H-MUSEUM's Current Focus Iraq - The cradle of civilization at risk Cultural heritage and historical monuments Introduction |  Iraq News Digests | Selected Articles & Documents  Journals & Magazines | Museums/Collections/Institutions Online Resources print-friendly version | Latest News [first edited: March 21, 2003] Introduction read this text in German The current focus looks from a cultural and historical perspective at present developments concerning the military conflict in Iraq. Included are also special editions of the News Digest part 1, 2, 3, which contains articles from the time of the first Gulf War to the present dealing with the historical monuments, archaeological sites, and museums in Iraq. The editorial staff thanks Dr. Margrit Sollbach-Papeler, a historian with special interest in and detailed knowledge of the ancient civilizations and historical places of the Near East. Iraq is a country with a rich history. A great number of monuments of the history of civilization, archaeological sites, and museums are situated on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and in other areas. Already in 1990/1991, during the first Gulf War, these historical monuments and other places of historical importance were put at direct risk by military action as well as by the abuse as Iraqi military positions. The war in Iraq in 2003 again exposes these historical monuments and other places of historical interest to great danger. War always carries with it not only suffering and misery for the population but also always hurts the cultural and historical evidence. Present-day Iraq occupies the greater part of the ancient land of Mesopotamia, the plain between Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Some of the world’s greatest ancient civilizations were developed in this area. Therefore the region is often referred to as the cradle of mankind. Present-day Iraq possesses a huge amount of historical monuments and archaeological sites, e. g. Niniveh, the seat of government of the 7th century BC king Assurbarnipal; Ur (see picture), where the Sumerian civilization had its final flowering at the close of the 3rd millennium BC and where according to the Bible Abraham was born; Uruk, the scene of the Gilgamesh Epic; the Parthian desert city of Hatra, which is on the UNESCO’s list of cultural world heritage; Assur, the first capital of the Assyrian kingdom with the famous Ishtar temple; and Babylon, in the 18th century BC the seat of king Hammurabi, who is primarily remembered for his codification of the laws governing Babylonian life ( Codex Hammurabi). Experts estimate that there are about 100,000 sites of cultural and historical importance in Iraq ( Iraq Site Map), most of them not yet excavated; about 10,000 are known. However, the cultural heritage of Iraq is primarily Arabic. One of these famous Islamic monuments is the 55 meters high spiraling minaret of the great mosque in Samarra (see picture), built in 850 AD. In addition this land is the home of the three world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. >top of the page H-Museum News Digests Iraq News Digest, part 1 (1991 - 2002) Iraq News Digest, part 2 (January-March, 2003) Iraq News Digest, part 3 (April-May 2003) >top of the page Selected Articles & Documents Protection of cultural property Hague Convention (Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict) Iraq - World Heritage in Danger (UNESCO) UNESCO and Iraq (UNESCO) Virtual Library Museums - Cultural Property & Monuments (by Klaus Graf, University of Freiburg) Declarations / Statements War in Iraq - Memory and Heritage of the World in Danger (International Council on Monuments and Sites - ICOMOS) Statement on Impact of War on Cultural Heritage in Iraq (International Committee of the Blue Shield - ICBS) Statement of Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO (March 27, 2003) Open Declaration on Cultural Heritage at Risk in Iraq (The Archaeological Institute of America, Boston) Historians Against the War (Columbia University Station, New York) Declaration of ICOM Germany / German Museums Association Declaration of ICOM-CC Declaration of ICOM AAM Statement on the Cultural Heritage Crisis in Iraq Protecting Iraq's ancient heritage The Baghdad Museum Project Resources on Iraqi Museum Collections (ICOM) Iraqi Cultural Heritage Crisis (American Association of Museums - AAM) Les collections du Proche-Orient ancien et de l'Iran (Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire) The threat to world heritage in Iraq (by Nicholos Postgate, Assyriology, University of Cambridge, UK) The 2003 Iraq War & Archaeology (by Francis Deblauwe, Missouri) Protecting Iraq's ancient heritage (News stories, Archaeology, March 12, 2003) In the shadow of war. Protecting endangered sites in Iraq (by Nancy C. Wilkie, Archaeological Institute of America) (Archaeology, January 2003) Treasure Under Saddam's Feet (by Andrew Lawler, Discover, October 2002) Stolen stones: the modern sack of Nineveh (by John Malcolm Russel, Archaeology, December 30, 1996) Iraq War on Ancient Artifacts of Mesopotamia (The History Net, March 19, 2003) The Tower of Babel. Dangerous Archaeology (Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland) Projects, artefacts and archaeological sites Sex Life of the Date. Artifact Research from Royal Tombs of Ur, Mesopotamia (Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania) The Archaeology of the Ancient Near East - Study Outlines (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) The Nippur Expedition (The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, USA) The Deh Luran Valley Archaeological Project (Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, USA) The Samarra' Archaeological Survey (by Alastair Northedge and Derek Kennet) >top of the page Journals and Magazines Near Eastern Archaeology (Amercian Schools of Oriental Research, Boston University) Archaeology (Archaeological Institute of America, Boston) Journal of Near Eastern Studies (University of Chicago) Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (Universitaires de France) Altorientalische Forschungen (Free University Berlin) Archiv für Orientforschung (University of Vienna) Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie (University of Munich) Further periodicals - Near and Middle East (History Journal Guide) >top of the page Museums / Collections / Institutions Iraq-Museum Badgdad (University of Innsbruck, Austria) Museum of Ancient Near Eastern Antiquities (Berlin, Germany) Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology (Oxford, UK) Mesopotamia (British Museum, London, UK) Uruk-Warka Collection (University of Heidelberg, Germany) British School of Archaeology in Iraq (London, UK) Mesopotamian Collection (Oriental Institute, Chicago, USA) Assyrian Collection (Oriental Institute, Chicago, USA) The Detroit Institute of Arts, Mesopotamian (Detroit, USA Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (Exhibition, February 6 - May 9, 1999; McClung Museum, Knoxville, USA) The Babylonian Collection, Sterling Memorial Library (Yale University, USA) Michael C. Carlos Museum, Near Eastern collections (Emory University, Atlanta, USA) Links to other institutions (Oriental Institute, Chicago, USA) >top of the page Selected Online Resources Virtual Library History - Iraq (Kansas University, USA) Virtual Library Archaeology - Near East (Arizona State University, USA) ABZU - Ancient Near East on the Web (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) Heidelberger Assur-Forschung (Assyriology, University of Heidelberg, Germany) Mesopotamian Civilizations (North Park University, Chicago, USA) >top of the page Authors: Ralf Blank M.A. / Dr. Stephanie Marra / Dr. Margit Sollbach-Papeler Title: Iraq - The cradle of civilization at risk (H-Museum's Current Focus) URL: http://www.h-net.org/~museum/iraq.html E-Mail: h-museum@h-net.msu.edu First edited: March 21, 2003 Last update: May 10, 2003

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