Saving the Remains

When Baghdad first fell to the Americans, many were relieved that its cultural institutions were not as affected by the bombing campaign as those in Mosul, Tikrit and Najaf. They were too quick to rejoice. Looters soon stormed Baghdad's museum, library and archaeological sites, robbing and destroying the unique artefacts of a nation known as the "Cradle of Civilisation".

Priceless antiquities from Iraq's past -- irreplaceable objects, statues, musical instruments, books, maps, handwritten manuscripts, ancient copies of the Qur'an, and even the world's first calendar -- which had previously withstood everything from the invasion of the Mongols to the first Gulf War were suddenly lost in the anarchy and turmoil that became Baghdad.

Archaeologists worldwide were in an uproar about the terrible tragedy. Frustrated and angry, they appealed to UNESCO to take action, and offered their help in saving and returning Iraq's treasures back to its people. Egypt was among them. The Islamic Museum in Cairo quickly organised a special exhibition of Iraqi artefacts that have belonged to the museum for three-quarters of a century. According to the museum's director, Refaat Abdel-Azim, the museum has had the items since 1930 when Egypt participated in the excavation of a number of archaeological sites in Samara and Nenevah. The collection consists of a number of glass vases, glazed pots, chandeliers, coins and pottery.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly on Sunday that what happened in Baghdad was "a tremendous loss to world culture", and "a global catastrophe". The minister also announced that Egypt would assist in the restoration of Iraq's ancient and Islamic sites, and cooperate with UNESCO and the Iraqi authorities in drawing up a plan to establish new, high-tech exhibition spaces for all of Iraq's looted and destroyed national museums.

Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), also told the Weekly that the Culture Ministry had submitted a request to the Arab League to create an Arab Fund to finance different restoration projects for Iraq's damaged monuments. The Arab League agreed, and will also call -- within weeks -- for an urgent meeting of Arab culture ministers and heads of antiquities authorities to assess the damage done to Iraq's cultural and historic treasures, and produce an inventory of the losses.

During the meeting, Hawass said, Arab culture ministers will warn that any museum around the world that buys any of Iraq's stolen artifacts will face a termination of their excavation and restoration missions in Arab countries rich in archaeological sites like Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Kuwait.

Also on the meeting's agenda is the formation of an Internet database of missing items in order to thwart their sale on the black market. The officials also plan to offer their help in repairing damaged items, and may even push for a plan to buy back items if necessary. Compiling photographic documentation needed by the international police organisation Interpol in its hunt for the stolen artefacts will also be discussed.

"This is not the first time that Egypt has helped in the restoration of the cultural heritage of another Arab country," said Saleh Lam'ie, who heads the Centre for Conservation and Preservation of Islamic Architectural Heritage. Lam'ie said Egypt restored mosques in Mecca and Medina in the Mameluke era, and sent an archaeological and architectural mission to Palestine to share in the restoration of Al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine both before World War I and during King Farouk's reign.

In the early 1950s, another Egyptian mission was sent to inspect Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and document its treasures. From 1956-66, Egypt supervised the restoration of the famous mosque, and in 1992, an Egyptian mission again reported on the Dome's condition.

Lam'ie accused US troops of violating the 1954 Hague Convention regarding the protection of cultural treasures in wartime, blaming them for failing to protect Iraq's National Museum from looters. "While US troops watched, looters stole and destroyed priceless artefacts and grabbed whatever they could to earn some money," he said. "If they had placed just one tank and two soldiers at the door, nothing like this would have happened." According to Lam'ie, "this is not just Iraq's problem; our world heritage at stake."

Iraq's Arab neighbours have also been trying to do their part to prevent the illegal smuggling of Iraqi antiquities by stepping up border security, which may have helped to retrieve 20 of the looted treasures. Jordan, which also voiced deep concern about the looting, urged the UN to take steps to protect Iraq's historic sites.

Prominent art galleries and antiquities traders have also assured UNESCO that they support the campaign against illegal trafficking in Iraqi treasures. Auction houses and art brokers in Paris and London said they would not deal in stolen Iraqi antiquities. "We don't want to have anything to do with this kind of market," said a spokesman of the Paris art auction house Drouot.

The Interpol, meanwhile, announced that it would send a special team to Iraq to help track down the pillaged art.

The British Museum also announced its willingness to help the Iraqis in whatever way they can, while archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania hope to help catalogue the losses at Iraq's National Museum, relying in part on the school's own collection of artefacts from the region. Penn has replicas of some of the ancient items stolen from the Baghdad museum after US forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

After the Bush administration was criticised for not doing more to stop looters from ransacking Iraq's antiquities, US Secretary of State Colin Powell also announced that the United States would work to track down the looted objects and help restore the damaged pieces.