Posted on 01/15/2005 7:31:03 AM PST by lizol
U.S.-Led Soldiers Said to Damage Babylon
Sat Jan 15, 5:06 AM ET Middle East - AP
LONDON - U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have caused widespread damage and contamination, according to a report by the British Museum.
The report, quoted by the Guardian newspaper on Saturday, said military vehicles had crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement and that there were archaeological fragments scattered across the site, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar.
The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the paper said.
Museum officials were not immediately available for comment Saturday.
John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, also found that large quantities of sand mixed with archaeological fragments have been taken from the site to fill military sandbags and metal mesh baskets, the newspaper said.
"This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain," Curtis said in the report.
The remains of Babylon, one of the world's most important archaeological sites, have been occupied since the early days of the invasion by U.S. Marines and, more recently, by soldiers from Poland and other countries. Babylon is 50 miles south of Baghdad.
The city's main sites — the Ishtar Gate, the ruins of Babylon and the Nebuchadnezzar Palace — are in a separate area on the camp's perimeter, run by Iraqi officials as an archaeological park open to paying visitors.
The U.S. military says all earth moving has been halted and it is considering moving troops away to protect the ruins.
Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said all engineering works were discussed with the head of the Babylon museum.
"An archaeologist examined every construction initiative for its impact on historical ruins," he said.
In the report, Curtis acknowledged that at first the U.S. presence had helped to protect the site from looters.
But subsequent work — including the decision to cover large areas of the site with gravel brought in from elsewhere to provide car parks and helipads — was damaging, he said.
Lord Redesdale, an archaeologist who heads a parliamentary archaeology committee, described the report's findings as "just dreadful."
"Not only is what the American forces are doing damaging the archaeology of Iraq (news - web sites), it's actually damaging the cultural heritage of the whole world," he said.
For more than 1,000 years, Babylon was one of the world's premier cities, where Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The city declined and fell into ruin after it was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great around 538 B.C.
I didnt know there was an actually town called Babylon.
sounds like liberal, 'blame America' BS to me.
Probably about as true as the "looting" in Baghdad during the invasion
Yeah, I know, especially, that it quoted "The Guardian".
War is hell, isn't it?
Oh, and don't forget, during the years of Saddam, the British Museum (and the rest of the archeoligical world) had full access to the city and everything was well preserved - until the Evil Madman Bush ordered his storm troopers to vandalize the site!!
Anything from The Guardian warrants a skeptical mind. Move along, nothing here!
Guardian article aside it was onthe news here last night.
The actual damage was not done to the building but to areas at the side wher4e excavation had not taken place yet.
The reason this is big news is because the site is UNESCO protected and one of the Seven Wonders of the World (apparently).
Isn't that Madonna's home town?
Nah she has a country manor in Devonshire where she spends her time shooting pheasants (NO JOKE)
Vae Victis
Yep, time to dust off the "Americans are trashing Iraqi antiquities" complaint again.
This almost certainly means that he was paid by Sadam to come authenticate his tourist attraction for the rubes in the years before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Also remember that the British Museum has refused to condemn the Waqf for intentionally and systematically destroying the archeological sites on the Temple Mount in an attempt to deny that Jews were ever in Jerusalem or Israel (really, that's the official position of the Palestenian Authority).
"The reason this is big news" is because it is a slam at the American military and the Brits eat that $hit up with a spoon.
Alas, Babylon!
The true culprits. :~)
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