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April 2003:
The ancestral spirits of old Babylon are weeping. As well
as anarchy and destruction on the streets of Baghdad, now
simmering yet not tempered, the symbols and heritage of the
most important civilizations of mankind are being smashed
up and shipped out, invariably never to return to their motherland.
Vital beds and medicines have been stolen from hospitals,
intelligence documents and civil records turned to ashes,
the School of Ballet and Art in Baghdad is wrecked;
only the sound of a broken piano and the choking tears of
its teachers echoes through its empty rooms. The museums and
historic sites of Iraq have been decimated, thousands of years
of history blasted away in an instant. Many glass caskets
were either smashed or pilfered, taking with them bejewelled
lyres, ancient manuscripts and the four thousand year old
head of an Akkadian king. One of the oldest copies of the
Quran was set afire at the Baghdad National Library.
Within a day, the library was just a smouldering pyre of historic
and cultural book ashes. Ironically, although the historic
sites were largely safeguarded against US military attacks,
it has been Iraq's people who have wrecked their own heritage,
aided and abetted by the absence of the allied military. An
estimated 170,000 items have been plundered, 400 times those
of the 'culture catastrophe' seen during the 1991 Gulf War.
These thefts contravened the Hague Convention outlawing the
trading of Cultural Property.
A Cultural Catastrophe
Anger at the US military's failure to preserve
the National Museum of Antiquities lead to several
White House members resigning, "The tragedy was not prevented
due to our nation's inaction", proclaimed Martin E. Sullivan,
a White House Cultural Property advisor. The FBI sent out
agents to assist in recovering stolen antiquities, but this
was too little to late, the horse had already bolted with
lorry loads of smuggled artefacts, heading for the borders
of Iran, Turkey and Jordan. The professionally organised heist
took advantage of the chaos after the fall of power to make
good their rich bounty.
Despite pressure beforehand by UNESCO and immediate calls
after the fall of Saddam Hussein by Iraq's National Museum,
little immediate action was taken by the US military. In their
defence, the Pentagon stated that the swift collapse of Saddam
Hussein's regime made protecting national treasures impossible
and their first priority was to protect the Iraqi people with
the limited amount of troops available. Several hundred thousand
troops were in actuality need to safeguard the major cities
and sites.
"We didn't allow it to happen," retorted Defence
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "It happened".
Even the British Museum, former benefactors of plundering
Iraq condemned the inaction, "it is clear that a catastrophe
has befallen the cultural heritage of Iraq," states Neil
MacGregor, British Museum director. The British Museum has
also fallen foul of criticism that they should have returned
Iraqi antiquities stolen during the 18th and 19th century.
The museum in London is now thought to house the most complete
collection of Iraqi treasures since the lootings.
But war history is soon forgotten. The US knew full well
the extent of street anarchy and looting which would take
place as the same state was experienced just 12 years ago
after the first Gulf War when the National Museum collection
was plundered. 4 volumes cataloguing some 4000 Lost Heritage
treasures were submitted to UNESCO after the conflict.
Smugglers were even caught red handed with a 4 tonne head
after chopping it into pieces. Although informing major art
dealers like Sotheby's and The Met in New York,
only a fraction of these stolen priceless treasures were ever
returned. Items occasionally appear on the international antiquities
market and other objects illegally excavated since 1991 now
also appear, making the familiar route to Israel, then Switzerland
and on to London. Prove of ownership to Iraq is fleeting and
these objects can far too easily be sold on. The Lost Heritage
items are also hard to identify due to poor quality photos
and gaps in documentation. Items such as a basalt door were
offered to the Merrin Gallery in New York and dealers
in London, which were shipped overseas as freight and went
undetected by customs. A number of stolen sculptures have
probably been plastered over or hidden behind temporary walls
to avoid detection and later these will be illegally sold
on the black market or over the internet.
Looting has been a constant problem through the recent 2
decades of unrest. Donny George, Iraq's leading archaeologist
and National Museum director, spent many years excavating
Umma armed with a semi-automatic and trowel, fending
off looters who arrived with mechanical diggers and AK37s.
He spent many months packing away exhibits and tying down
pieces to prevent looting. Fears of looting forced the curators
to close the doors of the National Museum in Baghdad for 9
years until it was re-opened in April 2000. The then Iraqi
Culture Minister Abdul-Khaleq believed it was the Iraqi peoples
right to see their Heritage again, "You can contrast
our civilization with the uncivilized aggression against our
people."
The museum was hailed as one of the greatest museums in the
Middle East. Donny George believes it is unique in the world
in offering "a complete chain of civilization".
Pieces on view then included artefacts and antiquities from
prehistory including the Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian
and Islamic ages. Its prize attractions were a
Neanderthal skeleton, pottery from the first agricultural
villages, artefacts from the royal tomb of ancient Ur and
statues of Hercules. Many of which now lie wrecked or stolen.
Looting is one half the problem - bombing itself inevitably
leads to destructions of historic sites despite how 'smart'
the military technology may purport to being. The religious
shrines of the tomb of Ali (the Islamic equivalent
of Christ) in Najaf, a sacred Shi'ite Muslim shrine, and Hussein's
mausoleum in nearby Kerbala, the last fighting ground,
were both heavily bombed during the 1991 Gulf War. By destroying
these sites, allied troops risk alienating the Shi'ites in
the south of Iraq. In the southern plain, sites are some of
the only raised features, therefore, key military positions.
A prehistoric village here can be destroyed by allied bombs
in a mere matter of seconds when archaeologist trenches are
mistaken for military installations. In the 1991 Gulf War,
the Great Arch of Ctesphion, the widest brick arch
in the world, was destroyed by relentless US bombing.
Rocking the Cradle of Civilization
But given the impending humanitarian crisis the nation is
now facing, why are ancient crumbling artefacts in any way
important, when compared to the seemingly more complex task
of safeguarding human life? The issue is many faceted, as
Iraq's history is not merely of importance to only the people
of Iraq, but the discoveries and rich history of the ancient
land of Mesopotamia, the land known as the 'cradle
of civilization', has cultural and scientific importance to
all believers of Christianity, Islam or Judaism. With 1000
archaeological sites substantiating revolutionary mathematics,
astrological discoveries, the first examples of writing and
the alphabet, the invention of agriculture and real sites
from the Old Testament, the very ground of Iraq is a major
heritage site.
From 5000BC, this land marked the moment of the history of
humanity. Baghdad was the capital of Abbasid Caliphate
and the centre of the three Monotheistic Religions. Many sites
bear witness to this remarkable history, from the home of
biblical legends like Abraham and Noah, and the mystical city
of Babylon, symbol of all the good and bad in this
world, with the Tower of Babel (where language was
invented to divide mankind) and the '8th wonder of the world',
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It is thought the Garden
of Eden was discovered here.
Iraq was one of the first States to join the International
Safeguarding Campaign of UNESCO. It has submitted many
places for listing as heritage sites but lack of resources
after the 1991 War has quelled their efforts to preserve their
history. Saddam Hussein compared himself to Nebchadnezzar
who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, intending to restore
the glories of ancient Iraq to the people. He rebuilt the
city wall with the name of himself next to that of Nebuchadnezzar.
His regime was intent to protect the nation's heritage at
a bloody cost; in 1998, 10 men were executed for attempting
to smuggle the head of a Assyrian winged bull.
"Culture can play a key role in the consolidation of
the peace process," believes Director General Koichiro
Matsuura of UNESCO.
Both ancient Mesopotamia and modern day Iraq are certainly
no strangers to bloody warfare and conflict, yet it is the
Nation's rich heritage, which throughout the last ten millennia
has provided the running thread of its advanced development.
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