Antiques slowly being returned

Slowly but surely, many priceless artefacts are being returned to the Baghdad Museum in a country steeped with culture and history. They were stolen after the war that toppled Saddam Hussein. Soon, museum workers will create a virtual museum online to show off one-of-a-kind pieces. But the renowned museum is still not open to the public and probably will not re-open until April 2004 or even later. According to UNESCO, as a result of thirteen years of sanctions and wars, eight thousand years of human history was now hanging in the balance in Iraq. Arsonists have burnt libraries and archives, looters have plundered historic buildings and cultural institutions and items of unique value have disappeared from museums and archaeological sites. International staff from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) are working outside the country for security reasons. And visitors to some partially excavated sites report seeing people digging up what look like important artefacts. "Iraq is where the cradle of civilisation took place and where the first cities and societies were established and the return of these artefacts is crucial in order for the country to maintain its cultural identity," archaeologist for UNESCO, Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, told IRIN from Paris. "Iraq has huge potential of attracting tourists because of what it has to offer in terms of culture and history. But this will not be possible until security allows for this," she maintained. The land between the two main rivers in Iraq, the Tigris and Euphrates and the Mesopotamian plain, thought to be the famed 'Garden of Eden' is known as the cradle of civilisation and was the birthplace of important early civilisations. Advanced societies flourished in this region long before that of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and it was there in 4000 BC that the Sumerian culture flourished. To combat the problem, antiquities experts have put out the word that looters or people excavating items can turn them in to the museum, no questions asked, and they'll be thanked. Working on the side of the museum is the fact that so many of the nice pieces rattling around in Iraq are too big to sell outside without someone figuring out what they are. "There is no way you can sell these things because collectors are big ego people who don't buy just for private enjoyment, they buy for private enjoyment and public acclaim," John Russell, the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) deputy adviser to the ministry of culture told IRIN in Baghdad. "Very few people would buy one of these pieces, knowing they would never be able to sell it," he added. In recent weeks, several large museum pieces have come back, including a partial statue made of copper. The statue, weighing more than 150 kgs, was one of 40 pieces curators left in the museum, thinking they were too big to steal. Other large pieces that remain missing include a bronze bull from outside an ancient temple, an historically significant vase, a slab from the palace of an Assyrian king and a column with writing dating back to the middle Assyrian period, according to Dr Ahmed Kamil, an expert in Iraqi cuneiform tablets who was involved in the recovery effort. Of the 40 large looted museum pieces, only 13 have been returned. The Lady of Warka mask was the first major piece to be recovered in September. The 5,100-year-old limestone face was one of the most valuable pieces, along with a bronze half sculpture. The life-like sculpture is believed to be of goddess Inanna or a priestess from the time period. Of 14,000 smaller pieces, including numerous items of jewellery, 4,000 pieces have been returned or seized by Coalition forces. Imams in the local mosque told looters to return important artefacts in circulation, making both men hopeful that they'll come back some day. "When the looting happened after the fall of Baghdad, we had taken the small things from the cases," Kamil told IRIN. "But we left the big ones in their cases, so they were also looted," he added. More than 800 cylinder seals were also recently returned, Russell said. The cylinders are about half the size of a human finger and are used as a signature and stamp on official documents. Many seals are unique stones decorated with people, gods and animals and rituals of ancient Iraq. They are much more marketable and much more easy to smuggle, Russell remarked. "Somehow, under the circumstances, they came back to us," he pointed out. US military police and Italian carabinieri police are keeping their ears open to find the pieces. One of the main ways to keep more objects from disappearing is to create a database, which is being processed manually by museum workers. The US State Department, the Italian government and the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, mainly funded from Washington, is putting US $3 million into repairing the museum with telephone and internet access along with the more mundane things like replacing doors and air conditioners. The money will also be spent on paying guards at historic sites around the country and to create a virtual Web site. There are some 10,000 historical sites across the country all of which do not require protecting. The museum has only been open about four of the last 22 years, so there is a lot of refurbishing needed. "Everything should be ready to go by April. Then it is just a matter of deciding if the security is good enough. Museum workers will make the call," Russell said. "This is a unique collection from the cradle of civilisation to early Islamic culture," he stressed.