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.
Ch. Jones, "Acting
Director of the Iraq Museum," in Iraqcrisis,
online, October 31, 2005: "I am informed by a reliable source that Dr.
Amira 'Idan has been appointed as Acting Director of the Iraq Museum.
She has a PhD in Cuneiform Studies from Baghdad University." [she
replaces Dr.
Ahmed Kamil, see Jones August 26,
2005]
Th. Wagner, "Some
Iraqis sympathize with U.S. as death toll surpasses 2,000. Others note
high Iraqi toll," in The San
Diego Union-Tribune, October 26, 2005: "In a typical militant
attack, four insurgents were waiting behind a Baghdad mosque Wednesday
near the home of Nabil Yasir al Musawi, the top accountant in the
antiquities and heritage section of Iraq's Tourism [and Archaeology]
Ministry. The attackers repeatedly fired into their vehicle, killing al
Musawi and his driver, said police Capt. Talib Thamir. 'He didn't even
have any money in the car at the time. We think it's just another act
of terrorism aimed at government employees,' Thamir said."
"Artifact
thieves arrested in Nasiriyah," in Iraqi Press Monitor (UK), online,
350 (October 25, 2005): "... police arrested men in two networks active
in carrying out terrorist acts, killing people, stealing cars and
breaking into houses. ... With the help of multinational forces in the
province, Nasiriyah police arrested two people who had seven artifacts
from the Sumerian age. Twenty-six others thieves were also charged with
the theft and fined. (London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad
al-Bazaz.)"
L. Italiano, "Colonel of
Truth," in New York Post,
October 24, 2005: "'Don't you get
it?' Bogdanos asked. 'The money from antiquity smuggling is funding the
insurgency. 'I am a counterterrorism expert,' ... And the
money is mind-boggling. A single artifact called a cylinder seal, the
size of a piece of chalk, can go for $250,000." [that must be quite
some seal!?!]; "Bogdanos has been back in the United States for only
three months, released into the Marine Reserve after four years of
active-duty operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. The
colonel — author of the new book 'Thieves of Baghdad' — warns that the
illegal antiquities are being imported into the rich, rarefied world of
New York's Madison Avenue dealers and multimillionaire collectors, some
of whom 'are people whose names are in your own paper's society pages.'
As a returning prosecutor, he sees Manhattan's antiquities black market
as his next battlefield."
N.N. Levey and Z. Khalaf, "Security
Berms Proving Piles of Trouble to Iraqis. U.S. forces say they put up
the barrier to keep Samarra safe. Locals, however, feel trapped,"
in Los Angeles Times, October
23, 2005: "When U.S. troops drove insurgents from this historic city
northwest of Baghdad last fall, American commanders called the
operation a model of efficiency and cultural sensitivity. ... Partially
surrounded by a series of large earthen berms built by U.S. Army
engineers this summer, ..." "... Maj. Richard Goldenberg, a spokesman
for the 42nd Infantry Division, ... said the Army built the berms, some
as high as 13 feet, ..." [my question would be: where did the earth for
these berms come from? the soil in Samarra is very rich in
archaeological deposits; see also Northedge
September 27, 2005 and Castaneda
December 4,
2005]
O.H. Cogdill, "Tempest
swirls in old vessel," in South
Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 23, 2005: book review of The Typhoon Lover by Sujata Massey:
"... heroine Rei Shimura, a Japanese-American who has been working as
an antiques dealer in Japan, ..." "... the State Department wants her
clandestine help to find out if a 3,000-year-old ewer looted from a
Baghdad museum is owned by a Japanese collector. ... Set against the
backdrop of a typhoon that has far-reaching effects, Rei attempts to
find the ancient pitcher that is such a significant loss to Baghdad
that it may be worth killing over." [actually sounds like a good read]
"SAIS Hosted
Washington Book Launch of American
Hostage on October 17," in The
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. The Johns
Hopkins University, online, with online audio, [October 17, 2005]: Micah
Garen read from the book, the passage about the kidnapping;
Marie-Hélène Carleton also read passages, about when she
first heard; she also talked about the help and interaction with
journalists (she is an alumna of SAIS); Garen showed photos and videos
[neither included unfortunately] about the looting of archaeological
sites: mentioned carabiniere Marco Briganti who was killed on his 2nd
tour for which he volunteered due to his love for Mesopotamian
antiquities; in Nasiriyyah, there were Sumerian-inspired sculptures in
town which have now been destroyed because "un-Islamic" [see also Alawsy November 2, 2005]; only 18
major
Sumerian and Akkadian sites in the South, they deserve priority
protection; Dhi Qar province archaeological director el-Hamdani: in May
2004, rebels came looking for him, saying they wanted to kill him,
luckily he wasn't present but they did set fire to the Nasiriyyah
museum; footage of antiquities being sold in the market, negotiations
by an Iraqi undercover stringer; Carleton read again: they met a man
with a collection of cuneiform tablets in Fejr (a looters nest and a
center of the Mahdi Army), which he dug up at Umma; Iraqi Ministry of
Defense was fighting with the Ministry of Culture to keep control of
the civil armed archaeological guards; focusing on the link of the
looting with the insurgency may not be the ideal strategy, as that may
cause overreaction by the Coalition forces, e.g., bombing Fejr, etc.;
they plan to work for 4 months on their documentary (200 hours of
footage) and then send it out to film festivals and the like; they
pitched and pitch stories to media all the time and got and get hardly
ever any takers, only the New York Times and Archaeology [interesting:
they had/have pictures/footage and still have a terrible time
interesting the media; this eliminates the usual excuse for lack of
media coverage of the looting (no pictures, no news from the field)...?
see also Taal October 2005]
