The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 61

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.

Dr. Donny George e-mailed me on October 15, 2005: he talks about the 11th-hour amendment to the Iraqi constitution (see Mohammed October 14, 2005 and Jones October 12, 2005): "... I have been struggling for this ever since the last draft of the constitution came out, on the 29th of September, when I was in Amman for a meeting, I sent a letter to Mr. Matsura, director general of UNESCO; in Amman also, I found Iraqis that could take my letter to the National Assembly by hand, ... and when I came back to Baghdad, I found others to take my letter again to the National Assembly. Then on Monday October 12th, I arranged the demonstration in the gardens of the Iraq Museum, with about 170 people member staff of SBAH, with large banners, where I read my open letter to the members of the National Assembly. So we really put up the pressure from all sides, and I am happy it came out like that, otherwise, we would have faced another tragedy even bigger than the one of the Iraq Museum."
I. Mohammed, "Iraqi archaeologists criticize proposed charter," in Azzaman (Iraq), October 14, 2005: "Iraqi archaeologists have protested against the proposed constitution only a few hours before it is put to vote. The archaeologists say the constitution ignores the country’s ancient history as it leaves the handling of antiquities in the hands of regional administrations rather than the central government. ... Dr. Donny George, head of the Antiquities Department, led the demonstrators who had gathered in the gardens of the Iraq Museum. George said the drafters had even removed a paragraph stressing the significance of Mesopotamian civilization in the section related to education and health. ... 'Our national wealth of archaeological riches will be divided among these regions and subject to the whims of their governors and administrations,' he said. The constitution calls for the establishment of a federal Iraq in which various regions will exercise massive powers in the running of their own affairs. The archaeologists have sent a statement to the National Assembly, lashing out at the proposed constitution for failing 'to mention in any of its articles that the utilization of Iraq’s ancient civilizations, archaeological sites, heritage and archaeological riches is a prerogative of the central government.'" [it's not clear whether this demonstration took place before or after the 11th-hour amendation of the constitution: the 1st sentence seems to point at "after" but "have sent a statement to the National Assembly" suggests a time before the amendments; 10-18-05: it was before, see George October 15, 2005; see also Jones October 12, 2005 and IslamOnline.net October 12, 2005]
L. Lopate, "American Hostage," in The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC; New York), with online audio, October 12, 2005: substantive, half-hour interview with Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carleton about their book: Garen's family spoke to Terry Anderson (who was held hostage in Lebanon) who told them that if Garen was held by Shi'ites he might eventually be released, if the kidnappers were Sunnis he wasn't likely to survive; he was afraid that his kidnappers might be involved in the looting of archaeological sites and therefore would not look kindly on his work; Amir Doushi, a secular Shi'ite, was a childhood friend of el-Hamdani, the archaeological inspector of Dhi Qar; the book title has many meanings, several layers: nationality, politics, matter; Carleton's French and American and initially it was reported that Garen was too; when they were traveling in Iraq, that's how they presented themselves for safety reasons; book written in alternating voices; Carleton mobilized fellow journalists who used their contacts with el-Sadr people and so on; includes an excerpt from the book describing events on that fateful day when Garen was kidnapped: "Amir returned a half hour later, smiling, holding my small digital camera. ... It had been stolen two days before by one of the guards at the Nasiriyah Museum. Mr. Hamdani, an archaeologist and antiquities inspector for the Dhi Qar province, who looked after the museum, had managed to apply enough pressure and, in Amir's words, 'the situation was resolved.' 'Which guard was it?' I asked. 'Don't worry,' Amir said, 'your camera is back.' 'But which one?' I insisted. 'The one who helped you look for it.' That was the way things were done. It mattered less who was responsible than that the camera had been returned safely. Since we had an hour to kill before a meeting with Mr. Hamdani at the Nasiriyah Museum, with my camera back we decided to film the market."; then follows the spell-binding tale of how things went wrong in the market...
Ch. Jones, "Antiquities in the Iraqi constitution," in Iraqcrisis, online, October 12, 2005: "The 11th hour changes to the proposed Constitution of Iraq relating to antiquities appear in Section Four: Powers of the Federal Government, Article 109 - parenthetic statement at the end of the article. Tran[sl]ation provided by AP, ..." "(Antiquities and antiquity sites, traditional constructions, manuscripts and coins are considered part of the national wealth which are the responsibility of the federal authorities. They will be administered in cooperation with the regions and governorates, and this will be regulated by law.)'" [see also Mohammed October 14, 2005]
"Iraq Parliament to Amend Charter, Sunnis Opposing," in IslamOnline.net (Qatar), online, October 12, 2005: "Iraq's parliament was set Wednesday, October 12, to endorse changes to the constitution just three days before a referendum on the document, ..." "The eleventh-hour talks also agreed on a provision that 'archeological sites and treasures are national resources controlled by the central government along with regional and provincial governments,' [Prime Minister Ibrahim] Jaafari added." [see also Al-Mendhar September 29, 2005 and Jones October 12, 2005]
R. Bhattacharya, "Lost in Baghdad, recreated in pandal. Temple tribute to Mesopotamia," in The [Calcutta] Telegraph (India), October 11, 2005: "Perhaps the greatest casualty of the last Iraq war occurred after it ended, when thousands of priceless artefacts, dating back to the zenith of one of the oldest civilisations, were lost as [the] Baghdad Museum was plundered and vandalised. ... The Mesopotamian social, cultural, religious and political world has been brought alive through replicas at the Japur Byayam Samity puja in Kalindi. The treasure trove includes some of the earliest letters written by man, sculptures carved out of rock, seals of monarchs, the Zivggura temple and mementoes of the wars that the Mesopotamians had fought. Amal Roy, a local resident and superintendent archaeologist of the state directorate of archaeology and museums, painstakingly collected the pictures and details of the lost artefacts. The pandal provides primers in archaeology and more detailed guides on the subject to enlighten the audience. 'Modern Iraq was the core area of the Mesopotamian civilisation, which dates back to 1500 BC. Most of the artefacts, statues and figures were preserved and showcased in the Baghdad museum. After the Iraq war, most of them [sic] were stolen or vandalised. The articles are lost forever. Therefore, we thought it would be a noble idea to provide the public a glimpse of the collection,' said Roy. ... The main attraction are letters in Ugritic script from 1300 BC." [I suppose Bhattacharya means "Ugaritic" but that Semitic tongue is attested solely in Syria so I don't really see the connection with the National Museum in Baghdad; I guess he included them due to their cuneiform nature—they are alphabetic cuneiform though, again atypical]; "There are 18 life-size figures in and outside the pandal, including one of a bull with a human head, five legs and wings. ... Two-dimensional figures adorn the panels on the pandal. Each represents a particular scene, including images of hunting, torture, war and religious processions."
R. Teijgeler, "'So Yesterday Was the Burning of Books' — Wartime in Iraq. Lecture Held at Responsible Stewardship Towards Cultural Heritage Materials, Preconference of the IFLA Rare Book and Manuscript Section, Copenhagen, The Royal Library, 11 August 2005" (IW&A Documents, 5), in The Iraq War & Archaeology (US and Austria), online, October 5, 2005: "From July 2004 till March 2005 I was working for IRMO, the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, as the senior consultant for the Iraqi Ministry of Culture. I was send by the Dutch Army as a CIMIC-officer, a NATO unit that stands for Civil Military Cooperation, ... My office was supported with a local and very dedicated secretary and for some time an Italian archeological technician. Later a military liaison officer was appointed to my office, a person who smoothed many military paths for me. The senior consultant acted as the main liaison officer for the Iraqi Minister of Culture and advised him and the US Embassy on all issues concerning cultural heritage. After seven months the Dutch contribution to the Multi-National Forces Iraq was over upon which IRMO unfortunately decided to close down their office of culture. ... Most probably I will return to Iraq by the end of this year especially to continue my work in support of the Iraqi libraries and archives." "From the first reports of journalists and civilians it becomes clear that the military did not consider it their task to protect cultural heritage institutions. Yet, they are bound to do so by several international treaties like the Hague Convention (1954) and its Second Protocol (1999), the Unesco Convention (1970) and even according to the Geneva Convention (1949). Was it really that bad as they say it was? The answer can be short: Yes, it was. Perhaps not as bad as the ongoing looting of the 10,000 archaeological sites and the dreadful condition of the many monuments but still." "Due to the continuing insecurity in Iraq there are no recent reports on the status of the libraries in Iraq. Almost all reports were written after visits in 2003. For more details I recommand the report by Jeff Spurr from the Fine Arts Library at Harvard University ..." "The only non-governmental organization (NGO) I encountered in Iraq was Un ponte per… Even after their director was kidnapped they maintained their support and kept on financing the electronic cataloguing at the National Library."
I think a lot of the following is likely equally applicable to archaeological-heritage efforts: "It would seem that, to date the approach to library reconstruction in Iraq has been characterised by ad hoc engagement. Unesco tries very hard but in practice there is only one person at the Middle East office who is working on cultural heritage aid to Iraq, ..."; obstacles: "Iraqi bureaucracy, all international aid has to go through the Ministry of Planning ... fragmentation of aid thus ineffective and ineficient. In the end this lack of coordination will only frustrate both the benefactor and the hopeful recipient."; but: "To fight fragmentation of aid foreign libraries could link up with one partner in Iraq. This idea has already been put into practice by the American Museum Association ..."; "... sustainable action is the byword that should govern all assistance ... This means that from the very start of the project the partner should be involved in the decisionmaking process. Often the problem is not clear at all and several sessions are needed to define the problem. ... Too often I laid my eyes on aid proposals that were more selling the donor than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, all projects should be based on a win-win relationship but it will only last with the full participation of all parties at the earliest stage possible."

M. Taal, "A Hostage’s Ordeal. In a new book, filmmaker Micah Garen recounts his captivity in Iraq," in Dangerous Assignments, Fall-Winter 2005 [posted online October 2005]: "The next day, in New York, Marie-Hélène Carleton watched as her fiancé’s captors, sympathizers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, announced that if U.S. forces did not leave the holy city of Najaf, Garen would be dead within 48 hours. 'For a short moment, it felt like the death of hope,' she said. Carleton put aside her despair and went to her computer to mobilize journalists to lobby for Garen’s release. Garen had first gone to Iraq in June 2003 to research a documentary. He shunned bullet-proof vests and armed guards and found it easy to work. 'I wasn’t afraid of saying that I was an American,' he said. He returned with Carleton in May the following year to finish the film on the looting of archaeological sites around the southern city of Nasiriyah. But during his absence the mood in Iraq had soured. ... Carleton, who has French and U.S. citizenship, traveled in full Islamic dress and the pair carried only her French passport, leaving their U.S. passports in their hotel room. They took painstaking precautions to keep their movements secret. ... Garen and Carleton filmed the guards hired to protect the Sumerian site of Umma as the recruits trained and bought guns at a local arms market. On July 30, Carleton headed back to the United States, leaving Garen to wrap up the project. On Friday, August 13, two days before he was to return to New York, Garen went back to the arms market with interpreter Amir Doushi to grab just one more minute of footage. 'To get a story and really document it, you had to take risks,' Garen said. Friday the 13th was not a lucky day." "But a direct appeal to al-Sadr remained the best hope. Al-Sadr’s groups were open to journalists, Carleton said, but they had to be convinced that you were willing to report their side of the story. She galvanized journalists through emails and phone calls to use whatever contacts they had with al-Sadr’s people. She also worked with the U.S. government, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and other groups to get the message to influential Iraqis that Garen was an independent journalist covering a cultural story." "Garen and Carleton want to return to Iraq, although they believe it is even more dangerous today. More than 50 journalists have been killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003. The status of journalists, which Garen called his best protection, has been eroded by the violence." [see also Lopate October 12, 2005 and The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. The Johns Hopkins University October 17, 2005]

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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).