IRAQ: Recovering a ransacked heritage

 

For a few precious hours, Iraq's shuttered National Museum threw open its doors to journalists this week to celebrate the return of more than 700 looted antiquities, seized over the years by Syrian customs officials.

Clay cones inscribed with cuneiform script, one of the earliest forms of writing, ancient statues, golden necklaces and daggers were on display for the cameras. Museum officials showed off the serial numbers identifying items as part of their collection.

For now, the museum remains closed to the public. Once the journalists had gone Sunday, museum staff began boxing up the items, which will be kept under lock and key until security improves in Baghdad.

The museum, custodian of a priceless collection dating back to the dawn of civilization, lost some 15,000 pieces in the looting that accompanied the arrival of U.S. troops in Baghdad five years ago. Initial reports that 170,000 artifacts had been stolen proved to be exaggerated.

Nearly a third of the missing items have been returned, many by Iraqis taking advantage of the museum's policy of accepting returns with no questions asked. They include prized possessions such as a 5,000-year-old limestone vase from the Sumerian city of Warka, which three men produced from the trunk of a car in 2003.

Others were seized by authorities in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, the United States and beyond and remain abroad.

Mohammed Abbas Oreibi, Iraq's acting minister of state for tourism and archaeology, said Syria was the first country to return such a large treasure trove. He hopes others will follow suit.

Iraqi officials say U.S. authorities are supporting their efforts to retrieve looted artifacts, but they do not hide their bitterness that more was not done to secure them in the first place.

The Times has reported how a tragedy on an even greater scale continues to unfold at about 12,000 poorly guarded archeological sites, where illegal diggers are chipping away at Iraq's heritage. To read more, click here.

—Saad Khalaf and Alexandra Zavis in Baghdad

Photos: Some of the more than 700 recovered antiquities on display at the Iraqi National Museum on April 27, 2008. Credit: Saad Khalaf / Los Angeles Times