Posted on 11/06/2003 7:44:14 PM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a joint raid, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen recovered two of the most important artifacts looted from the Iraqi National Museum following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, a coalition spokesman said Thursday.
Both artifacts have been identified by museum authorities in Baghdad and will be returned in the next few days, Charles Heatly said.
One of the two pieces, the so-called Bassetki copper statue, dating back to 2,300 B.C., depicts a man seated on the ground. It was found in a cesspool during a joint raid by U.S. Military Police and Iraqi police.
The second piece, discovered in the same raid, is a wood and bronze brazier, a mobile fire box used by Assyrian kings to keep warm in winter. It dates to 850 B.C.
Heatly did not provide details about when and where the two pieces were recovered.
"This was an important find," Heatly said. "We hope to still recover more artifacts."
The massive Bassetki piece was considered the second-most precious relic of the Iraqi National Museum.
The museum's top-listed piece, the Lady of Warka, was recovered Sept. 16. It was found by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police in an orchard on the outskirts of the capital. The Iraqi Antiquities Department had earlier been tipped off by people who reported seeing it there.
The relic, depicting a female face, is about 5,200 years old and is also known as the Sumerian Mona Lisa.
The looting and destruction of the Iraqi National Museum in April triggered sharp criticism of U.S. forces both in Iraq and abroad. Museum curators and archaeologists worldwide blamed the United States for the losses, saying its troops should have protected the treasures, some of which date to the earliest days of human history.
Some looted items have been returned under a no-questions-asked amnesty program, while others were found in raids or in government vaults where they had been placed for safekeeping.
Still, only about 2,000 of 13,000 looted treasures have so far been recovered.
The Iraqi National Museum — which remains closed — is now guarded by the Iraqi police forces that work under the supervision of the U.S. military.
Find Saddam and some of the looted treasures will be found.
Actually, data on the looting is complex. Each bead counts as a separate item. This briefing is a detailed analysis of where the investigation stood Sept.9:
For example, it is simply impossible to quantify the loss of the world's first known Samarian mask of a female deity. That's one number; you cannot possibly quantify it, and it is irreplaceable. On the other hand, a single clay pot recovered at an archeological site in 25 separate pieces, depending on the circumstances under which it is recovered, counts as 25 separate pieces -- each bead, each pin, each amulet, each pendant counts as a separate piece. So numbers simply cannot tell the whole story. They do, however, offer, used appropriately, a metric with which we can assess what indeed has been done, and what so far is being recovered....
The preservation of knowledge, heritage, and history thru books and antiquities is hard to quantify against a single life or even a number of them.
Our entire generation will die, no exceptions. Would I consider it an honorable death for myself if I died defending a priceless heritage and/or library for future generations? Without a doubt.
Personally, I find that recorded knowledge (libraries/internet), our heritage, and museums and the pursuit of the same (education, exploration, archeology, experimentation, etc.) are some of mankind’s greatest endeavors. Think of all the great ideas and knowledge that are at your fingertips due to this very thing. IMHO, it is one of the main things that separate us from living in never ending ignorance.
Maybe this is one of the reasons I have over 6000 books at my house. Reading and learning is for me, one of life's greatest pleasures. I am lucky to live in such a time.
Could you imagine what could be learned if we had some of the great libraries and museums that have long been destroyed returned for us to study?
Indeed this is certainly worth my life.
The loss of the Iraq antiquities didn't mean the loss of knowledge - some, yes, but each piece has been carefully catalogued, researched and recorded...the history studied in Universities and homes across the world. Info is now more readily available than any time in history.
Thousands of years from now, would the item and not the recorded info be more beneficial to humankind? I tend to think that the heirs of our best and brightest serving in Iraq are far more precious.
You've given this more thought than I have.
Today, with the potential of massive casualties due to WMDs, and a jihadist movement with little respect for the historical treasures of other cultures - as they proved by blowing up the Buddhist wonders - I wouldn't give a single Soldier up for any treasure.
If other volunteers choose to arm themselves and stand guard over our non-human treasures, more power to 'em. (*g*)
G
Sadly many of these items have not been catalogued.
Cuniform tablets in particular have not been photographed and archived. Since these tablets are made of unfired clay, they are particularly fragile. Many of these have now been destroyed, resulting in a permanent loss of information and hertiage to humankind. This is a deep loss to all of us.
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