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Dear CASI On the subject of damage to Iraq's archaeological heritage the rather journalistic text from Kevin T remains broadly valid, and Prof. John Russell's comments are spot on. Here are some brief additional points. Some damage was caused to ancient monuments in the course of the hostilities between Iraq and the UN forces in 1991. This was principally to the site of Ur, which was under the control of American units for a short while, and to the fabric of the standing arch at Ctesiphon. During the uprisings in the south and the north after the UN had withdrawn its forces, serious looting of the local museums took place. More than 4000 listed works of art and archaeological artefacts were lost, and although lists have been published in the west, extremely few of these pieces have surfaced in the art markets. Later common criminal actions saw the theft of pieces of sculpture from on-site museums (at Nimrud, Nineveh, Ashur, Khorsabad and Hatra). Some of these pieces were cut away from standing monuments, and some pieces have been positively identified in the art markets. There is a book about this by Prof. John Russell, concentrating on the documented pieces from Nineveh. At the same time illicit excavations have been taking place in various parts of the country. This is a consequence of (a) the economic plight of the people, who see buried treasure as one possible lifeline, and (b) the weak hold that the government has over some of the territory, especially in Kurdistan and in the south, under the no-fly zones. Particulary serious illicit excavations have taken place at a 3rd millennium BC Sumerian city called Umma (modern name: Tell Jokha), and cuneiform archives from this site have been surfacing in the antiquities market, with some being confiscated by Iraqi customs on the Jordanian border. Before 1990 Iraq had one of the best records of Middle Eastern countries for preventing illicit excavation and the illicit export of archaeological materials. This is unfortunately no longer the case. The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage does its best to contain the damage. In an effort to stop the worst of the looting, they have started controlled excavations at the site of Umma, but this is a dangerous course of action, as the looters turn up in large numnbers in trucks, with arms. The archaeologist directing this work was stabbed last summer in what is believed to have been an attack instigated by looters. I hope this may be of some use to those interested Nicholas Postgate On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Eri Garuti wrote: > > +AD4-Dear all, > +AD4- > +AD4-I urgently need all information possible about the damages to Iraqi > +AD4-monuments and archeological sites due to the 1991 war, recent bombings > +AD4-and/or sanctions. Could you please suggest a good website (possibly with > +AD4-some pictures) or simply send me a list of the damages, if you have one > +AD4-(even partial)? > +AD4- > +AD4-Thank you very much, > +AD4- > +AD4-Eri Garuti > +AD4-eri+AEA-deejay.it > +AD4- > +AD4- > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq > For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: > http://welcome.to/casi > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi