Treasure of Nimrud Is Found In Iraq, and It's Spectacular

WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Friday, June 6, 2003 | DAVID LUHNOW

[presidio9]

The treasure of Nimrud survived 2,800 years buried near a dusty town in northern Iraq. It then spent 12 years tucked away in a vault. Until Thursday, it was uncertain whether it had survived Saddam Hussein's son, a U.S. missile strike, looters, a flood and a grenade attack. But it has been found intact in the dark, damp basement of a bombed out central bank building.

[My2Cents]

You mean it wasn't looted?

[Trust but Verify]

What a fascinating story.

[presidio9]

You mean it wasn't looted?

I'll thank you to NOT make fun of the greatest cultural atrocity in the HISTORY of mankind.

[nevergore]

"One man was killed when he fired his rocket-propelled grenade at the vault while standing less than 10 feet away."

What can you say?....

NeverGore

[FairOpinion]

This is wonderful. Now that Iraq will become a democratic, decent country, they could build up a great tourist industry.

I am sure a lot of people, myself included would want to visit their many historic sites and treasures.

[bullseye1911]

"One man was killed when he fired his rocket-propelled grenade at the vault while standing less than 10 feet away." What can you say?....

Simple natural selection: the weak and stupid die!

[eastsider]

I'll thank you to NOT make fun of the greatest cultural atrocity in the HISTORY of mankind.

Sorry, but that distinction goes to the burning of the library at Alexandria.

[presidio9]

Sorry, but Ceasar was a Democrat, so that's just not possible.

[eastsider]

Et tu, presidio?

[Billthedrill]

While initial reports talked of some 170,000 pieces stolen, it is now clear that perhaps only a few thousand artifacts were taken, experts say.

Heck, they didn't have a "few thousand" on display! That is, after all, rather a large number of artifacts as a quick trip to any local art museum will reveal.

Nevertheless, I can feel real archaeologists cringing at this article. Gold is known as the "G-word" in the field, and for good reason - recent experience shows that it attracts looters who despoil artifacts of more historical value in trying to steal it.

This isn't to minimize the value of the stuff in the crates, but while it may be more pleasing to view a golden crown instead of a clay tablet written in cuneiform, it is the latter that is of more historical value. Once found and catalogued, all of these objects become objects of art, not necessarily of scholarship.

Hmm...a Marine Colonel who's a homicide prosecutor and has a Master's in classical antiquities...that reminds me...I haven't heard the left bleating about illiterate military robots lately...

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"They're real, and they're SPECTACULAR!"

(Teri Hatcher on Seinfeld.)

[AIRFORCE76]

Actually, when the dust and smoke of leftists blathering clears, it will turn out to be a 'few' objects looted, maybe a few dozen. I'm not minimizing the loss either, but it is not a priority of military personel to protect museums, banks, etc. Their job is really very simple: kill people and break things. HUU-AHH!

[Zavien Doombringer]

Sorry, but Ceasar was a Democrat, so that's just not possible.

Was that Julius, Caligula, Augustus, Nero? All of them hated the Senate, they proclaimed Emporership, not a democracy.

[presidio9]

Sorry. Liberal?

[SengirV]

I'll thank you to NOT make fun of the greatest cultural atrocity in the HISTORY of mankind.

This was more of a cultural atrocity than the Nazi's stealing every single piece of art in Eastern and western Europe? Or the Nazi's trying to kill every member of an actual culture(Jews)? Interesting. Do you have a vested intrest in Iraq that would bias your opinion?

[Tijeras_Slim]

"One man was killed when he fired his rocket-propelled grenade at the vault while standing less than 10 feet away."

What can you say?....

Wrong weapon.

[Thud]

ping

[Zavien Doombringer]

hehehe, yes, liberal. They did what they wanted liberally :)

[RightWhale]

With bemused U.S. soldiers looking on, the man lifted every manhole cover in the area until he found a valve that stopped fresh water from flowing to the building.

Iraq is upgrading its GIS right now. Experts from all over the world and Redlands are in the region with recommendations for new hardware, the appropriate software, and legions of tech support. Data acquisition is expensive, the most expensive part of the system, but necessary, and is underway using remote resource sensing, GPS, and SAR.