Steps to the Ziggurat of Ur. Everett Historical\/Shutterstock. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n
A conference held in April by the Association of Iraqi Academics, Iraqi Association, Iraqi Women League, and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq discussed challenges and solutions involved in the task of rescuing Iraq's endangered cultural and archaeological sites.<\/p>\n
As cultural property crimes
\nin Iraq\u00a0reach new levels of depravity,\u00a0the Association of Iraqi Academics congregated
\nin London recently to explore ways of countering ISIL\u2019s assault against
\nIraq's vibrant past.<\/p>\n
A thick sense of mourning,
\nmelancholia, and anger filed the lecture theatre where an audience of
\napproximately 150 listened to a disturbing review of their country's recent
\npast.<\/p>\n
Recurrent episodes of illegal
\ndigging, pillaging and reckless destruction have transformed Iraq's urban
\nfabric so much that some of the country's historical chapters are lost
\nbeyond recovery.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon, as one
\naudience member recounted, has indeed been a recurrent theme, stretching as far
\nback as the sacking of Baghdad in the year 1258 by\u00a0Mongol ruler,\u00a0Hulegu Khan.<\/p>\n
Dr John Curtis emphasised that today's tragedies illuminate a story starkly
\ndifferent to that before 2003. Heritage preservation efforts prior to
\nthe first Gulf War were among the best in the region\u2014not to mention the rich
\ntradition of archaeological research led by highly staffed archaeologists,
\ntrained abroad and locally. This however changed, after the long drawn-out
\neight year Iraq-Iran war weakened the state's capacity to protect cultural
\nheritage sites.<\/p>\n
ISIL, and those before
\nthem, reanimate the tale of the Mongol conquest, not only by desecrating holy sites, but also by cultivating necessary conditions on which\u00a0illicit trafficking\u00a0in cultural heritage has flourished beyond
\nthe nation's borders.<\/p>\n
The dilemma of protecting
\ncultural property extended into the 1990s as unthinkable levels of desperation\u2014stimulated
\nbeneath punitive sanctions\u2014lured many into the underground trade of looted
\nantiquities. \u201cLessons\u201d from the past, Curtis commented, \u201cwere not learned\u201d, as\u00a0the
\nlackadaisical
\nmanagement\u00a0of occupational
\nforces in 2003\u00a0led to a sharp
\nincrease in antiquity theft.<\/p>\n
The recent battering Iraq's
\nantiquities have suffered at the hands of ISIL marks not only a continuation of the
\npast but a new era of visible destruction, as criminal gangs flaunt arrogance
\nand boastfulness on social media platforms.<\/p>\n
In September last year the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, described ISIL's efforts as a "crude
\nattempt to erase the heritage of an ancient civilization will ultimately fail.
\nNo terrorist can rewrite history".<\/p>\n
In Mosul, where the damage is
\ndistinctly apparent, some 250 historic buildings have been irreparably damaged
\nor\u00a0completely razed
\nto the ground. The new-Assyrian North-West Palace of King Ashurnasirpal,
\n"is nothing more than a heap of rubble," as Curtis described it.<\/p>\n
As scarring are the
\ncirculating images of ISIL attacking limestone statues inside Mosul museum last
\nmonth\u2014an incident that will be deeply etched in the communal\u00a0memory\u00a0of
\nIraqis for decades to come.<\/p>\n
The tomb of Jonah,\u00a0Ibn\u00a0al-Athir Iraqi archaeologist, Lamia Audible gasps and tittering Assyriologist, Professor "Iraqi civilisation The fact that the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage has been subsumed under the Ministry of Tourism\u00a0and Antiquities has only aggravated the One of the solutions he While several hurdles – – <\/em>Calling upon the Iraqi government to fund –\u00a0Calling – – – Developing\u00a0an\u00a0education system\u00a0teaching – Lobbying the British The question Iraq faces, however, is whether its heritage can indeed be rescued amid lawlessness, Keynote speakers agreed But as Dr Gailani cautioned Steps to the Ziggurat of Ur. Everett Historical\/Shutterstock. All rights reserved. A conference held in April by the Association of Iraqi Academics, Iraqi Association, Iraqi Women League, and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq discussed challenges and solutions involved in the task of rescuing Iraq's endangered cultural and archaeological sites. As cultural property…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nand al-Bint, <\/em>as well as the shrines of Ahmed Al-Rifai, Fathi al-Ka'en, Imam Ou'wm, Imam al Dor, Sayyda\u00a0Zainab and Yehya Ibn al Kassim are but
\na few of Mosul's cultural treasures forever lost.<\/p>\n
\nAl-Gailani, who spent the past few years cataloguing patterns of cultural
\nproperty destruction, said that fairly contemporary Shi'a shrines were ISIL's
\ninitial target, then \u201clittle by little\u201d Sufi shrines vanished from the urban
\nlandscape, and now ancient Christian monasteries have been transformed from
\nplaces of worship into detention centres.<\/p>\n
\nechoed loudly as the audience watched in horror photo evidence of the plundered
\nsites where mud-brick metropolises once stood proudly.<\/p>\n
\nAl-Rawi, speaking on how to best challenge ISIL's systematic campaign of
\ndestruction, said it is noteworthy to remember that:<\/p>\n
\nflourished due to diversity, and its multi-layered archaeological landscape
\nbears testimony to the intermingling of civilisations\u2026These groups seek to in-dignify
\nand deny the existence of these civilisations".<\/p>\n
\nsituation, Dr Farouq warned ."So long as the responsibility of protecting
\nsites of archaeological significance remains misplaced", the problem will
\nremain irresolvable.<\/p>\n
\nproposed is the \u201cexcavation of unfound antiquities\u201d. His vision involves local
\ngrassroots and international associations working jointly on excavation
\nprojects, where each new recovery represents a miniature triumph. This, Farouq
\nasserted, "is how we defeat ISIL, since Iraq is a constant provider of
\nabundant cultural treasures". \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nremain, keynote speakers and attendees proposed solutions intended to halt ISIL
\nin their path of destruction.\u00a0These
\nincluded:<\/p>\n
\nApplying renewed pressure on the Iraqi government to act responsively in its
\nduty to protect cultural sites, and on the international community to widely
\ncondemn the terror organisation.<\/p>\n
\njoint excavation initiatives and restoration efforts.<\/p>\n
\nupon religious clerics and Marjaiyyat\u00a0to
\nprohibit antiquity theft and cultural heritage destruction.<\/p>\n
\nCalling upon those unknown parties providing logical and financial support to
\ncriminal gangs\/looters to halt funding.<\/p>\n
\nRegistering and documenting ancient sites, artefacts and new discoveries
\naccording to satellite images.<\/p>\n
\nIraqis about the importance of cultural heritage sites and antiquities.<\/p>\n
\ngovernment to prevent further entry of stolen items from Iraq into Britain.<\/p>\n
\nviolence, and widespread destitution. The challenge is both political and
\ncultural. Above all else, it requires state backing and unwavering commitment.<\/p>\n
\nthat if political instability continues, foreseeable rescue missions can only
\noccupy a position of insignificance on the state's itinerary, as other pressing
\nconcerns demand\u00a0more immediate action.<\/p>\n
\n"there is no quick fix", it has to be "a longer spanning
\nproject" which needs to be consistently maintained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"