."

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).