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An assessment of archaeological sites in June 2008: An Iraqi-British project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

John Curtis ,
Qais Hussein Raheed ,
Hugo Clarke ,
Abdulamir M. Al Hamdani ,
Elizabeth Stone ,
Margarete van Ess ,
Paul Collins  and
Mehsin Ali
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Extract

The proposal to develop an Iraqi-British project to protect and promote cultural heritage in Southern Iraq was first mooted at a lunch in the British Museum on 24 September 2007, involving Major-General Barney White-Spunner, Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph, Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, and John Curtis, Keeper of the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum. The lunch had been arranged to provide Major-General White-Spunner with recent information about the state of the Iraqi cultural heritage, as he was due to be deployed to Iraq in February 2008 as Commander-in-Chief of British troops and General Officer Commanding the Multi-National Division South-East. At the lunch, it was suggested that the greatest need would be to arrange for the inspection of archaeological sites and, if necessary, to arrange for the protection of them, and also to consider facilitating the reopening of some provincial museums. It is known that archaeological sites particularly in Southern Iraq suffered grievously from looting, particularly after the Second Gulf War, and most provincial museums were sacked following the First Gulf War in 1991 and again in 2003. Major-General White-Spunner immediately recognised the importance of these proposals and appointed a project manager, Major Hugo Clarke, to work up a scheme with John Curtis. The project has been made possible by a generous grant from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, that has covered all costs except those incurred in Iraq, which have been met by the British Army.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 70 , 2008 , pp. 215 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2008

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References

1 Katie Childs, currently on secondment to the British Museum from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has been of great help in organizing all aspects of this project. We should also like to record thanks to Hannah Boulton, who has handled the media interest in this project with her customary skill and diplomacy.

2 The list was drawn up with the assistance of Dr Abbas al-Hussainy, formerly Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

3 Nasiriya Museum was not considered as part of the project because the Italians are taking care of the museum here.

4 Also invited were Dr Amira Edan (Director of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage), Mr Qais Hussein Raheed (Director of Excavations, SBOAH), Dr Etimad Y. al-Qasiri, (Director of Heritage, SBOAH), Mr Qahtan A. Abdul-Hussein (Director of Basra Museum), and Mr Burhan A. Rahdi (Director of Wasit Museum), but largely due to difficulties in obtaining visas they were unable to come.

5 Flt Lt Paul Rothwell, Flt Lt Charlie Young, Flt Lt Phil Holdcroft, Sgt Jon Bailey, Sgt Cailean Logan.

6 Capt Chris Miles, Sgt Lee Jones, Cpl Jacky Humble, L Cpl Jay Camepa, L Cpl Mohammed Seru, Fus Lee Monaher, Fus Michael Clark.

7 L Cpl Tom Stokes or L Cpl Rutherford.

8 Pte Steven Still.

9 Cpl Sharron Davey, Cpl Andy Holmes.

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13 See www.britishmuseum.org/iraq for the 2007 and 2008 British Museum reports.

14 In 1991 a photograph was released by the United States Department of Defense showing two Iraqi MiG-21 fighter planes positioned in front of the Ur Ziggurat. It has been suggested that the bomb craters resulted from the targeting of these planes by coalition forces. However, the position of the craters does not correspond with the alleged location of the planes, raising the possibility that something other than the planes was being targeted.

15 The visit was cancelled due to the worsening political situation (sanctions and an air exclusion zone had been in place since 1990).

16 See note 13.

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19 See note 13.

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23 Hansen, D. P., “Al-Hiba, 1968–1969: A preliminary report”, Artibus Asiae 33/4 (1970), pp. 243–58Google Scholar; Hansen, D. P., “Al-Hiba, 1970–1971: A preliminary report”, Artibus Asiae 35/1–2 (1973), pp. 62–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Carter, E., “A surface survey of Lagash, al-Hiba, 1984”, Sumer 46/1–2 (1989–1990), pp. 60–3Google Scholar; Hansen, D. P., “Royal building activity at Sumerian Lagash in the Early Dynastic Period’, Biblical Archaeologist 55 (1992), pp. 206–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Taylor, J. E., “Notes on Abu Shahrein and Tell el Lahm”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 15 (1855), pp. 404–15Google Scholar; Safar, F., “Soundings at Tell Al-Laham”, Sumer 5 (1949), pp. 154–64Google Scholar.