Warka Vase returned

Good news from Iraq:

The sacred Vase of Warka - one of the most valuable artifacts of the Iraqi National Museum collection, feared lost forever - was returned unceremoniously Thursday in the trunk of a car.

The 5,000-year-old white limestone vase, the world's oldest carved-stone ritual vessel, was handed over with other looted items, U.S.-led coalition forces said in a statement. Three men gave the pieces to security staff at the central Baghdad museum, a gesture that could reassure archaeologists worried about Iraq's ancient treasures.

``This is one of the most important pieces from the Baghdad museum and I am delighted it has been returned. It is reason for people all around the world to celebrate,'' said Pietro Cordone, senior adviser on culture for the Coalition Provisional Authority, the formal name of the occupation forces.

Cordone, a former Italian diplomat, was at the museum when the men arrived unexpectedly and thanked them personally. The authority did not identify them. . .

The coalition's statement said the vase was returned "safely'' but did not give details on its condition.

From the Guardian.

One still wonders why, given its importance, the vase was not removed for safekeeping before the war, when so many other, less prominent, artifacts were hidden away. In any event, the return of the Warka vase once again calls into question the notion that masterpiece-seeking master criminals were at work during the looting of the Baghdad museum.

NOTE: The Times of London's version of the story includes the following:

Christopher Walker, senior curator in the department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum, said that it was probably the most important object to have been looted. “It is the single largest piece of art antiquity of the early third millennium, which gives us an insight into daily life at the time,” he said.

The return of the 4ft vase is a coup for the museum, which suffered heavy looting days after Baghdad came under American control. Curators initially feared that 170,000 objects had been stolen, although the number is now believed to be closer to 3,000.

Of the remaining objects, large numbers have been smashed. Other artefacts returned after an amnesty was declared have not been so well-treated. An Assyrian stone statue of King Shalmaneser III, dated about 800 BC, was returned in April, smashed into six pieces.

Given all that has emerged about what the museum staff knew about the looting, one would expect the Times reporter to have written "curators initially claimed . . . " rather than "curators initially feared . . . "

Posted by David on June 12, 2003 9:46 PM