Cultural calamity in Iraq - Front Page - looting of Islamic antiquities during 2003 upheaval

In anticipation of the looting and pillaging that often follow in the wake of a violent overthrow of authority, U.S.-led forces invading Baghdad in early April quickly secured the capital's oil ministry and its contents to prevent loss or theft of vital information concerning Iraq's vast oil reserves. Unfortunately for world culture, the Pentagon took no such measures with regard to Iraq's civic and cultural institutions, including its museums and libraries. In spite of prewar pleas to the U.S. government from art professionals around the world to protect Iraq's cultural heritage, coalition forces stood by while crowds of Iraqi looters broke into and ravaged the national museum and library. The museum had reopened in 2000, the first time since the 1991 Gulf War.

Extensively documented on TV and in press reports over a period of several days beginning Apr. 8, packs of thieves gutted many of the city's public buildings. They carted off hundreds of objects, some thousands of years old, and damaged or destroyed many of those they couldn't carry. Decimating collections that were once among the most extensive and important in the Middle East, the vandals burned museum records that might have helped in the retrieval of those objects in the future, and emptied basement storage areas where many pieces were packed away for safekeeping during the U.S. bombardment.

Although a detailed assessment of damages has yet to be made, and some objects were moved off-site during the war, early reports indicate that a staggering quantity of museum objects are lost. Among them are a gold Sumerian harp from 3360 B.C., a copper head of a ruler from Ninevah, dated 2250 B.C., and a 2600 B.C. gypsum statue of a worshiper from Tell Asmar. Another lost treasure is the large, 5,000-year-old Warka Vase from Uruk, which museum officials say was too fragile to move to a safe haven during the bombing.

Donny George, research director of Iraq's national museum, has reported that many artifacts from the Roman period in Hatra in northern Iraq, including statues of Apollo, Poseidon and Eros, have also been stolen. Hundreds of cuneiform tablets containing humankind's earliest known texts are currently unaccounted for, in addition to many ancient manuscripts and numerous Korans. Images of some of these pieces may be viewed on several Web sites, including those of the University of Chicago (www-news.uchicago.edu) and the Baghdad Museum Project (www.baghdadmuseum.org), which were set up to help locate the objects.

Some observers hinted that the looting might have been organized. CEO of the World Archaeological Congress, Peter Stone, who advised the British military in its efforts to protect Iraqi culture, speculated to the press that the plundering could have been planned outside Iraq before the war. He referred to evidence that looters had sophisticated glass cutters and keys to certain display cases and vaults; in some instances they bypassed replicas to steal only the finest works.

In response to the worldwide outcry against the looting and the lack of U.S. protection for Iraq's public institutions, defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tried to downplay the matter to the press, suggesting that the chaos was a by-product of the liberation process and referring to the vandalism as "unfortunate activity." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, admitted that for the U.S. forces, protecting museums and libraries was a low priority in a city that still harbored pockets of resistance to the invasion.

Among the many museum officials decrying the destruction, Metropolitan Museum of Art director Philippe de Montebello issued a statement saying, "We can't conquer and then shirk further responsibility by allowing anarchy in the cities and allowing Iraq's ancient heritage to be pillaged." Protesting what they termed a "preventable tragedy," three members of the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Martin E. Sullivan, Richard S. Lanier and Gary Vikan, resigned their posts. Maxwell Anderson, president of the Association of Art Museum Directors and Whitney Museum director, called on the worlds' museums and art collectors to refrain from acquiring any artifacts or works of art that have recently left Iraq. At an emergency meeting in late April at the British Museum, an international gathering of museum directors proposed a complete moratorium on the purchase of Iraqi antiquities. Some experts recommend amnesty for looters and even suggest offering a small reward for those returning the pieces to the museum.

As we go to press, several Baghdad residents have already voluntarily returned a few stolen objects. According to a recent report by Alan Riding in the New York Times, a Marine reservist, Col. Matthew F. Bogdanus, who is stationed at the museum, has been assigned the task of investigating the looting. Bogdanus reports that some Baghdad citizens have relinquished items directly to him rather than to the museum itself, which they identify with Saddam Hussein's regime. However, most of the objects handed back are copies or less valuable items from the museum shop.

Meanwhile, the FBI has reported that some artifacts are already appearing on the international market. In late April, American customs officials seized one item at an unnamed U.S. airport International law enforcement agencies are now working with dealers, auction houses, collectors and experts in the field to intercept other antiquities. UNESCO recently announced plans to establish a register of missing artifacts from Iraq, which it will share with Interpol. A number of countries are contributing to this project and other efforts to retrieve the stolen objects. So far, Italy and Japan have pledged $1 million each. There's been as yet no announcement of a U.S. contribution toward the effort.

However, in a recent statement to the press, secretary of state Colin Powell addressed the U.S. government's concerns about the national museum disaster and the damage to Iraq's cultural patrimony that the war has caused. "The U.S. understands its obligations," he said, "and will be taking a leading role with respect to antiquities in general but this museum in particular."

COPYRIGHT 2003 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group