Iraq's Antiquities at Most Risk Now

April 10, 2003 -- John Russell is worried about his friends who are armed and ready to defend some of the things they treasure most — Iraq's antiquities.

Iraq is valued among archaeologists as the cradle of civilization, and is home to an estimated 10,000 ancient archaeological sites, possibly more. In Baghdad, where looters began to ravage government buildings on Wednesday, following the arrival of U.S. troops, the government-owned Iraq National Museum hosts some of the most prized collections of ancient and Islamic art.

This is where Russell, a specialist in Iraqi antiquities at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, believes his Iraqi friends have settled in to defend ancient artifacts.

"They said they would be staying in the Baghdad museum for the duration of the conflict to defend it from looters," Russell said. "They may have guns. I'm very anxious that coalition soldiers not confuse them with combatants."

Packed with Artifacts

Archaeologists and historians have long been concerned that the conflict in Iraq would decimate one of the richest collections in the world. Six thousand years ago, the region was known Mesopotamia, a civilization which rose along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Some estimate nearly every acre of the country contains ancient remains.

In March, seven prominent scholars sent a fervent plea to President Bush, U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan, and Prime Minister Tony Blair that armies and governments try and safeguard as many archaeological sites as possible.

Russell says the time to focus guarding these treasures is now.

"This is the moment to act," he said. "Sites that once had guards probably don't now and all museums are vulnerable."

So far, reports suggest U.S. troops have treaded over at least one site — ancient Babylon. The Reuters news agency said that U.S. forces had moved through the location of the ancient King Nebuchadnezzar's city on Wednesday. A tank from the 101st Airborne Division rumbled onto the main Babylon site, containing elaborate reconstructions of the city. A general rebuked the move.

"We just can't have that," the general said, according to Reuters.

Elsewhere looters have stripped the palaces and villas of Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam's cousin who is known as "Chemical Ali." In Basra, where British forces seized control Monday, looting and lawlessness have been widespread.

Some fear a valuable location like the Baghdad museum, which was a government-run building and dates back to the 1920s when it was founded by a British diplomat, could be an easy target. The museum is located near one of Saddam's presidential palaces in central Baghdad on the west bank of the Tigris River.

Baghdad Museum Likely Target

"It's a beautiful, sprawling building with an elaborate gateway out front," said Russell. "It's L-shaped and has three to four courtyards."

After the previous Gulf War in 1991, archaeologists estimate that looters seized thousands of ancient artifacts and then sold them on the black market. The Baghdad museum remained safe from looters during that conflict, although nine of 13 museums in Iraq's south and north were raided by mobs, who smashed exhibits and stole artifacts.

"If there is a time when you're going to lose the collection it's now — during this volatile transition between Saddam Hussein's regime and whatever comes next," said Elizabeth Stone, an archaeologist at State University of New York in Stony Brook. "Even here when Hurricane Gloria came through, people were looting and doing outrageous things.

"And that was just a hurricane. This is a regime change."

Russell has tried, but not managed to reach his colleagues at the Baghdad museum since the war began. Phone lines haven't worked and his friends haven't been able to use e-mail.

"There isn't even a Web site for the museum yet — things have been pretty closed, " he said. "But now, maybe that's one thing that will change."