History lost in dust of war-torn Iraq

[Little95]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4461755.stm

History lost in dust of war-torn Iraq
By Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly
Independent archaeologist and journalist

It is two years since looters ravaged one of the
world's most important museums, in central Baghdad.
Saddam Hussein's power had collapsed and the newly
arrived US-led coalition forces were unable to prevent
a crime against history.

Professional smugglers connected to the international
antiquities mafia managed to break some of the sealed
doors of the Baghdad Museum storage rooms.

They looted priceless artefacts such as the museum's
entire collection of cylindrical seals and large
numbers of Assyrian ivory carvings.

More than 15,000 objects were taken. Many were
smuggled out of Iraq and offered for sale.

To date, 3,000 have been recovered in Baghdad, some
returned by ordinary citizens, others by the police.
In addition, more than 1,600 objects have been seized
in neighbouring countries, some 300 in Italy and more
than 600 in the United States.

Most of the stolen items are unaccounted for, but some
private collectors in the Middle East and Europe have
admitted possessing objects bearing the initials IM
(Iraq Museum inventory number).

Ancient sites levelled

An ever-growing number of websites also offer
Mesopotamian artefacts - anywhere up to 7,000 years
old - for sale.

Doubtless, there are more fake objects advertised on
the web than authentic ones, but the mere existence of
this market has fuelled the looting of archaeological
sites in southern Iraq.

The picture there is appalling. More than 150 Sumerian
cities dating back to the fourth millennium BC - such
as Umma, Umm al-Akkareb, Larsa and Tello - lie
destroyed, turned into crater-filled landscapes of
shredded pottery and broken bricks.

If properly excavated, these cities - covering an
estimated 20 sq km - could help us learn about the
development of the human race.

But the looters have destroyed ancient monuments,
erasing the region's history in a tireless search for
a cylinder seal, a sculpture or a cuneiform tablet
that they can sell to a dealer for a few dollars.

It is tough, poorly paid work carried out by jobless
Iraqis with no way of earning a better income.

"A cylinder seal or a cuneiform tablet brings in under
$50 on the site for the looter," explains the
archaeologist responsible for the district of
Nasiriya, Abdul Amir Hamadani.

"It's a disaster that we are all witnessing and
observing, but which we can do little to prevent. With
the help of 200 newly recruited police officers we are
trying to stop the looting by patrolling the sites as
often as possible.

"But we are now all alone. Italian carabinieri troops
were the only coalition forces that actively worked on
this issue for a few months. They used to patrol the
region by land and from the sky. They have stopped all
their operations and are now simply helping train
policemen and guards."

Heavy boots

Coalition forces have themselves damaged
archaeological sites by using them as military bases.

The withdrawal of coalition troops from Babylon has
revealed irreversible damage to one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world.

An alarming report by the keeper of the British
Museum's Near East department, Dr John Curtis,
describes how areas in the middle of the
archaeological site were levelled to create a landing
area for helicopters and parking lots for heavy
vehicles.

"They caused substantial damage to the Ishtar Gate,
one of the most famous monuments from antiquity," he
wrote.

"US military vehicles crushed 2,600-year-old brick
pavements, archaeological fragments were scattered
across the site, more then 12 trenches were driven
into ancient deposits and military earth-moving
projects contaminated the site for future generations
of scientists.

"Add to all that the damage caused to nine of the
moulded brick figures of dragons in the Ishtar Gate by
people trying to remove the bricks from the wall."

There will be no end to the destruction of Iraq's
heritage, unless the country's leaders take a
political decision to consider archaeology a priority.


For this, the ring of dealers in Baghdad has to be
seized, looting in the south has to be effectively
confronted and coalition forces have to be prevented
from setting up base on archaeological sites.

The longer Iraq finds itself in a state of war, the
more the cradle of civilization is threatened.

It may not even last long enough for our grandchildren
to learn from.

Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly is an independent
archaeologist and journalist covering the Middle East,
who has been studying Iraqi heritage for the last
seven years.