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The
cultural world was outraged at the massive looting
of Iraqi museums and historic sites that took place
in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Libraries were set on fire, statues were smashed and
priceless cultural treasures were stolen. Iraq's
cultural leaders say the looting continues despite
safeguards put into place since the fall of Saddam
Hussein's regime.
Iraqi cultural officials say the looting of museums
has stopped. But they say robbers continue to move
from province to province plundering archeological
sites. Director of museums, Donny George Youkhanna,
says as many as 15,000 objects disappeared from
Iraq's museums and cultural sites. He says all are
of historic importance, but some were of particular
significance.
"The small piece of ivory, the Nubian and the
lioness, this is one of the extraordinary pieces,"
he said. "We have lost the statue of the Sumerian
king Antemena. This might be one of the oldest
statues actually having the name of a king on it,
mentioning that this is a king on it, in the history
of mankind. That piece is lost."
Thousands of other objects were returned or captured
by either international police or guards belonging
to a new federal protection system. Some items,
undoubtedly, were stolen by poor people looking for
a way to make money. But officials found clear
signs, including glass cutters and keys, that much
of the theft at the museums was planned ahead of
time by knowledgeable people.
"Some people who entered the storerooms of the
antiques knew exactly where to go inside," said Aziz
Hameed, president of the Iraqi Ministry of Culture.
"Of course, it was complete darkness. There is no
electricity. They had to light a candle or
something, but they went straight to the place where
the important pieces were and took them away. We
found that piece of information of great help to us.
We began our inquiry there."
Iraq is drawing up a so-called black list that will
ban institutions and individual scholars who deal
with stolen material from access to Iraqi museums.
And the Iraqi officials are encouraged by a series
of measures put in place by western governments to
discourage art theft. Still, Donny George says the
flow of antiquities out of Iraq will not stop until
demand ceases.
"There are people outside of Iraq in the United
States, in Europe, in Japan, who are following and
asking for material and they are paying so much," he
said. "If there was no one to buy, there would be no
material to be sold. These are the people who are to
be blamed because they are encouraging the robbery
of this world heritage that we have there in the
country."
The Iraqis are developing a new database to document
and catalogue their antiquities with help from the
New York-based World Monuments Fund and the Getty
Conservation Institute. But because many of the
objects are so well known that they cannot be sold
openly, cultural experts fear they are in private
collections and will not be seen again for one or
two generations.
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