THE LOOTING OF THE IRAQ MUSEUM - CSPAN2 NOW!!!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Okay, I'm Obsessed w/ this... so much history destroyed.

:cry:

The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia
Milbry Polk & Angela Schuster, eds.

Milbry Polk and Angela Schuster discuss the effects of the current war in Iraq on the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The editors of "The Looting of the Iraq Museum," along with Donny George, the director of the museum, explain that more than 15,000 objects were stolen or destroyed and that a large amount of history has been lost. During the event Mr. George shows slides containing pictures of pieces that have been returned since the attack on the museum. This event was hosted by the National Arts Club in New York City.

Author Bio: Milbry Polk is a photojournalist and author of "A History of Arabian Transportion" and "Egyptian Mummies. She also co-authored "Women of Discovery" with Mary Tiegreen. Angela Schuster is the editor of the preservation magazine, ICON, a contributer to the New York Times, and a contributing editor at Archaeology magazine.



Book TV Schedule June 18 – 20
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3881547

[Spazito]

1. Thanks for the heads-up! Am watching it now

*

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. 60,000 years of history....

DESTROYED

That's a direct quote.

[Igel]

8. 6000.

I have trouble believing anybody would say 60k.

on edit: Even then there's a bit of exaggeration going on.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. My son thought I mis-heard too...

but nope.. 60,000 years

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0307/resources_geo.html


Cultural Preservation

An Archaeologist's Lament
Mourning the sack of the Iraq Museum, an expert assesses the toll

When bombs started falling on Iraq in March, I had the same first thought that every archaeologist who's ever done fieldwork there must have had: What will happen to the Iraqis who worked with us—people who welcomed us into their homes? Fortunately that question has been answered: My friends and colleagues survived the war.

But I soon saw my second greatest fear become reality: Much of the unique record of the Mesopotamian civilization that blossomed between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers 6,000 years ago was stolen or irreparably damaged. Tens of thousands of artifacts at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad were lost over the course of three chaotic days in early April. Not all of these treasures were claimed by frenzied mobs of looters. Some were probably stolen in an organized plot by art thieves, a scheme that might have been thwarted had coalition forces heeded pleas from the world's archaeologists to protect the museum.

Among the museum's collections were not only the statues of gods and goddesses, the possessions of kings and queens, law codes and religious texts, but also the mundane items of daily life. There were the 60,000-year-old flint tools and fragmentary skeletons of early humans from Shanidar Cave in the mountains of northern Iraq. There were sickle blades left by some of the world's first farmers 10,000 years ago. And there were tens of thousands of pottery fragments, which not only tell us about everyday activities in the past eight millennia, but also (because their styles change rapidly and these changes have been carefully studied) enable archaeologists to know the age of layers in which they're found.

[Igel]

16. That makes sense.

Tx.

[preciousdove]

3. Then you missed the history purges here over the last 35 years?

Where the rethugs were in power starting in 1980 they have been systematically appoint people to local historical societies, slash budgets and instruct them to destroy historical books and records. Not sell them, not give them away. Destroy them. Often even the major supporters and volunteers would not know what was going on until it was too late.

Why do we have to keep fight for these battles that we thought were over and part of our permanent American progress?

[htuttle]

4. This is the sort of thing that'll be talked about for the next 1,000 years

...long after we've forgotten everything else.

For example, most people know that the ancient Library in Alexandria was burned almost 2,000 years ago, but few remember WHY it was burned anymore. The context is hardly known, or important, anymore -- the destruction of history is what is remembered. It leaves a scar visible for centuries.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. then our job is....

To make sure that history never forgets that IT WAS GEORGE W. BUSH'S ILLEGAL WAR THAT DID THIS!

Sorry for yelling...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. Book Review: A portion of the book's royalties will aid in reconstruction

In April of 2003, the world reacted in shock at the news of the looting of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Priceless antiquities, spanning ten thousand years of human history, were smashedinto pieces or stolen, and one of the most important storehouses of ancient culture was forever compromised. This exquisitely illustrated volume is a reconstruction in book form of one of the world's great museums, and it stands as thedefinitive single-volume history of the art and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia-the cradle of civilization.

The contributors to this book consist of a cadre of international archaeologists whose excavations helped piecetogether the rich tapestry of Mesopotamian life from earliest prehistory to the advent of Islam. A portion of the book's royalties will aid in the reconstruction of the museum and in the preservation of Mesopotamia's cultural treasures.Told through the art and artifacts that were lost recently in Iraq, this fascinating history of the civilizations of the Near East is sure to be a timeless and enduring book.

Author Bio: Milbry Polk, a photojournalist and author ofA History of Arabian Transportation and Egyptian Mummies, has edited a series of biographies on women explorers and coauthored the award-winning book Women of Discovery. Angela M. H. Schuster, editor of theaward-winning preservation magazine Icon and The Explorers Journal, is also a contributing editor of Archaeology magazine and frequent contributor to The New York Times.

http://www.campusi.com/isbn_0810958724.htm

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. Believes there were 3 waves of looters

First raided offices, took furniture phones computers

Second breached the museum – knew where a weak spot was

Third got into inner secure chambers
Evidence shows – thieves knew which things to take, most important items

9 very important items were returned by people who had saved them from the looters.

One piece found hidden in a cess pool. Ick.

[undeterred]

9. This is so very sad

I know some of my former professors must be turning in their graves.

[Igel]

11. A lot of what was lost were tablets with cuneiform on them.

The media have gotten in an uproar over a relatively small number of visually impressive objects that are irreplaceable, but well studied. And most of them were protected, or have been returned.

The tablets are both more and less important. More, because they contain information that the big bits of gold and the occasional statue don't have. And that info is sometimes much more valuable.

Less important, in many ways, because they say the same boring information over and over and over.

Much of that information is preserved, even if the tablets are dust.

http://cdli.ucla.edu:591/cdli/im/index.html.

Of course, it's always better to hold the tablet in your hand--you can see things on the side that might not be photographed, or little scratches indicating that after the clay was dry, or nearly so, the scribe tried to fix an error. And while nobody is saying that the loss of the tablets and minor artefacts isn't a disaster, the images are a lot better than nothing.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. Military said most of artifacts were recovered…

Museum records show 50% of the items are still missing

Many pieces are being found here, in the United States.

He got information 1 year before invasion, from London, that the museum was a target.
I missed the rest! He said there were plans to walk into the museum and “take whatever I want” I didn’t hear who said that.

He begged for security then, and 1 month before invasion.

[madrchsod]

13. just before the war a group

of antiquities dealers/looters had a chit chat with the president concerning what will happen to all those nic-nacs in baghdad and other flea-markets in iraq...they wanted bush to give them the right to "purchase/steal" these items so they can be saved from the "bad guys". looks like they got there wish...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. Protectors of Iraqi Antiquities – Teenage group that searches for items

Protectors of Iraqi Antiquities – Teenage group that searches for items stolen and returns them to the museum.

"From March through May 2005, an Iraqi youth organization called the Protectors of Antiquities traveled the Iraq provinces. They gathered 2,000 looted objects, including 400 clay tablets. Some of these antiquities were from the Iraq Museum. "

http://www.aina.org/news/200506910119.htm
(The rest of the article is very good, it’s a review of this speech.)


Archeology sites all over are being looted.

1,700 people have volunteered to check sites, but no radios, no transportation makes that difficult.

Large crews with heavy equipment and armed guards are doing the looting.

Question about US protecting Oil Ministry and not the Museum got applause from the audience.

No evidence that American soldiers were among the looters, only info says they only saw Iraqis.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. re-broadcast tonight

Monday, June 20 at 12:00 am

Excellent collection of articles for further info..

The 2003- Iraq War & Archaeology
http://iwa.univie.ac.at/iraqarchive51.html

[KelleyKramer]

17. Kick!

[Up2Late]

18. Do they have any idea how much is ended up on the...

...antiquities black market?

And don't forget the looting of the unprotected sites around the country and the U.S. Military base we built on top of Original site of Babylon (I think it was Babylon).