[MSN] book review: The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq by Peter Stone and Joanne Farchakh

[MSN]

The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq by Peter Stone and Joanne
Farchakh 

Reviewed by Mary Beard 
The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq by Peter Stone and Joanne
Farchakh
Bajjaly Boydell, £50; 352pp 
Buy the book

THE TWO MOST FAMOUS words ever spoken by Donald Rumsfeld - “Stuff happens” -
were given in response to persistent questioning in April, 2003 about the
looting of Baghdad, including the National Museum. Rumsfeld did not have a
clue what had happened to the 5,000-year-old Wark Vase, or the thousands of
other antiquities that had been systematically lifted; nor did he much care.


The contributors to this moving volume care a great deal about the treasures
of Iraq, from the ancient civilisation of Mesopotamia to the manuscripts and
archives in the National Library. The truth is that they know little more
than Rumsfeld did. It is still disputed who masterminded the museum
robberies: Saddam loyalists, international antiquities dealers, local
criminals or rogue elements on the museum's own staff? And how implicated
were the Coalition forces in disposing of this material? 

There are occasional bright spots in this terrible story of the destruction
of Iraq's museums and archaeology - the Wark vase was returned to the
museum, along with other stolen objects. For a few months at least, a brave
team of five Italian carabinieri plus helicopter, codenamed Viper 5, did
manage to protect the archaeological sites around Nasiriyah. 

The intervention of the British Museum and others eventually pressured the
Pentagon to guard the National Museum more effectively. In retrospect, the
British themselves were lucky: Basra Museum contained comparatively little
to write home about. 
But overall the picture is bleak. The fate of Iraq's cultural treasures was
already set when sanctions were imposed in 1991. Many of the Iraqi poor
found that a tidy profit could be made from illegal digging and selling on
the antiquities. And the no-fly zone meant that the Government could not
send helicopters to police the sites in the desert. 

Unsurprisingly, when the war began, none of the Coalition members had a plan
for the cultural treasures. The result was the destruction of thousands of
archaeological sites. Precious ivories were trampled underfoot on the museum
floor. Whole libraries were set on fire. 
Some of the archaeologists in the volume are perhaps over-optimistic about
what is feasible in a combat zone. As an antidote, an excellent article by
Matthew Bogdanos, who has served with the military in Iraq, gives a
hardheaded strategic assessment of just how difficult it was to protect the
museum. It's not just a question of sending a tank. 

Wars always threaten cultural treasures. In the Second World War, the Allies
gave Pompeii its worst pounding since the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79 and
pulverised the abbey at Monte Cassino. German raids targeted Bath and
Exeter. In truth, Hague Convention or not, a Unesco Blue Shield or Baedeker
three stars is more likely to draw, rather than deflect, enemy fire. 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/


toncremers at museum-security.org
http://www.museum-security.org
http://www.museumbeveiliging.com
http://www.handboekveiligheidszorgmusea.nl