[CPProt.net] Matthew Bogdanos at Penn Museum

[Lisa Batt]

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/news/fullrelease.php?which=209


U.S. MARINE COLONEL MATTHEW BOGDANOS TELLS STORY 
BEHIND 2003 THEFT, LOOTING­AND PARTIAL RECOVERY­ 
OF IRAQ MUSEUM ARTIFACTS AT PENN MUSEUM TALK SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2 P.M.

Program Followed by Book Signing of Thieves of Baghdad
02/06/2006


FEBRUARY 2006­U.S. Marine Colonel and New York 
assistant district attorney Matthew Bogdanos 
visits the University of Pennsylvania Museum of 
Archaeology and Anthropology Saturday, March 4, 
at 2 p.m., when he offers a special talk, 
“Thieves of Baghdad,” detailing the investigation 
into the 2003 theft and looting of the Iraq Museum.

A book signing of Thieves of Baghdad, written by 
Colonel Bogdanos with William Patrick, follows 
his presentation. Royalties from the book sales 
go to the Iraq Museum. The program, co-sponsored 
by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for 
Ancient Studies, is $10 and includes Museum 
admission donation (free for Penn Museum 
members). Reservations are recommended: 215/898-4890.

In April 2003, people around the world watched in 
shock and sadness at televised footage taken 
after the pillaging of the Iraq Museum in 
Baghdad. The list of missing objects read like a 
who’s who of archaeology: the Sacred Vase of 
Warka, the world’s oldest known carved stone 
ritual vessel; the Mask of Warka; the treasure of 
Nimrud, a collection of more than 1,000 pieces of 
gold jewelry from the eight and ninth centuries B.C.E.

In the wake of the looting, the United States 
dispatched a highly specialized multi-agency task 
force to determine what had happened at the 
museum and to recover as many antiquities as 
possible. Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, who 
holds a master’s degree in Classics from Columbia 
University, volunteered to lead the investigation.

At the Penn Museum program, Colonel Bogdanos 
tells the story of the creation of the U.S. 
government's multi-agency task force, the first 
ever deployed to a war zone (in the frozen hills 
of Afghanistan), and that team’s recovery more 
than one year later of over 5,000 of history’s most priceless antiquities.

The investigation also exposed the presence of a 
flourishing international black market in stolen 
Iraqi antiquities, and Colonel Bogdanos addresses 
the future of national and international efforts to stop the smugglers.

Matthew Bogdanos has been an assistant district 
attorney in Manhattan since 1988. A colonel in 
the Marine Reserves, middleweight boxer, and 
native New Yorker, he holds a degree in classics 
from Bucknell University, a law degree and a 
master’s degree in Classical Studies from 
Columbia University, and a master’s degree in 
Strategic Studies from the Army War College. 
Recalled to active duty after September 11, 2001, 
he received a Bronze Star for counterterrorist 
operations in Afghanistan, and then served two 
tours in Iraq. Released back into the reserves in 
October 2005, he returned to the DA’s Office and 
continues the hunt for stolen antiquities.

The book Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine’s Passion 
for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to 
Recover the World’s Greatest Stolen Treasures 
(Bloomsbury USA; October 26, 2005, $25.95 
hardback), by Matthew Bogdanos with William 
Patrick (author of Blood Winter) will be on sale 
in the Museum Shop before and after the program.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of 
Archaeology and Anthropology is dedicated to the 
study and understanding of human history and 
diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent 
more than 400 archaeological and anthropological 
expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world.

Penn Museum is located at 3260 South Street 
(across from Franklin Field), Philadelphia, PA 
19104. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. Closed 
Mondays, holidays, and summer Sundays from 
Memorial Day through Labor Day. Admission 
donation is $8 for adults; $5 for senior citizens 
and students with ID; free to members, PENNcard 
holders, and children 6 and under; free Sunday 
afternoons through May 21, 2006. The Museum can 
be found on the web at www.museum.upenn.edu. For 
general information call 215/898-4000.