Today I want to reflect on the looting of the Iraq National
Museum ten years ago, as well as some of the lessons learned from that
event. Before discussing the lessons
learned, I want to provide some background information.
Many scholars consider the land around the Iraq as the
birthplace of civilization. The country
of Iraq sits in the region called Mesopotamia, “the land between two rivers”. The history dates to the third and fourth millennium BCE. Sites such as Nineveh,
Ur, Babylon, Ctesiphon and Hatra called Mesopotamia home. The URUK phenomenon developed in Mesopotamia
as well. The phenomenon dates to the
fourth millennium BCE and describes an event when the first cities and grand architecture
arose. Most importantly to world
history, the URUK phenomenon saw the first development of writing.
In March 2003, the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq. Almost immediately, looters systematically began
destroying Iraq’s rich history and artifacts began appearing on the art market. In April 2003, news broke about the looting
of the Iraq National Museum and archaeological sites around the country. Parallel to the current events in Syria and
Egypt, when a centralized government collapses, chaos can ensue and people can
begin destroying symbols of the previous government’s power (refer back to my
discussion about symbolic capital a few posts ago).
In the case of Iraq, Saddam Hussein funded archaeological
excavations and the reconstruction of archaeological sites like Babylon as
symbols of his power. According to Roger
Atwood, Saddam Hussein cast himself as a modern-day Nebuchadnezzar, the sixth
century BCE ruler of Babylon who laid siege to Jerusalem and expelled the Jews
in 587 BCE (2004:5). Hussein even
inscribed his name in the bricks of Babylon following the tradition of Babylonian
rulers.
In early 2003, sources reported the looting of the Iraq
National Museum. Looters stole around
8000 objects. According to Matthew
Bogdanos, a colonel in the Marines, looters stole famous objects from the
museum, such as the Warka Vase dating to the fourth millennium BCE and the
carved female head of the goddess Inanna, called the Warka Mask (Bogdanos 2005:
2).
Ten years later, the Iraq National Museum remains
closed. Antiquities officials struggle
to repair the damage from the looting and a decade of neglect. Out of thirty original exhibition halls, only
five have been restored (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/11/10-years-after-looting-iraq-museum-far-from-opening/).
According to an article by CNN in 2011, in order to recover
looted artifacts, the museum began paying smugglers to return looted objects (http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/meast/iraq-museum-paying-smugglers).
I stand with UNESCO that we cannot pay
for the return of looted artifacts because it promotes and encourages more
looting.
Today there are cultural heritage efforts, and Iraq now has
the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage, which
provides training opportunities for the Iraqis in cultural heritage. On the tenth anniversary of the looting, the
U.S. State Department (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/04/207290.htm)
issued a press release:
Commemorating a Decade of U.S.-Iraqi
Collaboration in Renewing the Iraq Museum
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
April 10, 2013
For
ten years, the U.S. Department of State has been working closely with Iraqi
counterparts and American academic and nonprofit institutions to protect,
preserve, and display the rich cultural heritage of Iraq. Cultural heritage
cooperation is a major pillar of the Iraq-U.S. Strategic Framework Agreement,
reflecting the high value both nations place on this irreplaceable resource.
A
major continuing effort has focused on the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, where
looting in April 2003 left the facility physically damaged and an unsafe
environment for both staff and the Museum’s collections. In summer 2003, State
Department personnel were among the first responders to the museum’s needs,
providing replacement photographic equipment, office furniture, and supplies.
An assessment in autumn 2003 conducted by experts in museum security,
environmental control, conservation, and information technology initiated a 2004
project of major improvements to the museum’s physical plant, IT capabilities,
and security.
This
assessment also laid the groundwork for the Iraq Cultural Heritage Project, a
$12.9 million initiative developed and funded by the State Department, and implemented
by the nonprofit International Relief and Development from 2008 to 2011. This
project rehabilitated and furnished 11 of the museum’s public galleries, a
3-story collections storage facility, and the conservation labs, as well as
providing a new roof and upgraded climate control systems.
Along
with physical improvements to the building, the State Department sponsored and
organized trainings for museum staff as part of its comprehensive approach to
partnering with Iraqis in the preservation of their cultural heritage. In 2004,
the Department funded a special five-week “Cultural Heritage Institute” through
the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, to bring 22 Iraqi museum
staff to the Smithsonian Institution for training in museum management, conservation,
and curatorial practices. In 2009-2010, the Department’s Iraq Cultural Heritage
Project also provided training for 20 museum professionals from throughout Iraq
at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, covering topics from exhibit
design and museum education to archaeological site excavation and
stabilization.
Funding
for these projects was provided through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs’ Cultural Heritage Center and Office of Academic Exchanges, the U.S.
Embassy Baghdad, and private foundations. Images and more information about
other cultural heritage projects in Iraq can be found here.
Media
contact: Susan Pittman, eca-press@state.gov, (202) 632-6373.
Although
we claim that we learned a lesson from the looting of the Iraq Museum and
archaeological sites, I do believe it will not prevent looting in other cases,
take Egypt, Syria, and Libya for example.
With the looting in Iraq, the coalition forces failed to secure cultural
sites, and I hope that in the future, if U.S. forces invade another county,
they will take the protection of cultural sites into consideration.
It is important to secure and protect
cultural sites when invading another country if one hopes to win the allegiance
of its citizens. You will not gain
allies by lending to the destruction of sites they hold dear. Many Iraqis blamed U.S. forces for destroying
sites (the army built a base on the site of Ur), and that only led to distrust
of the U.S.
Again,
I really hope we learned something from the looting of the Iraq National
Museum.
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