[MSN] Iraq. Ransacked provincial museum seeks lost treasures

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Ransacked provincial museum seeks lost treasures
By Saadoun al-Jaberi


Azzaman, February 25, 2007

The Kufa Museum, which included the largest collection of artifacts after
the Baghdad Museum, is striving to retrieve its treasures plundered shortly
after the 2003 U.S. invasion.

The museum, situated close to the southern religious city of Karbala,
included hundreds of ancient pieces representing the various periods of the
country's long history.
A source at the museum, refusing to be named, said many of the stolen pieces
have found their way to international markets and are currently being traded
by private collectors and auction houses.
He said Iraqi Antiquities Department was aware of the contraband trade in
Iraqi antiquities and has asked the Foreign Ministry to intervene.
"We want the Iraqi authorities to ask the British government and police to
seize these artifacts because they belong to our museum," he said.
The pieces, he argued, were part of the Kufa Museum's collection and the
museum has the proof that they belonged to it.
The pieces, the official said, included engraved bowls with Aramaic
transcription, pottery and coins. "All these items are unique and extremely
valuable," he said.
The museum was also partially looted during the 1991 uprising against the
former leader Saddam Hussein.
With the country embroiled in an upsurge of violence, there is little the
authorities can do to halt illegal trade in Iraqi antiquities.
The Antiquities Department says thousands of extremely valuable pieces are
still missing from its collection which includes more than 200,000
artifacts.
Illegal trade in Mesopotamian artifacts is blossoming with illegal diggers
excavating major ancient sites across the country.

These excavations in which sometimes bulldozers are being used are said to
have ruined many sites as the diggers sole aim is the recovery of rare and
expensive finds and not scientific analysis of historical evidence. 

Most ancient sites in Iraq, of which there are at least 10,000 deemed
archeologically significant, are without protection.

http://www.azzaman.com/