Some Baghdad museum loot recovered

This from today's Sunday Times:

Bearing white sacks that had once been used to carry rice, two furtive-looking men arrived at the gates of Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad last Thursday and presented themselves to the US Marines outside. Inside one of the sacks were two delicately painted ceramic pieces that looked like salad bowls. The string loops that had been used to hang them in an exhibit were still attached. In the other were two miniature heads of ancient kings carved in black stone. “We have been keeping them in our homes to protect them from thieves,” was the dubious explanation.

The men were ushered through into the grounds of the low, sand-coloured museum building. Gunfire, apparently from looters shooting at one another, could be heard in neighbouring streets. On Friday morning another 20 pieces, including glazed pottery and several metallic objects, were returned by individuals encouraged, perhaps, by reports that rewards might be paid for their return.

More than a week after treasures were stolen from the museum and countless others smashed in an episode of cultural vandalism that shocked the world, a few items are finding their way back. . .

Too few, however; and it now seems clear that the most serious thefts were not opportunistic grabs by those likely to be tempted by reward offers or promises of amnesty:

Among the items that vanished were two giant vases dating from 3500 BC. A bronze statue from the Akkadian period was also carted off, even though it weighs more than 660lb. Bronze reliefs were stolen along with Assyrian statues of kings and heads of Roman statues.

Jabir Khalil, chairman of the board, said an administrative section had also been looted “most savagely” and it would take days, if not weeks, to establish just what had gone. “They smashed their way in through the walls,” he said. “I suspect they knew what they were looking for.”

He was confident, however, that the museum’s collection of ancient manuscripts was intact. They had been removed to safety before the war.

Posted by David on April 20, 2003 2:29 PM