The Iraq War & Archaeology Archive 73

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.

R. Cornwell, "US colonel offers Iraq an apology of sorts for devastation of Babylon," in The Independent (UK), April 15, 2006: "Colonel John Coleman, ... said yesterday that if the head of the Iraqi antiquities board wanted an apology, 'if it makes him feel good, we can certainly give him one'." "Last November Unesco, ... said it would be carrying out some initial repair work, and setting up a photographic registry of the site. The work, in which France, Britain, Poland, the US, Iraq, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands are also involved, is being co-ordinated by the German Archaeological Institute, under the direction of the Iraqi authorities and Unesco." [see also Charles BBC Radio 4 April 14 and BBC News April 14]
J. Charles, "The Battle for Babylon," in BBC Radio 4 (UK), with online audio, April 14, 2006: half-hour report; interviews with Dr. Donny George, Dr. Lamia al-Gailani, Dr. John Curtis, US Col. John Coleman, Dr. Stephanie Dalley [I'll try to provide a little more detail when the audio link is back up on the BBC web site; see also Charles BBC News April 14 and Cornwell April 15]
J. Charles, "US marines offer Babylon apology," in BBC News (UK), online, April 14, 2006: "US forces built a helicopter pad on the ancient ruins and filled their sandbags with archaeological material in the months following the 2003 invasion. Colonel Coleman was chief of staff at Babylon when it was occupied by the First Marine Expeditionary Force. ... Col Coleman told the BBC that if the Iraqis wanted an apology for the destruction caused by his men he was willing to give one. The 2,000 troops who were deployed there did immense damage as they set up camp amidst the ruins of old temples." "Col Coleman argues that whatever his troops did, the alternative would have been far worse. If they hadn't moved in, Babylon would have been left at the mercy of looters, he says." [see also Charles BBC Radio 4 April 14 and Cornwell April 15]
S. Biggin and A. Lawler, "Iraq Antiquities Find Sparks Controversy," in ScienceNOW, online, April 10, 2006: "But last month, Italy's National Research Council announced that it had discovered some 500 rare tablets on the surface of Eridu, a desert site in southern Iraq. ... But the find, which was widely publicized in recent weeks [see for instance Cadalanu March 28], has puzzled and outraged archaeologists in Iraq and abroad. Eridu was largely abandoned during the period in question, and Elizabeth Stone, an anthropologist at Stony Brook University in New York, says most real libraries were created much later than the dates the Italian team suggests. Given the remoteness of the site from urban areas and battle zones, the reasons for an explosion are unclear. 'And I cannot believe that if a tablet were involved in an explosion, it would survive,' notes Stone, who was part of a U.S. team that inspected the site a month after the war began. The group did spot ancient bricks stamped with kings' names, she says, but such bricks are common and offer little historical information. Donny George, chair of Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, sent an irate e-mail to the Pettinato team on 6 April in search of an explanation. An Iraqi group [from the SBAH] sent recently to Eridu to investigate found no evidence of tablets, he wrote: 'Why all this media propaganda ... for something that is not real?' George also scolded the Italians for unauthorized work at nearby Ur, another ancient Sumerian city, where he says they have dug out 'foundation stones and door sockets' and taken them to a nearby museum. As at Eridu, he wrote, they only had permission to take photos, so their actions are 'a clear violation of the Iraqi antiquities law. ... This means that you may be taken to an Iraqi court.' In a statement to Science today, Pettinato confirmed that an inscribed foundation stone was taken to Nassiriya's museum following a judge's authorization. As for the Eridu find, he said the bricks and tablets have not been removed by the researchers." [to be continued, I'm sure...]
F. Hunter, "U.S. colonel tells of effort to retrieve stolen Iraqi art," in Connecticut Post, April 9, 2006: "'Nobody should misunderstand the courage and the character of the Iraqi people,' Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos told a Fairfield University audience Thursday evening." "As for his recovery mission, he said he would not be satisfied until all of the stolen antiquities are retrieved. For that to occur, international cooperation is necessary, he said. Many items were found through the joint efforts of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Syria and Saudi Arabia. However, other countries, including Turkey, Iran, France, Switzerland and Germany have not reported any recoveries, Bogdanos said. 'Forgive my bluntness, but that doesn't pass the laugh test,' he said."
D. Zuñiga, "'Tesoros arqueológicos de Irak se venden por internet.' El especialista belga Francis Deblauwe cuenta los peligros de hacer ciencia en un país devastado. La situación es tan dramática que no duda en reconocer que con Saddam Hussein para ellos todo era mejor," in Las Últimas Noticias (Chile), April 9, 2006: e-mail interview with IW&A's editor: the circumstances in Iraq are very dangerous indeed, also for people involved in archaeology (several guards and one official of the ministry have been killed); Saddam Hussein's regime could be very efficient when it wanted to be: archaeological heritage was considered an important instrument to encourage and enhance national pride and unity and therefore received priority funding and attention; however, in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War and the ensuing international boycott, this favored status receded; the looting of the archaeological sites in southernmost Iraq has slowed down [mostly] because there isn't anything left to rob; the efforts of the Italian Carabinieri in Nasiriyyah to train local archaeological guards are well intended but almost useless in reality [I actually said: "The efforts of the Italian Carabinieri in Nasiriyyah to train local archaeological guards are well intended but seem to amount to nothing more than a drop of water on a searing hot plate when considering the situation in Iraq as a whole."]; What is the biggest problem facing the Iraqi archaeologists? finding the motivation to keep on caring about the heritage of Iraq amid the civil war with its carnage; also, it's almost impossible to move around the country for fear of kidnapping, so archaeological site protection is impossible; some artifacts have been found on sale on eBay and the like, but the majority are not [available] on the black market but probably rather in storage, waiting for a time when they can be sold without arising as much suspicion
S. English, "Three years after looting of Iraqi National Museum: an official whitewash of US crime," in World Socialist Web Site, online, April 7, 2006: "The results of his investigation are limited to what looters stole and how and when they probably stole it. When Bogdanos touches on the role of American forces in the area at the time, he raises more questions than he answers. Although he says the military could have done more to protect the museum, he fails to indicate how. More significantly, Bogdanos defends the invasion. He is neither able nor inclined to investigate those responsible for putting the museum in jeopardy in the first place: the architects of the illegal assault on Iraq." "From a political point of view, Bogdanos’s AJA article and the final chapters of Thieves of Baghdad represent an apologia for the American role in the looting. He presents a selective sequence of events from April 8, after the American invasion of Baghdad, up until April 16, 2003, the day the museum was guarded by American troops. He asks if American troops in the area could have done more to protect the museum. He implies that the answer is no. ... The commander of the unit, Lt. Col. Eric Schwartz, estimated that 100-150 Iraqi soldiers were inside, armed with AK-47s and RPGs. Tanks fired a round at the 2nd floor storage room of the main museum building and at a position on the roof of one of the buildings. Bogdanos notes that Schwartz contacted his superiors before doing so. ... Bogdanos produces no evidence that the American forces attempted to contact the Iraqi military, or any that Lt. Col Schwartz’s superiors took the Hague Convention into consideration. In a Wall Street Journal interview on April 17, 2003 (cited by Bogdanos), Schwartz indicates that he stopped attacking positions at the museum on his own authority. ... 'Frankly,' Bogdanos says, 'those who argue that US forces should have done more to protect the museum present a compelling argument.'" "The recklessness of the Bush administration is not enough to explain the vast destruction of physical materials and human intellectual capital resulting from the US war and occupation of Iraq. Only one conclusion is possible: a sustained and deliberate war against Iraq’s rich cultural heritage began with the invasion three years ago."

R. Kaysen, "This Downtowner got back stolen treasures from the ‘thieves of Baghdad,’" in Downtown Express (New York), 18, 47 (April 7, 2006): "'The vast majority of the time <that I was in Iraq and Afghanistan> I was doing bad things to bad people, the antiquities was an ideal, wonderful, golden way to rise up out of that mire,' he told Downtown Express, ..." "Shortly after his return to the U.S. in 2005, customs inspectors at Newark Airport discovered four Federal Express boxes containing 669 artifacts stolen from the museum. The smugglers and the intended recipient alluded authorities. Now in the Reserves, Bogdanos is at the Manhattan D.A.’s office, continuing to search for antiquities in a position that never previously existed."

Photo: "Col. Bogdanos, fourth from right, in front of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in Basra in April 2003 with some of the team that tracked down stolen artifacts. He will be discussing the book he co-wrote, 'Thieves of Baghdad,' Monday at P.S./I.S. 89."

4-6-06: a quick note on the Eridu cuneiform texts (see for instance Cadalanu March 28): from the limited information I've been able to gather, the press reports mentioning "clay tablets" seem to be misleading, rather we seem to be dealing here with stamped bricks; I'll provide more details when available [see also Biggin and Lawler April 10]
M. Bailey, "Iraq’s greatest treasure to start world tour in Washington, DC in 2007. The Nimrud gold is to be shown at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in February next year," in The Art Newspaper (UK), April 6, 2006: "The date was set in Copenhagen on 17 March by the Iraqi ministry of culture and United Exhibits Group (UEG), the Danish commercial venture organising the show. ... the first venue for the Nimrud treasures is the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution. Various formalities have to be completed before the exhibition is officially announced, in a few weeks’ time. There are likely to be around ten venues, after Washington, and these will probably include museums in Berlin, London and Paris. The tour of 'The Gold of Nimrud' should raise around $10m for Iraq’s National Museum. The centrepiece of the show will be an accurate full-size reconstruction of the throne room of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. ... In 1991 Iraqi archaeologist Muzahim Mahmu found the tombs, with the thousands of pieces of gold. ... The reconstruction of the east end of the throne room is being made by Madrid-based firm Factum Arte. They have done this by scanning excavated Nimrud reliefs in the British Museum, Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, Princeton’s Art Museum, the Sackler Gallery at Harvard and the Dresden Museums. Despite initial hopes, it proved impossible to record the remains left on site in Nimrud and other fragments in Mosul and Baghdad, because of security problems. The reconstruction is being made in resin, and is almost finished. The latest news of the international tour comes after a series of false starts [no kidding!], but this is the first time that a specific venue and date have been given. We can reveal that the show was to have opened at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery this June, but there were too many problems to be resolved, ... There are internal differences within Iraq on the touring show. The ministry of culture is keen, partly because it will bring in much-needed revenue. It has the formal authority and signed last month’s agreement." [I don't understand: wouldn't it rather be the Ministry of Tourism and Archaeology that has the last word?]; "However, Donny George, former director of the Iraq Museum and now president of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, is against the proposal. Although not speaking publicly, he is believed to be concerned about the security risks and is also uneasy about the involvement of a commercial organiser, the UEG. Dr George is highly regarded by his museum colleagues in Europe and the US, and they would be reluctant to proceed without his blessing. Security is a difficult issue. Archaeological specialists are divided over whether it is better to risk the short-term dangers of moving the gold the few miles to the airport or the longer-term risk of leaving it in the Baghdad vault."
"... the full cooperation of the US State Department will be required, and this has proved more difficult than expected. US military protection would be needed to move the treasure inside Iraq and it would also require safeguarding while on American soil. Back in Washington, the Freer and Sackler Galleries have a financial challenge, since as part of the Smithsonian they do not have entrance fees. ... Sponsorship will therefore be essential. Although a blockbuster exhibition on Assyrian gold would be attractive for a sponsor, anything to do with Iraq is also politically sensitive. Finally, there are conservation issues. The gold itself needs relatively little attention, but some items incorporate other materials, which do need work. This cannot be done in Baghdad, in the present situation, and if conservation is to be undertaken in America, then the treasures will have to be flown out relatively soon. Dr Julian Raby, a former Oxford scholar and now director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, ... is determined that it should not be regarded as 'spoils of war'. Dr Raby sees the show as 'celebrating Iraq’s heritage', presenting a very different picture from the constant news reports of death and destruction. He also regards it as an opportunity for the international museum community to 'give something back, in terms of money and training.' The funds might well be administered through Unesco, and would be for the use of the museum, rather than going into the coffers of the Iraqi treasury. The situation is very difficult, but Dr Raby believes there are two choices: 'Do you go into a bunker mentality or take the opportunity of the Baghdad museum being closed to do something major outside Iraq?' If the treasures are to be toured, he would like to see them go to institutions with Near East material, so the Nimrud gold can be seen in context and museums can help with conservation and training. Showing the treasures at kunsthalle-style exhibition venues would not provide the same benefits. Asked whether the February 2007 date is realistic, UEG vice president Amy Seitz told The Art Newspaper: 'I am positive. The people we are working with in the Iraqi ministry are optimistic and there is real enthusiasm from the first venue. Once the opening venue is officially announced, we have the support of six venues and interest from 20 others.' Among those which have expressed interest is the British Museum, although it has serious reservations and would only want to go ahead if the venture has the support of Dr George and his colleagues. Last month keeper John Curtis told us: 'If our colleagues in the Iraq National Museum are agreeable to the gold leaving the country, and if it goes on a world tour and they want to show it, then the BM would certainly consider having an exhibition here, working closely with our Iraqi colleagues on the display.'" [it seems to me that many of the same problems still have not been solved; whether this traveling exhibition—apart from its desirability—is any closer to becoming a reality remains to be seen]
In an e-mail dated April 3, 2006, Gloria Piardi communicated the following: "... publication of : Monografie di MESOPOTAMIA - VII. 'An Endangered Cultural Heritage', Iraqi Antiquities Recovered in Jordan, Le Lettere, Firenze 2005. It’s a catalogue which collects the 1385 objects, mostly of Iraqi provenance, which were confiscated by the Jordanian customs authorities and recorded under the direction of Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino during the Amman 2004-2005 session of restoration work and training. The text is richly illustrated by black-and-white and colour photographs. The impulse to publish this material arose from the urgent need to document the state of emergency in which the Iraqi cultural heritage now finds itself and the enormous damage that has been done to the whole cultural heritage of Mesopotamia by the systematic pillaging of archaeological sites."

R. Cohen, "The Ghost in the Baghdad Museum," in The New York Times, April 2, 2006: "For the director of a shuttered museum in a country at war, the imaginary can be a welcome refuge. Condemned to contemplate his own and his country's fate in great halls emptied of visitors, Donny George paces past showcases of ancient vessels and jars and clay tablets, and he dreams. In his mind's eye, the museum director sees the grand opening: the courtyard filled with 1,000 guests, succulent lamb and sumptuous dates on tables beneath the palms, a Baghdad chamber quartet playing, the spirited talk of civilized people ... Under Saddam Hussein, he learned to live a double life: praising the dictator in public, worrying in private. He was a member of Mr. Hussein's now-disbanded Baath Party. Not to be, he says, would have meant dismissal and the abandonment of archaeological excavations, his great love. Compromise is woven into the texture of his life. Now, as the director general of Iraqi museums, his new title [actually, he was subsequently promoted to chairman of the whole State Board of Antiquities and Heritage], he inhabits a labyrinth. The Interior Ministry has been urging him to reopen the National Museum, saying it will provide him with 1,000 guards if necessary. 'But then it's no longer a museum,' Mr. George said. 'It's a barracks.'" "'Everyone, deep in himself, is grateful to the United States that they helped us get rid of this regime,' Mr. George said. 'But the uncontrolled situation [i.e., the looting of the Museum in April 2003], that is another thing. Why was it not controlled?' In Baghdad today, as the concrete blast walls multiply, control seems almost unimaginable. Since 2003, three museum employees — an archaeologist, an accountant and a driver — have been killed."

"Mr. George was sitting in a comfortable office with cellphones, a computer, the Internet. American money and American experts have produced results. More than $2 million from the State Department, the Packard Humanities Institute of Los Altos, Calif., and the Iraqi Culture Ministry have gotten the roof repaired, the telephone system transformed, the fences upgraded, guard houses built, the plumbing fixed, the windows washed, locks coordinated, the air-conditioning upgraded, surveillance cameras installed and an electronic security system activated. After years of gradual decay under Mr. Hussein, the museum has had a face-lift. 'The assistance we have asked for from the State Department we have had, and we are grateful,' Mr. George said. Asked whether he thought guilt drove this American largess, he joked, 'I would love them to feel that.'" "Most of the approximately 10,000 artifacts still missing [from the Museum] are smaller items: gems, jewelry, terracotta figurines and cylinder seals. ... Mr. [John] Russell said that the smaller artifacts 'are easy enough to sell if you clean off the acquisition numbers.' Still, over time, he said, they may be identified and recovered if customs and law enforcement officials step up their efforts." [this article is similar to Cohen February 25, 2006]

All photos: "Max Becherer/Polaris, for The New York Times"

Photo 1: "Donny George admires the detail of Assyrian reliefs at the National Museum in Baghdad, which remains closed to the public."

Photo 2: "Donny George, the head of Iraqi museums, at the National Museum in Baghdad."

Photo 3: "In another room stands a statue of Nabu, the Babylonian god of wisdom and literature."

L. Elder, "Sgt. Mageen Heffron Uses Her Previous Knowledge In Iraq," in NewsBlaze (California), online, April 1, 2006: "Baqubah, Iraq - An Army Reserve Soldier ... a civil affairs specialist with Company C, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion, has put her archaeological training to good use while serving at Forward Operating Base Warhorse. She has helped head-up U.S. efforts to return more than $1 million worth of antiques [17th-century-AD furniture] to Iraqi officials while ensuring that Coalition forces were mindful of the area's many archaeological sites." "As an archaeological student, she said she has enjoyed working with the likes of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and the Archaeology Institute of America. 'We've had a lot of information flow back and forth and it's been very professionally stimulating,' Heffron said. These agencies have provided her locations of archaeological sites in Iraq. She gives this information to tactical units who make sure they don't disturb a prized area."

A.M. Braverman, "Experts debate looting laws," in University of Chicago Magazine, 98, 4 (April 2006): "At a February 3 conference, Protecting Cultural Heritage: International Law After the War in Iraq, Gibson showed slides of ancient cylinder seals, 5,000 of which had gone missing, one-third since recovered; ravaged museum offices; and desert sites that displayed the chaotic pocks of pillagers instead of the straight, properly dug lines archaeologists make. 'The looting was completely predictable,' he said. Museum workers 'had prepared for it, put stuff in storage. They thought it would be safeguarded by American troops. So did I.'" "The hurdle, [Law School professor Eric] Posner said, is more basic: governments give cultural heritage low priority. 'They care a little bit,' he said, but not as much as for arms control or the drug trade. ... One solution, he offered, would be to change antiquities’ trade laws. 'The black market exists only because it’s illegal to trade,' he said. 'What we have here is a new drug war. If the market were freed up,' there would be more exporting and less looting."

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).