In the past week, looters have ransacked museums in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, stealing and destroying priceless archaeological artifacts that chronicled 7,000 years of civilization. As the United States struggles to rein in the chaos and rebuild Iraq, the battle to preserve these cultural treasures will continue to be an important story. Here are some good online resources.
One of the most important groups in this story is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO has built a special section devoted to Iraq, at http://www.unesco.org/iraq. It includes the latest statements, updates and press releases from the group, plus useful links.
Among those links are two particularly good ones:
- An article discussing the cultural heritage sites in Iraq that are in danger, including a nice clickable map showing where they are;
- Descriptions of the sites Iraq had submitted to UNESCO for protection under the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage -- though they have yet to be added to the official World Heritage list.
Another great site is one put together by Cambridge University Professor Nicholas Postgate and Oxford University fellow Eleanor Robson, a council member of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq. This site has the most comprehensive list I've seen online of the principal historic buildings and archaeological sites at risk. It includes: mosques, churches, monasteries, palaces, castles, forts, museums -- and even caves and walls. Many of the sites are shown on maps and with photos.
One other resource worth mentioning is Francis Deblauwe's Iraq War & Archaeology site. Deblauwe, a self-described independent scholar living in Kansas City, Missouri, has been tracking coverage of the Iraq war’s impact on archeological and historical sites and artifacts. His Iraq War & Archaeology site contains links to dozens of useful articles on the subject (including ones with video) and he’s adding to it regularly.
Pictures really help illustrate the story of the destruction and looting of Iraq's artifacts. Here are a few slide shows that show what was lost:
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